Writers in the Storm

by Cynthia D’Alba

I was sitting an RWA chapter meeting last month when the older woman beside me said, “I didn’t think I’d have to do so much promotion. I thought the publishing company took care of that.” She sighed. “Things have changed.” I just nodded but in reality,  I wouldn’t know how things used to be. I started writing in 2006 and my first book was published in 2011. All I know is how things are “now.” And “now” means the author is responsible for the majority, if not all, of the promotion that goes in a book.

First, let’s handle some reality. Promotion = book sales. Sadly, no. I wish it were true but no ads, videos, postcards nor bookmarks have ever prompted me to buy a book from an unknown author. Ink pens? I have dozens from different authors. Some of them I’ve never heard of and I’ve never looked them up to see what books they have out there. We have to bear that reality in mind as we spend precious earnings on SWAG.

This is a serious problem, at least for me. I have very limited financial reserves that I can spend on marketing/promotional items. And let’s be honest, I need to be smart with what I buy. Right now, I’m in the process of buying promotional items for “Promo Alley” at the 2014 RT Convention. The challenge is making my “stuff” stand out from the other author “stuff” lining the halls. There will be ink pens, notepads, bookmarks, and excerpts filling every table. I remember plastic wine glasses (for a book that took place in Napa Valley) and plastic bowlers (Don’t remember what book it was marketing). Chip clips and refrigerator clips littered the table tops. The thousands and thousands of dollars spent on book-related promotional material just for that one conference astounded me.

But here’s the problem…I can’t remember one BOOK being hyped nor did I run out and buy a book because of a piece of promotion. There was a marketing company that had some big refrigerator clips that I loved. I know the name of that company to this day, but individual books? Nope.

So what’s the answer then? If promotion doesn’t sell books, what does? Is promotion a necessary evil?

It is, but it can’t be the be-all to end-all for an author. Authors have to produce well-written and engaging books. In this growing digital world, an author needs to have fresh material there for a reader to buy. When print was king in the fiction world, it did take time for edits to be mailed back and forth, and the print format to set up, and the books printed and then more time to get the books into brick-and-mortar stores. But in this digital age, the time between writing and publishing has been drastically reduced. The best way to “market” yourself is to produce another book for your readers to buy.

Bottom line is I believe successful author marketing is a complicated formula of personal contact with readers (think Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, blogs, etc.), repeated exposure to an author’s name (pens, jar openers, nail files, etc), well-written books, and fresh material.

Then there’s the one sure-fire way to be successful…the right book at the right time. And that’s something we can’t control.

What’s your opinion on author promotion? Have you ever bought a book because of a postcard or book trailer or ink pen? Have you ever bought a book from an author you met and liked just because you met and liked her/him? (And the reverse…have you ever dropped an author from your autobuy list because you and met and disliked her/him?) What’s your favorite SWAG to collect at a conference?

Leave a comment and I’ll chose one person to win a jar of orange-scented hand-cream that promises to carry you away from the snow.

AND I’ve got a Rafflecopter Giveaway going. Click HERE to enter.

Cynthia D'Alba was born and raised in a small Arkansas town. After being gone for a number of years, she's thrilled to be making her home back in Arkansas living in a vine-covered cottage on the banks of an eight-thousand acre lake. She started writing on a challenge from her husband in 2006 and discovered having imaginary sex with lots of hunky men was fun.

She loves to hear from readers and there are lots of ways to find her. Online, you can find her most days at her website or her group blog.

Follow her at Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Goodreads or Pinterest. Or subscribe for her newletter. Email her at cynthia@cynthiadalba.com

To send her snail mail, write to: Cynthia D’Alba   PO Box 2116   Hot Springs, AR 71914

Her latest book is a novella, TEXAS FANDANGO, book 3 in the Texas Montgomery Mavericks series. Here’s a little more on that:

Two weeks on a beach can deepen more than just their tans.

Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 3

KC Montgomery was eleven when she met the love of her life. Of course, seventeen-year-old Drake Gentry didn’t know she existed, but that didn’t stop her girlish fantasies from growing and changing over the years.

Now, after enjoying a front-row seat to his breakup with his latest girlfriend, she’s been handed an all-grown-up fantasy come true—two weeks at the Sand Castle Resort. With him.

Drake most definitely noticed KC a long time ago, but the timing’s never been right. Now that he’s facing a lonely vacation that was supposed to be for two, it seems only natural to accept KC’s offer to fill in. And as far as her terms go… No strings. No expectations. No holds barred. Drake is no fool—he’s all over it.

But once they’re back in Texas there are invisible strings still hanging between them. Strings labeled attraction, affection…even love. And the more they try to untangle the knots, the tighter they’re bound together.

Warning: Beware of sunburns, whirlpool sex and sand in delicate places.

Sound like fun? Available from your favorite online bookstore or use a link below:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Nobles  |  Samhain

It’s Valentine’s Day and all of us at WITS want to send our heartfelt thanks to our guest bloggers and our amazing readers. Virtual chocolate hearts for everyone!

by Susan Spann 

Even though copyright protection is automatic and attaches to qualifying works (like novels) at the time of creation, an author can—purposefully or accidentally—transfer those rights by contract. During the next few months, my guest posts here at Writers in the Storm will take a look at some common contract terms to watch for … and to watch out for.

Today, we start with #1: the Unambiguous Statement of Copyright Ownership

Your publishing contract should always contain a statement that you, the author, “are and will remain” the sole owner of the copyright.

The language referencing copyright ownership usually doesn’t appear in the paragraph granting the publisher rights to publish the work. It normally comes in a later part of the contract, in a paragraph titled, “Ownership,” “Copyright Status,” or something similar.

The language you want to see will look something like this:

“Author retains sole copyright ownership and sole ownership of all rights in and to the Work, with the limited exception of rights expressly granted to Publisher in this Agreement. This Agreement operates as a grant of copyright license, permission, and use to the maximum extent necessary or useful for Publisher to carry out and benefit from the terms of this Agreement.”

That’s written in semi-legalese, so let’s break down what it means:

“Author retains sole copyright ownership and sole ownership of all rights in and to the Work”  This is the critical language you have to see. It means that you, the author, retain sole ownership of both the copyright and all other rights in and to the work.

You are licensing the publishing rights to the publisher, not selling them or giving them away outright. The contract must say so, and say so explicitly, in terms you understand.

“with the limited exception of rights granted to Publisher under this Agreement.”  Obviously, the rights you grant to the publisher are no longer your own for the duration of the agreement. They have been licensed to the publisher, usually on an “exclusive” basis, which means the publisher has the sole right to use and exploit those rights during the contract term.

“This Agreement operates as a grant of copyright license, permission, and use”  This means that the Agreement gives the publisher a “license” (legally binding permission) to use the author’s copyrighted work. The words “license, permission, and use” distinguish the grant being made from a grant of ownership.

“…to the maximum extent necessary or useful for Publisher to carry out and benefit from the terms of this Agreement.”  This means the publisher has the right to use the author’s work in the ways described in the Agreement, as well as other reasonably necessary or “useful” ways.

To many authors, the word “useful” seems to expand on the rights granted to the publisher. Generally speaking, the word “useful” is not considered an expansion of the publisher’s rights. In legalese, “necessary or useful” normally means that the Publisher has the right to engage in reasonable secondary uses which are part of or directly related to the other rights (e.g., the right to publish the book). Some of these “necessary or useful” things might include the right to grant permission to someone else to physically print copies of the books, the right to hire someone to distribute the books, the right to send out review copies, etc.

When representing authors, I might ask the publisher to strike the words “maximum extent” and “or useful,” so the expanded rights are only those “necessary” to carry out the publisher’s rights to publish and market the work. However, if the publisher refused, I wouldn’t recommend that the author reject the contract over that point alone.

If you review a publishing contract, and cannot find an unambiguous statement that you remain the sole owner of copyright in and to the work being licensed, do not sign or agree to it. You may be giving away important rights that you can never recover. Always ask an attorney (or an experienced agent) to review the contract and make sure that ownership of the work remains with you, and you alone.

Note, however: this language isn’t the end of the copyright tale.

In addition to an unambiguous statement about the copyright, your contract should contain at least three other important copyright provisions. We’ll look at each of them, in turn, in the months to come.

Do you understand the legalese well enough to know what to look for? If you have questions about this or other copyright issues, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Susan Spann is a publishing attorney and author from Sacramento, California. Her debut mystery novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, July 2013), is the first in a series featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori. The sequel, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, will release in July 2014.

Susan blogs about writing, publishing law and seahorses at http://www.SusanSpann.com. You can also find her on Twitter, @SusanSpann, or on Facebook.

by Orly Konig-Lopez

Last month Sharla Rae wrote about switching genres. She’s a historical romance writer and has decided to take the leap into a futuristic. The common thread between the two genres that gave her the courage to try: research.

That post has been on my mind. I’ve had a particularly bad case of ‘Fussy Brain’ lately and have been jumping around between various projects trying to “find” a creative spark.

Rewind to December.

I started a new women’s fiction project. And man, did it start out strong. Oh yeah! The pieces of the WIP puzzle were fitting into place, the words were flowing, the characters were singing, happy times. Then life happened. The creative flow came to a screeching halt. Every time I sat down to write, I’d end up with a to-do list or fuffing about on social media and internet sites or spraying my orchids, again.

Fast forward to last week.

After spending two hours staring at a blinking cursor under the sad words “Chapter 3,” I gave up and started cleaning my office (orchids had already been sprayed). In my “current project” drawer is a notebook from the November PiBoIdMo - that’s Picture Book Idea Month for those who may not be familiar. Out came the notebook.

Stick with me a few more minutes.

We’ve all heard the advice to go for a walk in nature or manhandle exercise equipment or clean toilets or use all the hot water in the shower or whatever gives you that change of scenery and mental break when you’re struggling with a scene. Picture books work much the same way for me. Here’s why:

When I write women’s fiction, I have to be on a computer. I’ve tried longhand, nothing happens. The first draft has to be typed out. Editing is longhand, but that first messy draft is a collaboration between my brain, fingers and MacBook Pro.

Picture books, on the other hand, flow from brain, to colored pen, to legal pad. Those I edit on the computer but first messy draft must be longhand. Go figure!

That switch in format and genre, releases the bunched up undies on my creative braincells.

There are also a lot of similarities -

Characters - Regardless of the story you’re writing, you need strong characters … main characters, secondary characters, a good guy, a not-so-good guy, a mom, a dad, a friend, an I-thought-you-were-my-friend friend, a dog. Characters must have unique traits that help to both increase the conflict and create the solution. Every character must come to life for the reader but you should adjust your character brainstorming for the appropriate audience. After all, a booger-picking-and-flicking six year old will probably have more appeal to one audience over another.

Conflict - Who wants to read a story where every character is perfectly happy and nothing ever goes wrong? Conflict! We want conflict. Internal, external, high drama, humorous, angst filled, tricky, straightforward, doesn’t matter, it just needs to be there.

Story Structure - Every story has a beginning and the central problem or conflict, then the middle as the problem increases, and finally the end and resolution of the problem. Easy peasy. 325 pages or 32 pages, the structure is the same.

Tight writing - Show of hands … who’s heard the phrase “write tight” from a crit partner? My first drafts ramble. I leave editing for the second and third and sixth pass. Each time, I tighten a bit more. In a novel you have 75,000-100,000 (or more) words to make all the great things mentioned above happen. In a picture book you have under 1,000, preferably closer to 400-500 words. Talk about an excellent exercise in making every word count.

This week, I’m back to my women’s fiction WIP and excited about the ideas flowing.

Your turn … how do you untangle your creative braincells?

Congratulations to Alissa Callen, the winner of a Margie Lawson online class! Thanks for reading and commenting on Margie's Body Language blog, Alissa.

About Orly

After years of pushing the creativity boundary in corporate communications, Orly decided it was time for a new challenge. Three women’s fiction manuscripts later (plus a handful of picture books), it’s safe to say she’s found her creative outlet.  When she’s not talking to her imaginary friends, she’s reading or at least trying to ignore everyone around her long enough to finish “just one more paragraph.” Orly is the founding president of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

You can find her on Twitter at @OrlyKonigLopez or on her website, www.orlykoniglopez.com.