Writers in the Storm

By Lynda Bouchard

What can an author learn from a pair of Spanx? A lot.

I was in a mall last week with my aunt and, as we walked through the pantyhose department, I noticed that one brand stood out. Spanx.

How Spanx got noticed and the unique marketing of this product is a brilliant lesson for all authors. Small is the new big.

1. Fill a void.

As an entrepreneur you want to stand out from everyone else who has a book. Spanx was CREATED to fill a void. Ask yourself what VOID your book can fill – where can it be presented, signed or stocked where it will be noticed.

2. Packaging matters.

People DO judge a book by its cover. Spanx created a recognizable brand image that stands out. Simple and red. Keep it simple – it will be read.

3. Small is the new big.

Spanx has become an internationally known product without ever spending a dime on advertising! They did it by reaching their small core group of friends, family & people they worked with and the word spread like wildfire from there. You MUST have a great product (book) for this to happen. Who is your core audience? Get in front of people who know you.

4. In this world of technology, social media and too many choices there is a fragmented audience. In an attempt to reach EVERYONE – you end up reaching NO ONE.

Think smaller. Think locally. It’s like dropping a pebble into a pond. When you reach the group that cares about you and your message, they will spread the word for you. The buzz will build. You will leverage each interview, media hit & book event to your advantage. Author Hugh Howey is the perfect example of this.

5. Never stop evolving.

Once your book is published consider spin-off items and events that tie in with your book’s title or characters. Your book is your calling card. Think outside the book! Give stuff away with your book at signings. Or online. Give your readers a reason to follow you. Create an online newsletter.

Spanx is an example of never resting on their laurels. They are still creating new lines and new customers. They do it by thinking creatively.

Go ahead, stretch your imagination.

(**Spanx, for you guys out there, is an undergarment that makes women look like Twiggy only shapelier. Great news, they have a men’s line now – check it out, dude!)

What questions do you have for Lynda? Do you worry about author marketing? What marketing efforts worked well for you? What publicity efforts felt like wasted time and energy?

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About Lynda

Lynda Bouchard is Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Booking Authors Ink, a boutique public relations firm dedicated to authors.

She writes the Literary Latte Blog and has represented a range of authors from David Baldacci and Dorothea Benton Frank to Harvey Mackay and Ken Burger.

For more information, go to www.bookingauthorsink.com.

Spanx photo credit: {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester} via photopin cc

by Susan Spann, @SusanSpann

Whether you write detective fiction, romance, historical novels or fantasy epics, a lone protagonist never receives as great a reaction as one with a well-developed supporting cast.

Foils serve to reinforce and highlight the hero’s good (and bad) characteristics, and also give the protagonist a chance to shine outside the primary narrative.

Although a “sidekick” isn’t mandatory, a strong secondary character improves many stories in several important ways:

1. Introducing an Alternate Point of View.

Sidekicks rarely agree with everything the protagonist does, and often have a radically different worldview. This gives the author a chance to present alternative theories, new opinions, and thoughts that the protagonist or hero might not propose on his (or her) own.

A sidekick proves especially effective where the sidekick has a different gender, religion, or race than the protagonist. In addition to adding great diversity to your fiction (and forcing you, as the writer, to stretch your mind to encompass another point of view), this lets you write from “multiple” viewpoints even when the narration is not omniscient.

2. Increasing the Tension on Every Page.

People argue. Animals fight. Aliens disagree in ways that sometimes require the use of laser pistols. (Did Han shoot first? Discuss.)

A protagonist needs to have conflict with the antagonist, and often with henchmen, but most of that conflict doesn’t resolve until the final pages of the story. A sidekick offers a chance for a disagreement—or at least tension—on every page:

• How should the characters hunt for the killer?
• Is pursuing that guy in the romantic heroine’s best or worst interest?
• Which of these aliens should we trust, and which ones want to eat us?

The protagonist has her opinion … and the sidekick often has another.

3. A Different Kind of Interaction With the Protagonist.

We learn a lot about people (and animals, and aliens) by watching the way they interact with others, and we learn about protagonists by seeing them in various situations.

• Does your detective have a fear of Zambonis?
• Will that sentient unicorn stab someone for calling him “horn-face”?

A sidekick lets the reader see the protagonist interacting with different people, and in additional situations, rather than only interacting with the antagonist and/or henchmen. A sidekick allows the protagonist to develop a different kind of relationship “on screen,” in ways that usually deepen the hero’s character.

4. Playing the Shell Game.

A reader shouldn’t be able to guess a novel’s ending in the first few pages. Generally speaking, readers want some mystery—regardless of the story’s “real” genre. A sidekick can offer thoughts, opinions, and actions designed to distract the reader from the true solution, furthering not only detective fiction but other narratives as well.

By way of example: Father Mateo, the sidekick in my Shinobi Mystery novels, often misunderstands the social conventions and clues presented in the course of a murder investigation. Sometimes, however, he’s the one that gets things right. By keeping him in the foreground, and letting him argue with my ninja protagonist, Hiro, I can use their differing opinions to keep the reader guessing.

All of these, and more, will further the sidekick’s most important job: 

5. Strengthening the Reader’s Connection to the Protagonist.

Ultimately, we read because we enjoy the adventure contained within the pages of a book. We read because we like the hero, or heroine, and because we want to see the villain lose. Although there are many wonderful novels which feature a “lone wolf” protagonist, it’s often the interactions between that character and the ones around her (or him) which draw us in and keep us turning pages

This is particularly true in series fiction.

Holmes without Watson becomes a neurotic, slightly-too-talented sleuth without the humanity and sense of humor his partner brings to the narrative.

Batman without Robin is …. Ok, that might be a bad example. (But a good one to highlight the fact that a sidekick is not an absolute MUST.)

If you’re struggling to make a connection between the reader and your protagonist, to heighten the tension, or to expand your narrative’s world and view, consider adding a sidekick or increasing the role of a secondary character in your novel.

You might discover a “Watson” is exactly what your protagonist really needs.

Who is your favorite fictional sidekick (and why)? What other ways do you think a sidekick can help the protagonist?

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About Susan

Susan Spann writes the Shinobi Mysteries, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Her debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, 2013), was named a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month. The second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, releases on July 15, 2014.

Susan is also a transactional attorney whose practice focuses on publishing law and business. When not writing or practicing law, she raises seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium. You can find her online at her website, http://www.SusanSpann.com, and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).

photo credit: dynamosquito via photopin cc

by Fae Rowen

Skimming is defined as a crime. Well, it is. If you skim money from your job, you’re going to jail. Or worse depending on whom you work for. Skimming is also defined as removing floating matter from a liquid. Can you say pond scum? The third definition says, “To pass lightly and quickly over.” Not bad if you’re skimming rocks across water.

That brings us to the final definition of skimming: “To glance through and read quickly or superficially.” As writers, this is the one that can kill a career–even before it begins.

Why do we skim when we read? We’re in a hurry to get through the boring, the uninteresting, the unnecessary details because we want to get to the good stuff. Unfortunately, as humans we want to speed through those same ordinary parts of our days. And we want turbo-boost through the rough, the character-building, parts of our own lives.

If you’re skimming through your life, you are cheating not only yourself but your writing, and ultimately, your readers. I know we’re all busy and tired, so we consciously–and unconsciously–try to save energy. The problem is, when we “multi-task” we zero-observe. Not a good idea for our craft, because our experiences translate into the magic that flows from our fingertips.

Our job is to open our readers to new sensations, new ideas, new locales. If we sleepwalk through our days, we’ve got no fuel for our writer-fire.

Who doesn’t feel potential in the fuchsia and pink streaks across the bluing of the sky at dawn? Who can’t take joy at a baby’s gurgling laugh of glee on the discovery of toes, even after being up all night with the child? If we don’t wake up and notice the magnificence of life around us, in all its glories and defeats, how can we have any chance to inspire our readers?

No matter your genre, how can you share your world if you aren’t aware of the subtle interactions of others? Sure, we aren’t going to miss two colleagues screaming at each other at work, but did we miss the weeks (maybe months) of the small cues that led to the blowup? Did we miss the not-so-obvious clues? It’s those not-so-obvious clues that surprise our readers, providing the “twist” that makes our plots rise above others.

“If the well is dry, nobody’s getting a drink.” That’s an observation one of my characters made. As writers, we need to be reminded of this often. Take time to fill your well. Hone your powers of observation. You don’t need hours. You just need to wake up to your surroundings and stay present with what is happening in your life. Notice when you tend to “tune out” and be curious about why, really why, you do that. (You can’t use tired for an excuse.)

In fact, become very curious about everything. Not only will that keep you involved in your life, but you may find interesting perspectives about why you do what you do day after day, even if it’s not making you happy. Merely being observant is not being awake. A silent movie is simply the observations of a camera. The added sound comes from your feelings, your reactions to what you see.

A word of caution. Living your life completely, staying awake, isn’t easy. Don’t beat yourself up if you have trouble putting together five minutes of openness. And beware, you may uncover nastiness under that rug you’ve been ignoring.

But how can you expect your characters to work themselves out of those black moments we sink them into if we can’t get out of our own?

Awake is being engaged. Awake is feeling the moment. Awake is truly living.

So stop sleep-walking. Live your day today by trying to put together just five minutes of awake, even if they aren’t contiguous. Do this for yourself every day. It won’t be long until someone tells you your writing is different. Better. And I bet you’ll be able to say the same thing about your life.

Do you have tips on how to wake up? Are you willing to share a story about an experience that was different because you were fully engaged with your heart, your body, your very soul?

Fae Rowen discovered the romance genre after years as a science fiction freak.   Writing futuristics and medieval paranormals, she jokes that she can live anywhere but the present.  As a mathematician, she knows life’s a lot more fun when you get to define your world and its rules and watch what happens.

Punished, oh-no, that’s published as a co-author of a math textbook, she yearns to hear personal stories about finding love from those who read her books, rather than the horrors of arithmetic lessons gone wrong.  She swears her Siamese cats can tell time (4 p.m. = dinner) and is grateful for good friends who remind her to do the practical things in life like grocery shop, show up at the airport for a flight and pay bills.

Fae Rowen began writing after reading her favorite author’s entire backlist in three weeks and couldn’t bear the thought of waiting nine months for the next book.  The sword-wielding hero that was in her head every night seemed like a good start.  A “hard” scientist who avoided writing classes like the plague, she now enjoys sharing her brain with characters who demand their stories be told.  Amazing, gifted critique partners keep her on the straight and narrow. Feedback from readers keeps her fingers on the keyboard.