FIRST TIME AUTHORS, AND PUBLICITY – A LIVE E-PANEL – 9/20/2005
The following is a joint effort between the EWN and independent publicist, Lauren Cerand (www.laurencerand.com).
This is the third E-Panel that we’ve done live (expect more in the near future), as we used AOL IM and not standard e-mail. I think the difference between this E-Panel and the other EWN E-Panels from the past comes from the give and take between the participants.
M.J. Rose was kind enough to give the transcript a read and has written a fantastic introduction to the topic.
Introduction by M.J. Rose:
“I had no idea what publishing meant, really. I thought because I sold it to a giant, fantastic publisher that it would be a hit. I didn't know about the first novelist black hole. Now I do. I love to learn.” - Lisa Selin Davis
It’s literally painful to read about authors going through the publishing process. Not the writing process. Or the agenting process or the selling process or the editing process. But the publishing process. The “what happens from the day the book goes into production until it hits the stores and for the two to four months after” process.
And there’s the rub.
Writing is an art, publishing is a business and oftimes a broken business at that. With over 100,000 books (not counting self-published books) a year being dumped into the bookstores, it astounds me that our business continues to operate the way it does. One of the most astounding parts of this is how little authors know, understand or are told about what is going to happen to their work once they sign their contract.
The conversation EWN has orchestrated between Dallas Hudgens, Sheila Curran, Dean Bakopoulos, Lisa Selin Davis and Kevin Smokler does a great job in pointing this out and touching on some of the more complicated issues of authors getting involved in publicity and marketing.
At the heart of the matter is that we’re authors.
As Dean Bakopoulos says, (and I always say too though with a caveat) “I'd say I know now more than ever that you just write the best story you can write. If it sticks, you're one lucky scribe. If it doesn't, despair, despair, and then write another one.”
And here’s my caveat. No matter how great that story is, if it doesn’t sell the awful reality is we’re in a world of numbers and your second or third may not sell if the first doesn’t sell.
Which brings up the big conundrum
We’re neither trained nor – for the most part – even interested in being marketers. If we wanted to be marketers we wouldn’t be writing, we’d be working for ad agencies or we’d be publicists or we’d be doing marketing for Kellogg’s.
But alas, the way the system works, as these authors describe it, it does fall on our shoulders. Some authors shrug off the responsibility. That’s fine. It’s even understandable. Others embrace it, and try to hurry up and learn and get involved before it’s too late.
As this conversation unfolds there are great examples of several ways to get involved. Or not get involved and deal with the reality of what happens when you don’t.
I think the problem with authors and publicity and marketing starts with the fact that it doesn’t start. It’s sprung on you. If your agent gave you a copy of Publicize your Book by Jacqueline Deval the day you got your contract, you’d at least know what you are up against instead of finding out when it’s almost too late to do anything about it.
Read this wonderful conversation with some fabulous writers as they touch on some of their positive and negative experiences or trying different ways to publicize their books and attack this monster we call publicity.
And there’s no question: a monster it is.
Dan Wickett:
Okay, now that we're all here, let's begin talking about First Authors and Publicity. Can each of you please introduce yourselves and give us a bit of information about your book? Dallas?
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I'm Dallas Hudgens, and I wrote a novel, DRIVE LIKE HELL, that was published by Scribner in February.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I'm Sheila Curran, whose DIANA LIVELY IS FALLING DOWN came out with Penguin in July.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Dean Bakopoulos here. My first novel is PLEASE DON'T COME BACK FROM THE MOON, published by Harcourt in January.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I'm Lisa Selin Davis, and my book is BELLY (Little, Brown, July, 2005). I like to think it's about a man returning to his hometown to find it's been overtaken by Wal-Mart, but Little, Brown says it's about fatherhood and second chances.
Dan:
Kevin?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Kevin Smokler. I edited BOOKMARK NOW: WRITING IN UNREADERLY TIMES. Published by Basic Books in June.
Dan:
Congratulations to each of you! As the title of this Panel is “First Time Authors and Publicity,” let's look at the different ways that your works were shown off to the public. How did your publishers push the books? Advertising? Book tours?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Big question...
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
It all seems so long ago...
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Okay, mine was in three stages... A few weeks before pub date, I started doing appearances on blogs as I have a lot of friends in that world.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Yes, aren't you famous?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
In a world where it hardly matters, yes; *shrug*.
Dan:
Kevin, step A, posting on blogs - was that your publisher's idea? Or yours?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Mine.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
My publicist took me out to lunch and told it to me straight: no tours, no ads. I'm going on tour anyway, on the First Fiction Tour (http://www.firstfictiontour.com) -- self-funded, alas -- and I did a bit of blog stuff, too.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
My publicity started with MJ Rose's course, which scared the shit out of me...
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Harcourt was fairly generous with me...a solid tour of the Rust Belt/East Coast, some good print ads, and they managed to get a lot of reviews for PLEASE DON’T COME BACK FROM THE MOON.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Mostly my publicist and I brainstormed on where to send the book.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
They sent me to a few bookstores in the south, and one reading in New York. I think it was six bookstores.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Indeed. My publisher said 2 cities, I countered with 13; we settled on 10.
Dan:
What were the two? New York and San Francisco?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Yes, and I live in San Francisco! But my publicist hustled her ass off for those 10. She did an amazing job.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Harcourt also sent me to all the trade shows. I'm a former indie bookseller, so I did a lot of pre-pub meetings with booksellers.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I didn't expect anything at ALL from my publisher...was pleased they took me out to lunch! But they did pay for placement on the [front] tables [in bookstores] so I am thrilled.
Dan:
The stores you were sent to - indie or Borders/Barnes & Noble?
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Both.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
99% indie. 1 B&N in NYC.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Kevin is coming to the Wisconsin Book Festival (http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/) next month. It'll kick.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Dean just raised the bar for me.
Dan:
I happened to see Kevin speak/read at the Ann Arbor Book fair and he was great
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Thanks, Dan.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
We're calling Kevin's event SMACKDOWN in the HEARTLAND.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I think 4 indies and then a B&N and a Borders for me.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Mostly indies for me, and I read at a couple of festivals and one bar.
Dan:
Lisa, is the First Fiction Tour bookstores, bars?
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
The First Fiction Tour takes place in bars, with indie booksellers there to hock the wares. I wasn't allowed to read at any chain bookstores, even in the town where my book was set. I seem to have had a different experience than some.
Dan:
Wasn't allowed? Per the publisher, or the stores?
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Maybe others know more about this. The big publishers have corporate partnerships, and I believe some money has to change hands for writers to read at B&N and Borders and the like. I've been reading at small bookstores and reading series all over NYC, and I'll be in the Midwest, Southwest and the good old West next month.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I did readings at Barbara's Books in Chicago, Changing Hands in Tempe, and lots of parties with food and drinks...Tallahassee, Atlanta, New Hampshire, Washington…
Dan:
What has your reading experience been like? Exciting? Decent crowds?
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Let's not forget the signing at the Toadstool in Keene, NH where my cousins from Vermont were the only ones to come.
Dan:
What about you Dean and Dallas?
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I'm very disorganized about explaining this but I used my advance to cover the cost of promoting my book...including hiring a wonderful publicist named Lauren Cerand, and I also hit up everyone I knew to come to or throw fundraisers.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Mine had really nice crowds. As a former bookseller, I was shocked. But we picked the stores with crowds in mind. I had a few dozen some days, and a few with 200. Who knows why some work and some don't?
Dan:
As a former bookseller, were you responsible for booking authors to read?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yep. I handled the reading series from the requests to the introduction.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I had two at a signing in Jackson, Mississippi, so we just cancelled the reading.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I preferred to do readings in bars or at parties because I thought more people would come ... but my bookstore experiences were also positive.
Dan:
Was there ANY rhyme or reason to crowd size?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, I did book authors at Canterbury, and David Sedaris or Sherman Alexie types would be huge crowds, but literary authors was so hit and miss.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I had other authors traveling with me so the ones that were excited and brought their friends had bigger crowds. However, 75 people showed up for my reading at the Harvard bookstore and I don't know a soul in Cambridge.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
The parties were by invitation and it depended on how many people I could get to persuade other people...I noticed that newspaper coverage didn't seem to make a big difference.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Agreed, Sheila.
Dan:
So far a great deal of the responses you’ve given are leading to the idea that publisher publicity isn’t as great a draw as one might hope.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
If an author got some national media that week, NPR or New York Times, crowds would be big.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I think it's about the venue. People always show up to KGB, in New York, for instance. I read at a little bookstore in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and there were probably only 15 people there...but I thought that was good for no public transportation. I did an interview on the Gothamist site (http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/07/25/lisa_selin_davis_author_belly.php), and got three invitations to read that day. A little publicity goes a long way.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
At the right time and in the right place, yes.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
I think local publicity is the key. If I liked an author who read in Madison, I could get fifty or sixty customers to show up...but you can't do that every time.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
The biggest crowd I had, by far, was about 30, I think, in Richmond, at Fountain Bookstore, where they were really nice. Other than that, outside of friends, I might have been in single digits at most every other place.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Hard to tell overall. People might get the media, buy the book and not come to events. Happens all the time.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, I agree. Events are a different beast than the book.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Yes and also what niche your readers fall into. I have kids and work and am a baby about not wanting to stay up late, and most of my friends don't go to readings either...
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Exactly. And my book was the "out 5 nights a week crowd."
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
The event almost has to be its own show. I wanted to be real creative with my tour, but I didn't have the time. I was working on the next book, working a job, a baby was on the way, my dog is emotionally needy, etc.
Dan:
Beyond readings then, and in Dean's case, some ads and good reviews, what publicity efforts were made for you by your publisher? Postcards? Other ideas?
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I did a bit of everything. Postcards, website, blog, pyramid marketing (not really) fundraisers with the book as a favor, press stuff...you name it.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I worked closely with the online marketing people at Basic since I'm strong in that area, and formed a good relationship with Powells.com through that.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I like radio myself, and wish I'd done more NPR spots. Hopefully, the First Fiction Tour will get a little attention. I think it's a great idea to round up first novelists and tour them together.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
It does sound like a good idea. People want to have fun at events, and festivals or readings in bars, or whatever makes things a bit more fun.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Yeah, first fiction is a superb idea.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
That reminds me that the Changing Hands people said that the indies were organizing a booktour for first timers to be held in bars instead of the bookstores...
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I'd also love to read at a Wal-Mart, or outside a Wal-Mart in the middle of the night, but who would come? And (thankfully) we don't have one here. I'd like to organize a whole art event at a dead Wal-Mart.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Way punk rock.
Dan:
Again, the bulk of these efforts - postcards, website, blog, First Fiction Tour - sound like ideas that were your own and not spawned by the publisher - how early on in the game did you realize you'd need to be so involved in your own publicity?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
As soon as I sold the book. I'd been asking around and hearing a lot of horror stories.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Same here.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I was slow: probably about five months into it.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
My writer friends told me I should take matters into my own hands as much as possible.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Ultimately, even though I have run reading series, and started the Wisconsin Book Festival, and am rather outgoing, I was not as into publicity as I thought I would be. My wife made me a killer web site...
Dan:
Dean's wife did do a great job--
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
...and then I realized I liked writing better than promoting...the tour was awesome but I came home depressed and really wanted to just go back to writing.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I am really an introvert but once I'm forced to be in a crowd I can perform okay...but my adrenaline goes through the roof...
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I'm still touring, and while I love it when the stars line up...great crowd, nice event staff, place I've never been before, make new friends -- but it is way less glamorous than I had once imagined. Now, I have nightmares about the airport.
Dan:
Still touring? This must be beyond the originally agreed upon ten cities?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Book festivals this fall, a few more events and libraries that came through at the last minute. I'm blowing the whistle come Thanksgiving.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Still, you want to have READERS, and so you do what you can to meet them. Five readers in Oklahoma who love your book means more than four stars in People in a way.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Well put, Dean.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, what can I say? I have six or seven readings around the country lined up this fall. I head to Montana tomorrow.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I agree that it's all about the readers. That's been the most fun for me, hearing from them.
Dan:
Dallas, readings in the South, any Nascar related publicity?
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
No Nascar. There's no Nascar in the book, so I hate to give that kind of impression, or that I'm trying to reach a particular market. It just happens to have some cars.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I am so ready to write again...and oh yeah, I'm completely out of money. But my baby brother was grand marshal at Nascar and had to do a bio and mentioned me… if only anyone there read the program!
Dan:
The readers - how often do you hear from them, and how do they find you? Websites? Through publishers? At events?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Websites mostly. I keep a mailing list, too, that I don't send to nearly enough...
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Mine come through the website.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Most come at me through the website. I love to hear from them.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I've gotten a couple of e-mails, that's about it.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I made little cards with my cover on the front and website on back. Plus, the website is tied to my name and the title, so if they Google, they will find it.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
I had a guy drive 150 miles to hear me read. Nobody likes books that much anymore, but this guy did. It restored my faith in America. Some guy out in Indiana loves book that much. It was grand.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Absolutely.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
Wow, that’s nice.
Dan:
Have you found that excited readers are pressing your books on others? Good word of mouth/grass roots experiences?
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I'm not a shameless self-promoter but if someone says, “Oh, I heard you wrote a book,” I can say, “Oh, yes, I just happen to have a card....” I don't know about the word-of-mouth yet but it's certainly what I’ve been aiming for…
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I do that with the card, too. I'm learning to be less embarrassed about it. Slowly. My sister's in med school, and got the med student book club to read it. I don't see how they had time...except it's a quick read.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I love booksellers and have a lot of friends in the trade. They've been great about handselling. I also have my book cover on the back of my business card.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
A high school teacher recommended the book to some of her students. So that was probably the best word of mouth and most gratifying. I made terrible grades in high school English.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, book clubs have read my book and that helps. And people who write me always say they're going to tell their friends about the book.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I'm doing two conference calls with book clubs and going to a local one. I am also going to be in Reading Group Choices for 2006...they profile your book along with several others and they're supposed to be in all the bookstores.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
I think it's amazing that people read contemporary fiction, then write the author, and say nice job. I thought all of this stuff was over in this country, but there it is plain as day.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I think email makes it so much more immediate that if you're moved by a book, you'll Google the author and write them.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
It's quite reassuring.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
It is. World seems nicer when there's a reader or two in it. Book tours and websites help you discover them.
Dan:
All five of you have websites, correct? I know Kevin has mentioned blogs. Have the rest of you wandered into the lit-blog world?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
I read them when I have time. Some of them are nice to me, and some of them hate me. Most ignore me.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
LOL.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Lauren has nudged me to dip my toes in. I am certainly in the “ignore” category.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I have a few favorites I read religiously.
Dan:
Do you see them as potential areas for marketing? Or publicity?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
I do think blogs have a community of readers that may actually buy the books and come to readings, moreso than say a cold ad in the local paper or even an ad in a slick magazine.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I would think so...certainly.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I would say relationships more than marketing or publicity. When you ned to get the word out about something, it's good to have someone with a megaphone on your side.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
It gives you an opportunity to present your work in your own way.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
The breakfast bar at Big Boy is a "potential area for marketing" in some ways...the question is, as authors, how much of the marketing game can we stomach and still write interesting work?
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I just really appreciate the sentiment of lit-blogs -- these individuals who love books (and authors) so much, they dedicate large chunks of time, and bandwith, to them.
Dan:
Once you came to the realization that you'd have to be involved with publicity or marketing of your book did you consider looking into (Sheila mentioned it) hiring your own independent publicist?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
My publicist was amazing at Harcourt. Very sensitive and honest and helpful, so it never came up...
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
The truth, as it was told to me, is that publicists at big houses are overwhelmed ...they try their best but don't count on them.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Not at first, but I realized I had three events in New York, a huge market, and didn't know a thing about the town. So I hired a sharp shooter named Lauren Cerand. Who is also very cute.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
I have never met a publicist who I wasn't attracted to in some way. I'm a sucker for them.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Mine's cute too!
Dan:
How important did you find it to be, to co-ordinate any publicity efforts you made, with those of your publisher's publicity department?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I should point out now that my publicist at Basic worked in excellent concord with Lauren, and is also quite fetching.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Yes...absolutely...
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Yes, I think it's super important to treat your in house publicist like a professional who is doing the best they can to do their job well, and not have an antagonistic “gimmie gimmie” relationship going in.
Dan:
As you begin working on your next titles do the experiences you've had out there as a previously published author have any affect on your work, that you hadn't had a chance to see when you weren't a published author?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
By the way, "fetching" is a great word, Kevin.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I think so too, Dean.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I think I'll have more confidence, but also, will worry that my second won't measure up to my first.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I find myself wondering how marketable my current project is, which is just a terrible thing to worry about. Fetching, yes, great.
Dan:
Kevin, “fetching” is the hit of the panel! Lisa, that's the kind of thing I was curious about - it seems like a big negative hanging over your shoulder while you type/write…
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I wonder about marketability, too, but I think it's good to. Someone's got to read this thing, and I did become a writer to communicate with others, not just to mine to contents of my own head.
Dan:
Have the rest of you seen this?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Dan, I'd say I know now more than ever that you just write the best story you can write. If it sticks, you're one lucky scribe. If it doesn't, despair, despair, and then write another one.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
The only consolation is that no one really knows what will be marketable in a year or two...so you best write what you care about.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Well put.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
So true.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
Best answer.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I do find though, at least for nonfiction, it helps to build off the reputation you built from Book #1. That's my plan anyway.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
When I was writing DIANA LIVELY IS FALLING DOWN all I heard was about how no one wanted to read about a British woman in America...and then they noticed Bridget Jones' and Harry Potter's success...
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
*chuckle*.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, for nonfiction, that makes sense. For fiction, who knows? Vampires one summer, Da Vinci another, Civil War deserters another...
Dan:
Listening to each of you, it becomes clear…
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
That we're all drunk?
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
v. funny!
Dan:
…you didn't get into this for the publicity, so much as to share your words. However, you've each been sucked into the dark side of publishing, at least a little bit. What would you say is the one publicity thing that either you or your publisher came up with, that you really enjoyed?
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Sure. But Dan, if my great passion in life was baking cupcakes, I wouldn't spend two years baking cupcakes and then say, “Oh, someone will find them.” I would be out giving one cupcake to every person I met. Writing = making cupcakes for me.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Mmm... cupcakes. Good analogy, Kevin.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I had no idea what publishing meant, really. I thought because I sold it to a giant, fantastic publisher that it would be a hit. I didn't know about the first novelist black hole. Now I do. I love to learn.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, I'm up late chatting about my book and my experiences as an author, so that maybe some soul might get online and buy it. It's not normal.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Not to promote my blog… but I wrote a piece about coming to terms with marketing… and my belief that if you do something that you LOVE then what's wrong with trying to get it out there in the world....based on Ray Bradbury's LA lecture (http://sheilacurran.typepad.com/falling_down_the_blog/2005/08/a_case_of_mista.html).
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I feel a responsibility to the publisher to do a better job if I do get a second chance at this. I wasn't a good promoter. I guess I ate too many cupcakes for myself.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
LOL!
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
How do you know that? If you did your best, then it's all you can do. I personally put on quite a few pounds just to prove my love for the book.
Dan:
Actually Dallas, while a specific author sent me a note to get ahold of your book, I did see you in the lit-blog arena a bit - at The Happy Booker (http://thehappybooker.blogs.com/) and then starting up DriveLikeHell.com yourself.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
I think it's also important to make peace with what you can and can't do. Our real job is to write the stuff. We only have so much control over getting readers. I guess. Maybe. Is that right?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
There's too many books being published today. So, you gotta do something to stand out...And if they published less books, maybe I would still be in the slush pile, because the low-carb cookbooks will always get published.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I was lucky to have a friend, The Happy Booker, who prodded me out to do some work. And Lauren helped me with the blog, which as been a lot of fun, because she let me do it in a fun way.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
Right, it will never feel like we are doing enough. Also, trying to be a personality type you are not will only take you so far. If anything, I had to learn the limits of my enthusiasm.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Boy, I had to learn that my doctor would only give me so many Klonopins. Two of my more farfetched ways of getting attention...static cling bumper stickers ...and having hairdressers sell my book in their salons.
Dan:
So, was there one really fun thing any of you did - I now know of Sheila's hairdresser sales staff, and Dallas' work at The Happy Booker, programming Wendi's iPod (http://thehappybooker.blogs.com/the_happy_booker/2005/03/if_i_only_had_a.html) got me more aware of his book….
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
I think doing DriveLikeHell.com as if it was run by a character from the book has been fun.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
When you are in New York, or wherever, and you have your agent and editor and publicist with you, telling you you're awesome and that you'll be a star, you believe it...
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
At my later events, I started asking audience members to name the book that changed their life. Then I would find someone in the audience and buy that book for them – someone who hadn’t read it. I had so much fun, it’s going to be the subject of my second book.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Fabulous idea!
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
Nice.
Dan:
Those both sound great (and so does the multiple Klonopin). And you Lisa? Anything that stands out as fun?
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Hey, I programmed Wendi's iPod, too (http://thehappybooker.blogs.com/the_happy_booker/2005/07/if_i_only_had_a.html). A little publicity for BELLY and for A.C. Newman, too.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
A.C. Newman rocks.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Lisa, come on, imagining a dead Walmart is always really enjoyable.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
Let's go bust some windows at Walmart.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Yes, I hope to have the corporate architecture art fair extravaganza sometime soon.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, really fuck shit up!!!!
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
Then we can steal that new Dylan CD at a Starbucks.
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah, it's totally a BOOTLEG they say.
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
Please, steal someone else's book!
Dan:
Lisa, you’ve got the First Fiction Tour…
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Yep, the FF tour will be good. I've been very, um, diplomatic about my experience. I'll leave you with this: the book takes place around the Saratoga Racecourse... there's a bookstore at the racetrack, and 100,000 viistors every week. Couldn't get Little, Brown to sell the books.
Dan:
Well, I want to thank you all for staying up late and contributing such great ideas. Would you all like to make one last comment to the readers?
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Is there any gin left?
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
It's really, really late here because I just got back from Amsterdam, but it was worth it...and I hope you all still respect me in the morning...
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
Thanks for the invite. Maybe we'll all do a reading outside a Wal-Mart together sometime.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I'd be into that
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
Yeah. Cool.
Dallas Hudgens - Drive Like Hell:
Us and a brick.
Lisa Selin Davis - Belly:
You're all quite fetching!
Dean Bakopoulos - Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon:
FETCHING! I am gonna go try that one on my wife.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
I'll bring cupcakes next time
Sheila Curran - Diana Lively is Falling Down:
I'll bring the Klonopin.
Kevin Smokler - Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times:
It's a party already.
Dan:
Thanks a lot everybody.
Contributors:
M.J. Rose (www.mjrose.com) is the internationally bestselling author of five novels, including The Halo Effect. Her background in marketing has also forced her to stay involved. To that effort she teaches Buzz your Book 9 www.writersweekly.com/wwu/courses/marketing.html) and has recently formed www.AuthorBuzz.com to take some of the work off the authors shoulders.
Kevin Smokler (www.kevinsmokler.com) is the editor of “Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times” (Basic Books, 2005). His writing has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Believer and on NPR. He lives in San Francisco and blogs at www.wheretheressmoke.net.
Lisa Selin Davis is the author of the novel Belly (Little, Brown, 2005), and a freelance journalist. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, New York, Metropolis, and many other magazines, and she teaches creative writing at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
Sheila Curran, whose first novel, Diana Lively is Falling Down was published by Penguin in July 2005, is also a mother, faculty wife, and giver of dinner parties. In her career as a trailing spouse, she’s observed the ways in which one’s identity can change and shift, depending on random circumstance and networks of support from family and friends. Her husband, who is not at all like the villain in this novel, is an accomplished writer, gardener and cook. The couple and their children have lived in England, Arizona, Boston, New York, Chicago, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Ohio.
Dallas Hudgens is the author of the novel Drive Like Hell, which was a Book Sense Top Ten pick for March 2005 and a Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” selection.
Dean Bakopoulos is the author of the novel Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon. He organized the initial Wisconsin Book Festival, and for many years was the head purchaser at Canterbury Books in Madison, WI. He currently lives in Wisconsin with his wife and baby.
Lauren Cerand is an independent public relations representative, consultant and freelance writer based in New York. Her clients are a mix of creative professionals that includes a bestselling nonfiction author, award-winning novelists, and a director featured at the Sundance film festival. Lauren specializes in generating initial buzz and building sustained attention for projects and individuals. She writes about art, politics and style at LuxLotus.com.
Dan Wickett runs the Emerging Writers Network and the EWN Blog.
Dan, once again, another valuable contribution to those of us awaiting the chance to become first-time authors. I know M.J. & Kevin from readerville.com (had to get that plug in) and they're incredibly generous with their advice and support.
I'm going to print this out...some great ideas. And I'm going to buy some cupcakes, but Kevin never said if he used real cupcakes or Hostess.
Keep up the great work.
Posted by: Mark Schannon | September 28, 2005 at 08:30 AM
Many of us would like to emerge from our cocoons and move our manuscripts and books through the smoke and mirrors of publication.
Your panel's ideas and experiences will help clear away some of the haze.
--Malcolm
Posted by: Malcolm Campbell | September 28, 2005 at 10:30 AM
This was ever so helpful. Thanks!
Posted by: cj | October 23, 2005 at 10:00 AM
Have self published 3 novels and sold between 8000 and 9000 copies all told throught the efforts of family, friends and hired marketers. Can't get an Australian or American literary agent or publisher, other than the VANITY type, and I've been there. (doesn't work). POD publishers are a waste of time, people. Amazon and Google are a joke. Living in a global position where, if the world were treated as a human body, the suppositries would be placed, is not condusive to becoming a successful author.
Having said that, I am about to self-release my fourth novel. web www.lawrenceclarke.com.
Posted by: Lawrence Clarke | October 31, 2007 at 10:16 PM
I live in Queensland (Australia) and would like someone to tell me if I should aim for an American literary agent or an Australian lit. agent?
Can someone tell me what the pros \ cons are?
Perhaps point me to a site with the answers?
Thanks in advance,
Nina Loren
Posted by: Nina Loren | August 26, 2009 at 12:31 AM