The PAPER HEARTS blog tour: Some Marketing Advice

I am so excited to be a part of the Paper Hearts blog tour! And it's not only because Beth Revis is a friend and a wonderful human. She's also a NYT best selling author and a font of information about the business of publishing.

A few months ago I read Beth's first Paper Hearts book, Some Writing Advice, and I found it wise and reassuring. I've published three novels, but there's always SCADS more to learn, right? Beth has a brilliant way of cutting to the heart of matters and waving off the "noise" that is distracting rather than helpful.

Of course I was eager to read her book on marketing strategies, since this is something that brings me a great deal of stress. To my relief and amazement, Beth has broken it all down and provided reasonable options for getting the word out. So writers, whether you want to be traditionally published or you're taking the reins to self-publish, you really need to be reading this book ASAP.

***And now . . . a marketing tip from Beth!



Beth says: Work with friends.

No matter what you do in promotion, it’s better to do it with friends.
Holding a giveaway? Grab other author friends, get signed copies of their
books, and add them to the giveaway. Better yet, cross promote and do join
giveaways with several authors. Doing a live event? You could stand up
there and be boring, or you could invite other authors to come talk with
you and make it into a fun conversation about books. Chatting online? Get
other authors to help host a Twitter chat or Facebook party.

Doing things with other authors is not only more fun, but it brings your
audience to theirs and vice versa. It lowers expenses—if you each provide
one signed book to a winner, then the winner could get five books, but
your personal expense is only one. If you’re doing live events with
others, you can get varied responses and also have a break from being
“on.”

The key here: don’t think of other authors as your competition. People
will buy more than one book. Other authors are your colleagues, and, if
you’re lucky, your friends.

***Also, Beth and I answer a couple of questions about marketing:

1. How did you decide which social media platforms to use and which to avoid?

Beth's answer: Use the ones you enjoy. Avoid the ones you don't. That's all.

My answer: I agree 100% with Beth. Don't force yourself to use a social media platform just because it's supposedly cool or the new thing. If it's fun for you, great -- people will recognize that and want to interact with you. If it's a drag for you, or if you're only using it to constantly remind people of your book, please stop. I, for one, have given up particular platforms because they just weren't a good fit for me and it felt like work to keep them up to date.

2. Does promoting your own books get any easier over time?

Beth's answer: I think it does actually--one of the few things that does! Because it's
not until you've self promo'ed for awhile that you start to realize how
much of it you can let go. How much the advice to just write the next book
really is the best advice. Of course I feel like I always have to do so
much to sell my books--I always feel that pressure. But I give it up
quicker now. Because there's only so much you can do. And the longer I'm
in this game, the more I know that the only thing I can really do to make
a difference is write the next book. So it's easier, because I'm able to
let go more and write.

My answer: Again, have to agree with Beth here, particularly about learning what to let go. Keep in mind that Beth is a very creative person and has pretty much investigated every option before choosing what works well for her. I've just locked on to a few marketing tricks that are comfortable (if not entirely effective) for me. However, now that I have her book, I might try a few new options. She's done a lot of the work for us, folks!

***Finally, enter to win signed books!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Learn more at BethRevis.com
Paper Hearts, Volume 1: Some Writing Advice on Goodreads

Purchase Paper Hearts, Volume 3: Some Marketing Advice
Amazon – Kobo – Barnes & Noble – The Book Depository

Follow along with the rest of the tour at the Paper Hearts Tour Headquarters, or follow Beth Revis on Twitter!

Friday Favorite: Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë turned 200 yesterday.

The Brontë blog offered a plethora of cool links, and The Brontë Parsonage Museum is celebrating in grand style. So it seemed fitting to celebrate here by sharing some CB-related favorites (and future favorites?).

Favorite Charlotte Brontë novel and film adaptation:


While Lucy Hughes-Hallet makes a good argument for why Villette is better (and I do love Lucy Snowe), my heart will always belong to Jane Eyre. There's quite a pile of film/TV adaptations, but my favorite is the 2011 film directed by Cary Fukunaga (and this will be news only to more recent blog followers). It does compress the story, and perhaps Fassbender and Wasikowska are too pretty, but for me this movie nails Jane's quiet strength and Rochester's anguished yearning. (I also enjoyed the Toby Stephens/Ruth Wilson mini-series and probably need to watch it again soon.)

Favorite non-fiction books about Charlotte/The Brontës (click photos for more details):



Non-fiction books I've partly read/plan to read:



A fun thing I just discovered:


There are so many modern riffs on Jane Eyre, but this is the first middle grade option I've seen!

Thirteen-year-old Charlotte is obsessed with Jane Eyre. She dreams of living in a Gothic Mansion in the Yorkshire countryside instead of attending Harraby Comprehensive School. Charlotte's love-life is pretty much non-existent, except for the gorgeous Jack Burley, who doesn't seem to notice her. Resigned to her boring life for the time being, she decides to find a Mr. Rochester for her mum. Charlotte's prayers are answered in the form of the dark, handsome new French teacher. But Charlotte has to control her imagination and aspirations of being a bridesmaid, because Mr. Grant turns out to be not nearly as charming as his sideburns had promised.

The book is only available from used book sellers, but you can find the audio (with sample) at Audible.com.


Me in Haworth, many years ago...

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

March Tea and a Movie and a Book!

My dear friend Michelle visited earlier this month--it's an annual thing for us. We shop, have tea, see movies at the theater, watch tv and movies at home, and, of course, we talk, talk, talk. I look forward to it every year, and it's always hard to say goodbye at the end.

This visit I asked Michelle if she would watch Bright Star (2009) with me. I'd seen it twice already, and I wanted to share it with her. And you know what? I think I loved it even more the third time!


As you may already know, Bright Star is the story of the ill-fated romance between John Keats and Fanny Brawne (played respectively by Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish). The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, who also wrote/directed one of my all-time favorite films, The Piano.

I adore the look of this film--it balances the ordinary and extraordinary with an exquisite attention to detail. We see that the feelings shared by Keats and Brawne are powerful and transformative. At the same time, Campion honestly depicts the melodrama of youthful passion (Fanny was only 18 when they met), as well as the ways in which each might have been in love with the idea of love.


As a companion to the film, Campion published Keats' letters to Brawne, along with a selection of his poems. The passion in his letters is, at times, breathtaking:

I cannot exist without you. I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again -- my Life seems to stop there -- I see no further. You have absorb'd me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving -- I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you. I should be afraid to separate myself far from you. My sweet Fanny, will your heart never change? My love, will it? I have no limit now to my love. (13 Oct 1819)

I wish Fanny's letters weren't lost to us. Apparently the letters she sent to Keats in Italy were buried with him unopened. Fanny mourned him very publicly for years. She did eventually marry, but not until twelve years after Keats' death. Her letters from him were not released until many years after her husband's death, and they created quite an uproar when published. Many thought Fanny was vain and shallow, certainly not worthy of Keats' love. (argh!) However, the 20th century publication of Fanny's letters to Keats' sister offered a different perspective on Miss Brawne--one that apparently inspired director Jane Campion's depiction of her as steadfast and kind.


For my "Bright Star" tea, I chose Brigadoon Breakfast from Adagio, perhaps in memory of Keats' faithful, if infuriating, friend, Mr. Brown. (Contrary to the film, Charles Armitage Brown was not Scottish, or at least wasn't born there, but he and Keats long had a dream of traveling to Scotland together.) Brigadoon Breakfast is a very special Scottish Breakfast blend that only makes an appearance every four years. (It is out of stock until Feb 29 2020!) The official description: "Celebrate Leap Day with this Scottish Breakfast Blend of Assam and Keemun teas. We've added a touch of Silver Needle and blue cornflowers to evoke the blue and white of the Scottish flag that Brigadoon would fly."


To go along with the tea I made scones using this easy-peasy lemonade scone recipe. The funny thing is that Michelle and I tried to make these scones while she was here, but they didn't turn out very well, possibly because I didn't have self-rising flour and instead had to make my own with [possibly outdated] baking powder. (Or did I use baking soda???) Whatever the error, the resulting scones were flat and strange-tasting. My second attempt yielded much better results, though I think they needed to bake a little longer, and I would urge you to use a well-floured biscuit cutter.


I whipped my own cream (not as thick and wonderful as true clotted cream, but still quite nice) and used Crofter's Organic Strawberry Spread. I prefer the Devonshire style of putting cream first and topping with jam. (See this article for more context.) Very tasty!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

Setting in fiction

Sonia contemplates a particularly inspiring setting

Recently I participated in my first Twitter chat! One of the questions I barely had time to answer properly was "Any tips for setting in a historical novel?" (Thanks, Abigail!)

Well, I love to talk about setting, because all my stories start with place. As soon as I encounter an intriguing setting, I am eager to know more about its history. An exploration of this history often makes me wonder what sort of people might have inhabited that place and time. Then I wonder what conflicts the setting might create for a character. At this point a story begins to take shape in my imagination.

So, YES, I have tips! And they are very straightforward.

Tip #1: If at all possible, spend time in your setting. This is true for contemporary and historical fiction. For historicals in particular, be sure to visit historic buildings, museums, and historical societies. Living history sites are the best! Take photos and video footage (so easy with a phone these days), grab maps and brochures, and maybe even talk to the locals (especially if it’s recent history). Very often the physical experience of a place will spark all sorts of story ideas. On the other hand, actually being there might lead you to realize that a potential plot point is not realistic after all.

Tip #2: Know your setting so well that you could write a detailed pamphlet or give a tour. Along with visiting the setting, read nonfiction accounts of that place and time. Read other fiction with the same setting—I promise it won’t “pollute” your own story. If you can find diaries of people who lived in that place/time, you’ve struck gold. Take notes as you read—I find that handwritten notes stick in my brain much longer than typed ones. Pretty soon you’ll have quite a stack of information. However, keep in mind that 95% of that information, awesome as it is, won’t show up in the pages of your story. And none of it should show up in passive description. Instead . . .

Tip #3: Treat your setting like a character in the story, and show your protagonist interacting with it. For example, some ideal moments to describe your setting might be:

-- when your protagonist encounters it for the first time. It’s just like meeting another human character for the first time. Is this setting welcoming or hostile? Beautiful or depressing? Familiar or alien? We learn about a character by his or her reaction to a new location.

-- when your protagonist is in conflict with it. Does the character feel contained or smothered by the setting? Does it give her the heebie jeebies? Is your character battling the elements? Corralling cats or small children? A setting that creates conflict can be a source of horror or humor.

-- when it is teaching/inspiring/soothing your protagonist. (This is one of my favorites!) Is there a place that inspires or comforts your character—a place of escape? A place to dream or cogitate? What if that place is under threat somehow? What would your character do?

Above all, don’t just tell us how this setting affects your protagonist—show the character’s awe/alienation/inspiration/comfort through a scene. (See this blog post from Writer’s Digest for examples of showing vs. telling.)

PLEASE feel free to comment with more suggestions about setting in fiction!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

January 2016 Tea and a Book

This past weekend I accompanied Steve on his trip to NYC for the AALS conference. Once he was finished with sessions on Saturday, we took a long walk through Central Park and rewarded ourselves with afternoon tea in the Plaza Hotel's Palm Court. (We booked in a advance, of course.)


We loved the vibe in the Palm Court -- jazz music, lots of chatter and laughter with great people-watching opportunities. It was especially fun to watch the young ones enjoying their Eloise teas, which included pink lemonade, pb&j sandwiches, and cotton candy, along with more traditional tea fare. (See more about Eloise below.) Here's a more detailed review of the afternoon tea, from which I gather that the Palm Court used to have a more formal atmosphere. Steve and I rather liked the buzzing, upbeat feel to the place. I suppose some might find the music a bit loud, but we did not strain to hear each other.


The tea was perfectly steeped. I enjoyed the Big Ben English Breakfast (a blend of Assam and Yunnan), while Steve chose Thé des Amants, (black tea blended with apple, almond, cinnamon and vanilla). Both teas can be ordered from the Palais des Thés website.


The "New Yorker" tea tray is divine, don't you think? The warm scones are snuggled in the napkin on the lower rack.


Here is a closer look at the sandwiches, which were traditional and tasty, along with the sweets, which were extraordinary. There was no way we could finish it all, but the "leftovers" made for a perfect snack that evening.

And now for the book: The Absolutely Essential 60th Aniversary Edition of ELOISE.

I had a vague notion of who Eloise was, but prior to this tea had never read the book. Of course, I rectified this omission as soon as I got home! The 60th edition of Eloise is quite nice, and I appreciated the essay and scrapbook from Marie Brenner, which included a biographical account of author Kay Thompson and charming notes from illustrator Hilary Knight.

The book is clever and often endearing, but I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as a child. If memory serves, I was more wrapped up in books about animals or pioneers. Eloise's life at the Plaza would have seemed very alien to me, and though I've always loved books about children with wild imaginations, I think her "trickster" tendencies might have stressed me out a little.

Fortunately, Marie Brenner's essay helped me better understand the appeal: "[Eloise] lived mother-free in a poor-little-rich-girl paradise without rules. As she raced from a mint raid in the Empire Room to spy from the Baroque ceiling of the Grand Ballroom, she lured us into an intoxicating urban fantasy. [...] Eloise was free to express the dark gleams of her inside. She could offer rubber candy to adults and let fly with her opinions. My daughter, Casey, on discovering Eloise when she was six, said of her reverentially: 'She is a bad girl!'"

I'm considering tracking down Eloise in Paris, and Eloise at Christmastime. Any other Eloise fans out there? Please feel free to enthuse in the comments!

ETA: Oh my -- do check out Jama Rattigan's celebration of Eloise!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]