by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Jun 5, 2015 | Blog, Series: Drawer no more!
The cover of Gail’s new book
With us on the blog today is Gail Ward Olmsted, an author of two published novels, who is busy at work on a third. Her new book, Guessing at Normal, is a “rock and roll romance,” as detailed below. Gail is a professor in the School of Business & Information Technology at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, MA. She received the Deliso Endowed Chair Award as well as statewide recognition for excellence in education. Gail says that she is “a hopeless romantic…married to the love of my life, mom to two young adults and three cats.” She enjoys reading, boating, music, and travel.
Anesa Miller: Thanks for being with us, Gail. As you know, I’ve been exploring questions of genre recently. So I’d like to ask your opinion as a writer: Does genre offer readers information they need in order to choose a book like others they’ve enjoyed?
For more about genre, and also author interviews click here!
Gail Ward Olmsted: As a reader, I am not a big fan of ‘genre typing’. I personally enjoy a variety of books. I look for interesting characters, a well-developed plot, realistic dialogue and good writing style. Tell me your title, show me a cover and share a blurb: I can decide if I want to read a book without the label. Labels limit choices. Can it be a romance if a main character dies or there’s no happily ever after? Is it automatically considered ‘young adult’ if the main character is 23 or younger? If you include the male’s point of view, can it still be ‘women’s fiction’?
AM: Those are great questions. I would love to hear a publisher’s response! Don’t they usually insist on slotting books into a fairly tight category for marketing purposes?
GWO: Yes, and I do understand why, at least in theory. Some publishers specialize in certain types of books and knowing where your book ‘fits’ helps them to deliver the best possible product and to identify the ideal target market. Many readers have very strong preferences on the type of books they like to read. As a business professional, I understand that a successful product needs to offer a distinct selling proposition. I just appreciate a somewhat more liberal interpretation of some of the ‘rules’.
AM: And how would you describe your own work? Or maybe I should ask, how is it defined for marketing?
GWO: I write somewhere between contemporary romance and women’s contemporary fiction with a splash of chick-lit to keep from taking myself too seriously. Self-discovery seems to be a key theme in my first two novels, as well as the one I am working on now.
GWO
AM: I haven’t read your new book yet, but a rock and roll romance sounds like a lot of fun. Have you created a playlist of songs that “work” with the story? Did any particular songs inspire you as you worked on the book?
GWO: Music always inspires me! Certain songs take me back to very distinct times in my life, some good and others—not so much. Each chapter in Guessing is a title of a pop song from the last twenty-five years starting when the story begins in 1989. They represent the tone and content of the chapter and help to tell the story. I spent a lot of time choosing titles such as:
- Got My Mind Set on You ~ George Harrison
- I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing ~ Aerosmith
- Only Wanna Be with You ~ Hootie & the Blowfish
- Torn ~ Natalie Imbruglia
- Hard to Handle ~ The Black Crowes
- Everybody Hurts ~ R.E.M.
- Right Here, Right Now ~ Jesus Jones
- You Get What You Give ~ New Radicals
- Linger ~ The Cranberries
- Crash Into Me ~ Dave Matthews Band
- Come As You Are ~ Nirvana
AM: Thanks again for joining us, Gail. Her new book is Guessing at Normal. Here’s what it’s about—
Jill Griffin has mastered the art of being invisible, so when she falls in love with sexy rocker James Sheridan, at first she is content to live in his larger than life shadow. Building a ‘normal’ life together under the glare of the media is challenging and further complicated by constant touring, James’ partying and the mixed signals she gets from James’ twin brother Alex.
When her poems and journal ramblings become the songs on James’ best-selling album, Jill has to step out of her comfort zone and figure out how to live her life in a spotlight all her own. With no road map to follow, she struggles to navigate her way in her search for happiness. As her professional success threatens her relationship with James, Jill questions whether she can make a living writing love songs without the love of her life.
Purchase Guessing at Normal from Barnes & Noble, or from Amazon.
Connect with Gail Ward Olmsted on social media—
Twitter Facebook Amazon
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Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! Please feel free to nose about the website and let me know if you like what you see, or if you have suggestions. You can reach me by leaving a comment in the box below or by clicking the Contact link at upper right (or just click here). I hope you’ll stop by again soon. And please consider subscribing to my blog or newsletter!
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | May 20, 2015 | Blog, Series: Drawer no more!
Most self-published, or otherwise independently published, authors are aware of the phenomenon known as #IndieBooksBeSeen. This movement of mutual support originated with one creative and energetic individual—Mark Shaw. A YA and fantasy author, Mark is known in the world of social media as “Keeper of The Wind,” after the title of his book.
Mark is a native of Baltimore MD and now resides in Vancouver BC. I was flattered when he reached out to me in the summer of 2014—as he reached out to many other authors, as well—inviting us to take part in the first Indie Pride Day. He urged us all to take a photo of ourselves with our book covers, then to tweet these and RT others on July 1st. Voilá #IndieBooksBeSeen.
I asked Mark to comment on his experience with independent publishing and the need for mutual support.
Mark says—
Since releasing my first novel, The Keeper of The Wind, one thing I noticed on social media was the frenzied way everyone seemed to be promoting their books. It seemed crazy how indie authors were basically begging for someone to either buy their book or take a look at it for free. Social media is saturated with this. I found it discouraging and wondered how I could compete amid such chaos.
I’m sure many new authors feel the same way. As a creative person, I started thinking of ways to get around the frantic hustle of endless promotions. There must be alternatives for getting my book to the hands of readers.
A few days after putting my book out, I received a note from another indie author asking how my book was selling and what I was doing to promote it. He told me his current book wasn’t selling well at all. Even so, he was in the process of releasing his 4th novel.
I thought this was crazy.
Soon after, I read an article titled “Keep Your Day Job.” It broke down how very few indie authors are making money at their craft. The chances of being able to make a decent living from writing are slim to none. This pissed me off, and I saw it as challenge for change.
Mark Shaw
With this notion, I came up with the #IndieBooksBeSeen movement. The first thing I set out to do was to make July 1st of every year #IndieBooksBeSeen day, a day when indie authors show the world that we’re united and proud to be indie. It started with posting a picture of ourselves holding up our indie titles and then retweeting everyone’s else’s book for the world and all social media to see—one grand gesture to show the world that we’re here and strong together.
It was a bigger success than I thought it would be, and I was very moved by others’ warm sentiments and sense of pride. This gave me hope, and I felt encouraged to forge ahead with a new plan while the momentum was still strong. I decided to try giving struggling authors a boost by challenging others to review their books. I know what it’s like to just start out and struggle for reviews, unless you pay for them.
So I felt this would be an easy challenge, but boy was I wrong! I urged several participants to give it a try on our indie pride day, thinking they were still feeling the love from #indiebooksbeseen a couple of weeks before. Right away one person said she felt like she was getting spammed by me. I thought, wow! But it wasn’t spam when tons of others spent hours retweeting your title. To make things worse, the review challenge never took flight. Out of all the people I reached out to, only a few took part.
What this said to me was that most indie authors will only get involved in projects that are self-serving to their own cause, unless they’re part of a group. I want indie books to be the cool alternative to mainstream books. The only way I can see this happening is if we become one voice for the industry itself. I’m not saying don’t promote your book, I’m just asking you to give some of your energy to boosting our industry. Because when the light shines on our industry, it’ll shine on all of us.
A couple of questions—
Anesa: Will the #IndieBooksBeSeen event happen on Twitter again this year?
MarktheShaw: Yes our Indie Pride Day is coming around again and I’m excited! My hope is that people will see us as an olive branch for hope.
Anesa: The point you raise about reviews is very important. I totally agree that we must support each other with reviews as best we can because the traditional media is obviously not going to do it! But in all honesty, we know there are many unedited books out there, some of which were mainly published for the writer’s family and not so much for the public at large. Wading through many books to find one that we can give a good review can take up a good deal of time…
MarktheShaw: When indie authors decide to put out a book, we want them to know right away that we’re here for them to help on all levels.
Thanks so much Mark for your positive attitude and energy. I hope we can bring a bit more attention to the cause this year. Best wishes to you always–
* * * *
Connect with @MarkThe Shaw on Twitter
and on Facebook.
Visit his Amazon author page.
Search the hashtag for an overview of #IndieBooksBeSeen.
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Mar 23, 2015 | Blog, Series: Drawer no more!
Just over a year ago I started the DRAWER NO MORE! series on this blog to record my journey on the path of self-publishing (SP). That jaunt led to the creation of two books—an achievement both thrilling and frustrating—usually, in that order. At the time, like so many contemporary writers, I had struggled for over a decade to get a foot in the door of traditional publishing, honing my craft, perfecting query letters, researching markets, and pitching my work to agent after agent. All to no avail.
So even though SP was not my first choice, I embraced the option and gave it my all. Of course, the “vertical learning curve” presented a challenge. Like all independent authors, I grappled with the ins and outs of ISBNs, e-book formats and conversion, design, POD, marketing and distribution—enough new concepts to fill a dictionary.
My head was spinning for months with no comfort zone in sight. But in the immortal words of Édith Piaf, “I regret nothing!”
“Rien de rein!”
True, my SP journey brought disappointments. In the beginning, I was planning to launch three books with more to follow. Instead, I’ve called a halt after the first two. That’s because an unforeseen development has now occurred along the publishing path—a very exciting development, but one that entails its own new concepts and challenges.
I’m back at square one, but this time, it’s a whole new world.
My old dream has come true at last: I have a publisher! Two of my books have been accepted, and one is already in production.
Isn’t there a proverb about wishes coming true when you finally give up striving? That’s more or less how it happened. Within weeks of saying, “No publisher? No more self-pubs? So be it. Back to the drawer…” I received an acceptance from Booktrope Publishing of Seattle. No, the news didn’t fly out of a clear blue sky; I had submitted work and 
gotten a recommendation from one of their long-time authors. But I had trained myself to harbor so little hope for good things that the acceptance knocked me over with the proverbial feather.
I’ve featured discussions of Booktrope here on the blog before, but—truth be told—I didn’t understand how it worked until I signed my contract and found myself admitted to the online inner sanctum of Teamtrope, where authors recruit managers, editors, and designers to help bring their books to fruition. This process is complex and can be confusing. I have yet to master all of the details, but already I can energetically dismiss the most common misperceptions—
BOOKTROPE IS NOT A VANITY PRESS. REPEAT: NOT A VANITY PRESS.
In other words—
Booktrope does NOT require or accept upfront fees of any kind from authors.
Booktrope does NOT keep an unduly large share of net revenues. In fact, at 30%, they keep far less than traditional publishers.
Booktrope does NOT allow poorly edited books to go to press. Nor do they accept every manuscript that comes over the transom from writers unprepared for the publishing process.
Some of my fellow self-publishers may ask, “But why give away almost one third of the proceeds when you could run the show yourself and keep it all?”
The answer, of course, is that I get something valuable in return: an imprint, a reputation, a well-informed and readily available staff, an advertising budget, and access to media opportunities I could never dream of on my own. Does this mean I’ll sell exponentially more books than I did as a self-publisher? I have to admit the answer is, “Hopefully, yes…but not necessarily.”
Now, however, I’ve got my team all invested with me and ready to navigate the rough seas of marketing. None of us will make a penny unless we all make sure the book finds readers. Even more important, I’m no longer alone on the daunting journey of self-expression. Experienced professionals have considered my work and said, “Absolutely! We want to bring this to the world.”
No guarantees, but no regrets. I’m still at Square One with Booktrope, head spinning as I adjust to new procedures. No one knows how the venture may unfold. Even so, as the Russian saying goes, I like the “feel of a shoulder” beside me. I’m not alone, and that feels like a whole new world.
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Jan 19, 2015 | Blog, Series: Drawer no more!
Don’t get me wrong: I love singing in choirs, and I’m all about the mutual back-scratching that group support implies. In terms of publishing and social media, this means retweeting, following back, posting comments, inviting guests to contribute to blogs, or simply clicking the ol’ LIKE button. At the high end of the scale, this list includes downloading freebies or purchasing books, reading and posting reviews on Amazon.
♥ Sign on for my excellent GIVEAWAY throughout April 2015: WIN $50 in books from Powell’s Independent Bookstore! Click for details! ♥
Over the past year, I’ve done all these things as often as I honestly could without lapsing into obsession. Well, okay, I admit I did become obsessed with socmed for several months—bewitched by its alleged potential for launching my self-published books beyond the circle of personal acquaintance. I craved a wider readership of people who’d never heard of me before. I wanted to launch off the ground, if not into the stratosphere.
If tweeting and posting could help me achieve that, then I was more than willing to try. I gave it my all.
At one point, Twitter suspended me for seeking new followers “too aggressively.” Even then, I made an effort to exchange individual messages and welcome every new follower who joined my flock. For weeks on end, I issued 30 tweets a day or more on an array of topics aimed to engage a diverse range of folks, many of whom were (Surely!) just waiting to “convert” into readers of my books.
There were rules to follow: I never tweeted promos more often than 3:1, the magic formula. And I kept it up in spite of a growing sense of nausea as I struggled to devise clever ways of saying, “Check out this great read!” In fewer than 140 characters, of course.
I had consulted a PR guru. Social marketing was the tsunami of the future: the quickest, cheapest, and most surefire way to establish my reputation as a writer and promote my books throughout the virtual universe. Expectations were high since I got onto Twitter not long after Bella Andre and others made their big splash. Everyone was hoping a reliable strategy had emerged—”Grow your online tribe!” Sales and readers were sure to follow.
Once the euphoria began to wane, it was important to remember that success still depends on genre, luck, and elusive factors like one’s affinity for self-promotion.
No doubt it’s obvious that this account of my socmed career entails a trek down the stony path of disappointment. Did all those tweets and posts sell books? In a 14-month period, between two titles, I sold just under 300 copies. Scarcely a handful of those sales can be credited to socmed activity of any kind. Instead, my family-wide email campaign generated numbers, as did face-to-face events like festivals and signings.
And yes, I tried an online giveaway.
Really, I don’t mean to whine. I am grateful for every purchase, every comment, every review. Still, fellow writers may want to realize that I fell far short of my dream: the great majority of my customers are folks who already knew me, or knew of me through secondhand acquaintance. Ongoing word-of-mouth did not take off, however, and my work remains earthbound.
Basically, a failure to launch.
“Indie authors” are supposed to be entrepreneurs, dividing our time between creativity and marketing. For me that balance has become precarious. Call me old-fashioned, but tweeting and posting are incompatible with writing as I once knew it. While thousands of us send out the same plea, day after day—”Buy me! Read me! Ditto all your friends!”—socmed has recruited precious few readers to my cause. So I hereby announce an extended vacation. The air waves will be a tiny bit less crowded with @anesam98 no longer adding to the clamor.
This blog has been great fun and will still enjoy a future. Please feel free to weigh in below with comments, disagreement, or personal experience. I love to host debate in these pages.
Disappointment means nothing when I recall the wonderful people I’ve met online. In the course of my socmed career, I enjoyed these encounters more than I ever expected. Connection has brought me delight and a sense of genuine, if intangible, success. Sincere thanks to all, especially—
The generous and brilliant writers who contributed posts to this blog and made my website a far more interesting place than it could have been otherwise. These include @jbchicoine @BradParker @thesuzettebrown @dumbbumcomics and @PMCoomer
Thoughtful and compassionate commenters who made my day, time and again, creating a priceless sense of engagement: @KVaselopulos @hectorhoraciova @Micsova @AyersEdits @PinchinLane @TerryTyler4 @PoeticFlow310 @Karenlsullivan9 @JacqueeT @medarlinv @TreeTop Orchid @mikeydbii @markvanderpool and, of course, the intrepid @FredWebster10
Tweeps who reached out to me across continents, from entirely different walks of life, with humor, fellow-feeling, and encouragement. The list would quickly cover this page, so forgive me if I mention just a few shining examples: @Corkytp @TamieDearen @ALittleMissie @tomkohlt @KlaraCharlton @MarkTheShaw @seams16 @Kindlemojo @JAEL488 and @Billward10Bill
Also, special thanks to Sage Adderley and all the wonderful bloggers who took part in my online tour. Each feature was a treasure and much appreciated.
Best wishes to all. I hope we’ll be tweeting together again in the literary choir some day soon.
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Sep 6, 2014 | Blog, Series: Drawer no more!
In spite of my struggle with Kirkus Reviews (read here), I ultimately decided to take what I could get and hereby publish their comments on my novel OUR ORBIT. The offending spoiler has been removed, so please read without fear!
More gratifying are the very un-snarky, and entirely unpaid, remarks from The Midwest Book Review, also included below.
The Midwest Book Review OUR ORBIT—
A deftly woven, complex and compelling novel, “Our Orbit” showcases the literary work of an imaginative and skilled author able to craft memorable characters, whose lives and circumstances will hold the reader’s total attention from beginning to end. Thought-provoking entertainment, “Our Orbit” by Anesa Miller is wholeheartedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Contemporary Fiction collections.
Kirkus Reviews comments on OUR ORBIT—
N.B.: Spoiler removed!
A foster family deals with culture clashes after taking in a motherless girl whose militia-wannabe father has been jailed.
In the Appalachian corner of Ohio, 9-year-old Miriam Winslow’s mother dies in a car crash. Not long after, her father is arrested on tax nonpayment and weapons charges. The family’s trailer is seized, and Miriam must enter foster care (her older brother and sister live with others). Deanne and Rick Fletcher already have young children; though they can’t afford another baby, they have room for a foster child. They’d been hoping for an infant, but as Rick says, “If there’s an immediate need, we should help out. Right?” That’s what the Fletchers are like. Despite warnings about the Winslows, long known as “a ragged bunch by any standard…the kind with no ambition” or, to get to “the gist of the matter: trashy,” the Fletchers aim for patient reasonableness. When Miriam’s angry, self-righteous older brother, Josh, threatens her new family, they will be further challenged to put their faith into action.
Miller (To Boldly Go, 2013, etc.) employs deft characterization to make the Winslows and Fletchers three-dimensional. Deanne, recalling a childhood memory whose undercurrents she only now begins to grasp, wonders, “Do we ever know what’s really going on?” Rejecting simplistic stereotypes, from “trashy” to “homophobic,” Miller invites readers to probe beyond immediate impressions. She also takes a realistic view of limitations; when Deanne’s mother softens toward her [estranged] brother, “You could tell these plans had come from arduous soul-searching. But it seemed a bit soon for applause. Indeed, no sooner did Mom’s eyes finally meet Deanne’s than her look hardened.” This realism is also evident in Miriam’s older sister Rachelle, a troubled girl who cuts herself. She doesn’t get better all at once; instead, she learns hope slowly, in glimpses: “But now, here came a new thought: if she wanted to, she could talk to Mrs. Fletcher about all that.” Josh’s slow burn is also well-handled; Miller does a fine job of showing just how his frustration builds and seeks a target.
A compassionate, thoughtful narrative about hard-won self-realizations.
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Through 4th of July, 2015 – Join a great GIVEAWAY to celebrate my new novel! Many prizes – gift cards, crafts & a signed copy of OUR ORBIT, finalist for “Best Regional Fiction” Click here to join !
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Many thanks for visiting my blog today! Please browse the website and let me know if you like what you see, or if you have suggestions. You can reach me by leaving a comment in the box below or by clicking the Contact link at upper right (or just click here). Consider subscribing to my blog or newsletter. And stop by again soon!
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Aug 4, 2014 | Blog, Series: Drawer no more!
An Installment in the Saga of DRAWER NO MORE!
>> View all posts in this series.
In fairness to Kirkus Reviews, I’ll readily admit that they have some fine employees. When I wrote to express my disappointment with the review I’d purchased of my novel, Our Orbit, I was surprised to encounter a very helpful young man. I assume he was young since he was working as a first-line responder to email inquiries like mine. I’ll call him Thad.
Among Thad’s helpful reminders was this: “Our reviews are required to meet a minimum word count of 250 words.” So at 348 words, my review was laden with gravy.
Point taken, Thad…although nearly 100 of those words were mine rather than the reviewer’s—quotations from Our Orbit padding the lukewarm remarks.
Nonetheless, in spite of my jaundiced attitude, I was impressed when Thad stated that he would, “present your concerns to our editors.” In case you didn’t read DRAWER NO MORE! last week, my primary complaint was that the review I’d bought so dearly contained a spoiler revealing a major plot point. I felt this made the whole thing unusable due to Kirkus’s policy requiring permission to publish the complete review if the buyer quotes so much as one phrase (which is, of course, the point).
So I pricked up my ears when Thad suggested that senior editors might actually consider the issues I’d raised and offer some solution. Three weeks went by without further word. When I wrote again to ask Thad if I should expect a reply, his answer came the next day:
“The Indie Editors … have decided that we cannot alter the review. It is Kirkus Indie’s policy to only address those matters related to factual inaccuracies …
“Regarding the point about the [spoiler], very often our reviewers are not able to elaborate on each and every plot point found in a given work… However, they must inform a reader of certain points… We do understand your frustration and disappointment, but we have certain editorial guidelines that we follow.”
Do I detect a bit of circular reasoning? Kirkus reviewers cannot elaborate every plot point, but they must inform readers about certain points. And just because I withheld a plot twist until page 191, treating it as an elaborate family secret, that was apparently no reason to select some other point to elaborate for those demanding readers.
Hmmm…
Okay, okay. As friends have assured me several times by now, I’m making much ado about very little. Are spoilers such a serious thing? Goodreads.com accommodates spoiler alerts on reader reviews, but Amazon has discontinued that practice. Even if an author objects to revealing statements in a review, Amazon will do nothing to post an alert. (Guess how I know.)
Moreover, millions of people know how such books as To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby turn out. Or Gone Girl or The Secret History or The Hunger Games. And that does nothing to keep new readers away. So, yes—I’m overreacting. I should be so lucky as to have fans clamoring over Our Orbit, discussing the plot twists and characters, accidentally spilling the beans about what happens on page 191.
Maybe I’ll go ahead and put that brief, mildly flattering, quote from my Kirkus review on the back cover of my book. Maybe I’ll even publish it here on my blog.
If Kirkus responds by putting up the full review, complete with spoiler, in some obscure corner of their website—so much the better. If one or two people stumble upon it and find the secret—don’t tell anybody, please?
And thank you, Thad, for making an effort to talk to those “Indie Editors” on my behalf.
gotten a recommendation from one of their long-time authors. But I had trained myself to harbor so little hope for good things that the acceptance knocked me over with the proverbial feather.
