A First-timer's #RWA15 Highlights

by J. Lea López

Broadway, baby!

Last week I attended the Romance Writers of America national conference for the first time. It was held in New York City, which was both amazing and slightly overwhelming for my introverted brain. But aside from the noise and the hustle and bustle of thousands of other people at nearly all times, there were dozens of workshops and speakers to inspire and inform attendees. Now, I will be completely honest with you: I was traveling back home today (yesterday when you read this) and I'm exhausted from the week, and my brain is a bit mushy from all the information swimming around in it. So instead of a critical analysis of the conference, or an in-depth discussion of some of the things I learned, this post will cover some of my highlights from the conference in small tidbits. In no particular order, here are my RWA conference highlights.

• Kresley Cole's brilliant technique for avoiding the dreaded back story info dump. She uses brackets and symbols (such as [**] or something similar) to mark every time she talks about a character's back story while she's writing. You could use a different symbol for your hero and heroine to track both of them. Then you simply do a search for those brackets/symbols and use the navigation pane in Word to see how well you've spaced out that information throughout the story. I think this is an especially great technique for writers who like visual representations.
• Sherry Thomas and subtext. I love subtext, which is all the stuff in a story that is implied under the surface, but never explicitly stated. Author Sherry Thomas gave a great presentation on subtext, and one of the great things she said was, "Subtext well done does not call attention to itself." I wasn't familiar with her as an author prior to the conference, and even though most of her romances are historical (which is not my favorite subgenre), the way she spoke about subtext during her presentation, and her humor and fun personality during that presentation and also another panel I attended have me wanting to rush out and pick up one of her books.
• Jenny Crusie's presentation on turning points and character. This was one of the presentations that I wish every author could attend at some point. The presentation notes and handout are available on her blog (along with those from her Motif and Metaphor presentation that I was unable to attend) so anyone who is curious can at least look at those notes. The general concept of turning points was nothing new to me, but she expanded and explained it in a way I'd never encountered before. I found myself thinking about my WIP a lot during the lecture and how I had already incorporated the technique to some extent, and also how I might be able to further incorporate turning points. A major takeaway from this presentation was the symbiotic relationship of plot and character: characters change because things happen, and things happen because the characters change. While it may seem obvious, it's a complex relationship.
• Your proofreader is not your copy editor. This presentation was given by Carina Press editor Angela James. I often see conflicting opinions and expectations about what the different levels of editing actually entail. She explained, in depth, the four levels of editing at Carina Press, as well as tips for hiring the right editor if you're looking for a freelancer. But in short, these are the different levels of editing: 
• Developmental editing - Macro level; all about the story and little about the mechanics of writing
• Line Editing - Little to do with the story itself and everything to do with the mechanics of writing
• Copy Editing (or final line edits) - Very detail-oriented look at story, craft, and grammar usage, with some overlap of things covered in developmental and line editing
• Proofreading - The final, micro-detailed pass; catches any missed errors as well as any that were introduced during previous editing steps
• Championing the importance of an engaging, well-written story with characters readers love. Throughout many of the workshops I attended, whether they were about the craft of writing or trends in publishing, there was this constant positive message about writing your

  

  Keynote speaker Barbara Freethy
  

  story and utilizing techniques in the way that best fits your story. I didn't feel like anyone was encouraging writers to chase cash trends, and the craft sessions weren't about "rules" of writing.
• Sarah Wendell! There were workshops about diversity in romance, and the topic also came up during a panel discussion about trends in romance publishing. Sarah Wendell, of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, was on that panel, and she differentiated the need and desire for more diversity in romances from any trend. Trends rise in popularity and then disappear. Diversity, she said, is not a trend, but rather a necessity to accurately reflect our society. I wanted to cheer. And then I had a bit of a fangirl moment when she cheered my question about the market for more beta heroes in romance. So basically we're best friends now. That's how that works, right?

And now, while I said this list was in no particular order, I did actually save the best for last. The biggest highlight of the entire experience was getting to meet (some for the first time) and talk shop with a small group of amazing author friends from across the globe. We chat online and compare notes on writing and business stuff, but getting to do that in person made it even more special. To my friends, authors Julie Farrell (from the UK), Jean Oram (from Canada), Lucy Marsden, Evelyn Adams, Cali MacKay, Mallory Crowe, and Lori Sjoberg: Thank you ladies for helping to make my first RWA conference a lot of fun! Can't wait to do it again sometime.

If you were at the conference, what were some of your highlights?

J. Lea López is an author who strives to make you laugh at, fall in love with, cry over, and lust after the characters she writes. She also provides freelance copyediting focused on romance and erotica as The Mistress With the Red Pen. She welcomes online stalkers as long as they're witty and/or adulatory. Kidding. Maybe. Check for yourself: Twitter, Facebook, Blog.

A Basic Guide to Tumblr

by Riley Redgate

These days, social media is the fastest way to engage with readers, if that's your sort of thing. Some people, of course, choose to create a veneer of mystery instead, not Tweeting, not Facebooking, nada. But the great thing about social media is that it's so simple! You can do it all while sitting at home, not wearing any pants! I don't know why you're not wearing pants. Better not to ask.

Pants aside: when it comes to various social media platforms, people don't seem to think Tumblr is as simple as Twitter or Facebook. Every time I mention Tumblr to people who don't Tumbl, they react with alarm, bafflement, or a mixture of the two. This makes sense to a degree, since Tumblr culture is, erm, sort of weird. But never fear! I know the place a little too well, since over the last few years, my blog has stumbled its way into 10,000+ followers, and I also spend about 10,000% of my free time on the site. I've made this cheat sheet to explain a few things about Tumblr if you're looking to get started.

But first: why should you, gentle author, care about starting a Tumblr? Well, if you write Young Adult, Middle Grade, or New Adult, here's why: in a recent article, TechTimes says that more than 70 percent of Tumblr's users are age 16 to 34. Moreover, "Tumblr, now the fastest growing social site, has seen an increase in its active users by up to 120 percent within the last six months." Tl;dr -- it's where your target audience is hanging out.

Without further ado, here are the five things you need to know about Tumblr Culture:

5) Keep Up

One thing that can seem intimidating about Tumblr is the pace, which is breakneck. The Dashboard -- home to posts from all the blogs you follow -- is active 24/7 and constantly updating, so things get easily lost in the mix. Tumblr even has a specific function to encourage constant activity: the Queue. You can set your queue to post automatically for you, up to 24 times a day. Compared to hosts like Blogspot, that can seem like an extreme number, but on Tumblr, a steady stream of activity is good.

"Wait!" you might say. "What about the quantity of stuff I will need to generate, if I want to post that often? Am I supposed to sell my soul? Quit my job to make Tumblr posts all day?" No, friend. Although I'm sure Tumblr staff would love for you to do that, you don't have to, because ...

4) To Blog is to Reblog

On most other social media outlets, people focus primarily on their own content -- displaying it, advertising it, etc. But the climate on Tumblr is one of sharing. The site prides itself on being full of not only creators, but creative communities. For instance, you might find fanartists who draw pieces based on a fanfiction writer's work, or people who write 3,000-word essays about a TV character's psychology just to share with others and discuss.

Tumblr is hugely about interplay, which is why -- even on many popular blogs -- you'll find that the percentage of original content is relatively low. Each blog feels something like a miniature aggregate site, a collection of art, writing, opinions, etc. that the blogrunner enjoys. Like a little internet gallery! (For those unfamiliar, reblogging works quite simply: by clicking the "reblog" button, you rehost an original post from somebody else's blog to yours, and thereby share it with all of your followers.)

All this is to say that you don't have to stress about making your own stuff 24/7. The general mood of Tumblr is to stay active by reblogging others' work to support them, and you'll find your kin through common interests. This is best if you ...

3) Learn the Tag System

Some people migrate from Twitter to Tumblr and assume that tags function in essentially the same manner, but this is not the case. On Tumblr, people use tags in several primary ways. Firstly, you can organize your blog through tags. On many blogs, you'll find tag-based Navigation pages -- here's a screenshot of what mine looks like:

... so, whenever I make a post with a horrible pun, I tag it with "GET THEE TO A PUNNERY!" Then, on my Navigation page, when you click the "Get Thee to a Punnery!" link, it can take you to a page that displays every post I've ever made (or reblogged!) that has a horrible pun in it.

The second primary use of tags is to add commentary. On Tumblr--unless you have something vital to contribute to a conversation--it's seen as weird to reblog and add a comment to the post, because the original poster will see it as a response. This might feel counterintuitive, because on most other sites, commenting is seen as the best way to connect. But on Tumblr, people often get concerned that too much text messes with the ~aesthetic~ of the post.

If you do have an opinion but don't want to address it to the author of the original post, what many people do is reblog the post and write it in the tags, like this:

Tags are also gathering spaces. This function is more like the way Twitter uses tags. If you go to the Doctor Who tag, for instance -- http://tumblr.com/tagged/doctor-who -- you can see every post that Who fans have tagged with "doctor who". For smaller fanbases, the tag becomes like a little home base.

Phew! Okay. Tagging is a lot. Moving on ...

2) Do Not Engage with Call-Out Culture.

I waffled on whether to include this. For people just looking to make an author Tumblr and connect with their readers, one would hope it wouldn't be an issue, but you never know.

Tumblr users tend to be impulsive, passionate, opinionated -- and overwhelmingly socially liberal. It's a haven for LGBTQ+ people and intersectional feminist discourse; it has huge communities for the marginalized. And in people's desire to make Tumblr a safe space for social discussion, they often turn to "Call-Out Culture." This is where people present problematic behavior (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.) and eviscerate it publicly. And for those who are actually famous, public opinion can turn on a dime and give the site a feeling of mob mentality. (See: that recent John Green debacle.)

Mostly, call-out culture is nothing to be afraid of, assuming you're not actually sexist/racist/etc. But it's the internet. Misunderstandings abound. A few months back, one of my joke posts got popular, but -- alas! -- it had a snarkier tone than I usually employ, and a comment arose claiming that I was jeering at young, female writers. (Which would be weird of me, as a young, female writer.) I tried to clarify, but people were already coming to my askbox yelling cursewords at me. So I didn't engage. After making a separate post to clarify the situation, I deleted the original post and turned off my askbox, and things simmered down.

There are far worse things than the overly enthusiastic social justice community. Like, say, the pro-anorexia side of Tumblr, or the shoplifter community. Also, a few years ago, I was mobbed by Men's Rights Activist users, who gave 18-year-old me appalling threats of sexual violence. Same solution: turn off the askbox; don't engage. This too shall pass.

Moving on now to the most important thing:

1) The Golden SocMed Rule: It's Not Really About You

I think this holds true for any social media platform: engaging with an audience should be about the audience first and foremost. A Twitter that consists mostly of a bot posting promos every five seconds is about the most self-defeating thing in the world. People are inherently self-serving, and if what you're posting isn't funny, useful, or in some way pleasing, there's no reason they'll want to connect with you.

Of course, the more famous you are, the less the Golden Rule applies. If you have a giant, rabid fanbase, you can probably talk about yourself all day and night and people will still love you. But for people trying to build buzz through social media, incessant self-promotion doesn't make sense.

Anyway, if you're already famous, all of the above is totally irrelevant. You could probably post just the word "butts" on Tumblr once a day and get a hilariously huge following.

I hope this is helpful! Questions about Tumblr, or about any of the above? Leave them in the comments. Until then, signing off.

Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a senior at Kenyon College represented by Caryn Wiseman. Her debut novel, Seven Ways We Lie, will be released by Abrams/Amulet in Spring 2016. Her site (hosted by Tumblr, no less) is here, and she Tweets here.

Writers, Don't Be Vain

by J. Lea López

One of the questions and concerns I see most often over at Agent Query Connect is that of vanity publishing. An author is excited that they found PayMe Publisher online, and this is finally their chance at publication! So they ask the AQC community for any personal advice or recommendations regarding this publisher. Usually it takes only a quick look at the publisher's website for another member or moderator to realize that PayMe Publisher is a vanity press. If you've been reading my posts for any length of time, you know that I'm not usually one to make always or never statements, but here's where I make an exception. When it comes to vanity publishers, don't do it.

Money flows to the author

This is a basic tenet of publishing. In traditional publishing, the publishing house may or may not pay an advance, but they pay the author royalties on book sales. They do not charge the author upfront fees for editing or marketing or anything like that. They are invested in the success of your book, and they take a cut of your royalties to pay for those services and hopefully make a profit upon publication.

Vanity publishing operates in the exact opposite way. The fictional PayMe Publisher mentioned above will have publishing packages that include a lot of official, fancy, and impressive sounding things that might sound, to a writer, like everything you could ever ask for from a publisher. Those packages also come with a hefty price tag, and they're couched in the typical sales language where you can upgrade to an elite or gold level package for even more stuff! You end up paying the publisher to publish your book. There is no submission process usually. They will take any book given to them and publish it. Once you pay for your package up front and your book is published, PayMe Publisher will continue to take a percentage of your royalties, and that percentage is often the same as if you'd been traditionally published. So you're getting the same percentage of sales as with a traditional publisher, but you've also paid a nice chunk of change to the vanity publisher up front. So what exactly have you gotten for that money? Nothing that you couldn't have gotten for free with a traditional publisher.

This doesn't even begin to touch on the sometimes terrible contracts you have to sign with vanity publishers, or the predatory practices of some vanity publishers like Author Solutions. I highly recommend David Gaughran's blog for a ton more info on Author Solutions and why you should steer clear.

Self-publishing "services"

With the rise of self-publishing, there has also been a rise in companies offering self-publishing service packages to assist authors who want to go that route. Unfortunately, many of these are simply vanity presses in disguise. You still pay a big chunk of money for the same types of services (book formatting and cover design, mostly, but they'll break that out into all the small individual parts so it sounds like you're getting more for your money), and your ISBN will still be branded with that publisher's name, you may not get editing services for what you're paying (such as with Writers Digest's Abbott Press), and many of them will still take a portion of your royalties for the length of your contract.

I've heard some people try to equate self-publishing with vanity publishing simply because the author is paying out of pocket for the necessary services. I'd like to give those people a swift kick where it hurts, because it's not the same thing. If you want to self-publish, you are going to pay out of pocket for editing, proofreading, cover art, and so on. But when you truly self-publish, you are your own publisher, and you are not obligated to those service providers once the transaction is complete. A publisher pays their cover designers and editorial staff and others up front, too, without waiting for royalties on the book. The lines may be a bit blurry since you and the publisher are the same person when you self-publish, but that is the same function you are performing when you pay for services. Once those services are complete, you, as the self-publisher, receive all profits from the sale of your books (minus and percentages withheld from distributors or retailers).

So let's recap.

Traditional publishing = Publisher covers all upfront production costs, then takes a percentage of royalties for the length of your contract to cover those costs and make a profit. You may get an advance, and then you earn a percentage of royalties after the amount of that advance. You pay nothing out of pocket.

Self-publishing = You act as your own publisher. You pay one-time fees to contractors for your editing, cover art, and other production costs. You retain all monies paid to you by retailers. You pay contractors once for the same services a traditional publisher pays their employees to perform. After that, you pay nothing out of pocket.

Vanity publishing (and many self-pub service companies) = You pay them for production costs, like book formatting and design. You may or may not receive editing as part of your package, so you pay for editing. Once they have done everything they said they would do for their fee, you continue to pay them a percentage of royalties for the life of your contract.

Vanity publishers are counting on you to be uneducated about the way publishing works, or impatient to wait for traditional publicaiton, or too scared/unwilling/busy to learn how to shop for quality contractors to do the work needed to help you self-publish. Then they present their pretty packages and say, "Here, we'll do it all for you.. for a price." But for the most part, that price is not worth it.

I know that as authors, seeing your name right there on your book, which is for sale at all major retailers is an intoxicating thought. But don't rush. Don't be vain. Don't fall prey to vanity publishing.

J. Lea López is an author who strives to make you laugh at, fall in love with, cry over, and lust after the characters she writes. She also provides freelance copyediting focused on romance and erotica as The Mistress With the Red Pen. She welcomes online stalkers as long as they're witty and/or adulatory. Kidding. Maybe. Check for yourself: Twitter, Facebook, Blog.

The Realities of the Second Book

by R.C. Lewis

I feel like I'm at a weird place in my life right now. Post-debut, pre-release of second book. Is this how parents feel when they have one child and are pregnant with the next? Like, I should know sort of what to expect now, but the experience is somehow different.

And it is different. Not only from book to book, but from author to author.

Setting aside fears of falling victim to Sophomore Slump (because if we don't talk about that, it can't be real, right?), there are a lot of things that can make getting your second published book out the door different from the first.

For some authors, right off the bat it's a matter of getting that second contract because their debut is a one-book deal. Usually the debut publisher gets first look at your next manuscript, but do they accept it? If yes, proceed to the next paragraph about two-book deals. If no, then you're back in submission-land all over again, which is its own kind of wondrous terror.

Say your first publishing contract is for a two (or even three!) book deal. Hooray for a little bit of security! I'm going to assume we're not talking about sequels/series here, because they're a different experience—one I don't yet have any expertise on. But here are some reasons you may find you upgrade your Professional Writer hat a few levels in the process of creating Book Number Two.

Organics-B-Gone
You're already contracted with a publisher, they have their idea of the brand they're going to present you as, and you probably want to keep them happy. This may mean they want your second book to be in a particular vein, probably in some manner similar to your debut. And this can be great! ... Except instead of bolt-from-the-blue inspiration like you had for that first book, you may have to go digging for an idea that fits this mold. That can make it a less organic process than you may be used to. (This happened to me for my next book. Fortunately, by the time I finished the first draft, I was in love with the characters and story! But it took some time to get there.)

Popping the Question ... Over and Over
Often if the second book is unspecified in the original contract, you go through a phase of pitching ideas to your editor until you find something they'd like to see you write. Sometimes this is informal, maybe a handful of one-line pitches and your editor says, "That one sounds cool," or "They all sound great to me—is there one you're particularly excited to write?"

Other times, you may go through writing more formal proposals. This can involve a full (sometimes lengthy!) synopsis and some sample pages/chapters to establish the voice. Sounds like less work than writing a whole manuscript, and it generally is by most measures, but I also know some authors who've been through the mental-wringer trying to write proposals.

And if that proposal is turned down? It's back to work, grinding out a proposal for another idea.

The Revolving Door of Publishing
The longer you're under contract at a particular publisher, the more likely this is to happen to you. Your acquiring editor may not even be the one who's your editor by the time your debut comes out (that happened to me), and then the editor who launched your debut may not be the one who sees your second book through to the end (that also happened to me ... in fact, I was between editors when my debut released).

This is no big deal (says she who chased off two editors before ever her book hit shelves), but the transitions can be a little jarring. Your acquiring editor loved your writing! You know it, because of all the "I love this!" during the "We want to pay you money and publish it" phase. What if New-Editor doesn't love your work? They didn't pick you—they just got assigned.

Really, it's okay. New-Editor may not love your work the same way, but they'll love it in their own way. Their editing style may be different, but we all want to be in this business a nice long time, right? That'll probably involve working with lots of different editors along the way no matter what, so flexibility is key in the skill set.

(If New-Editor really does hate every word you write, though ... That may be time to call Agent-Awesome and get them to intervene.)

And remember that all of the above are likely things that will happen to us at some point in our careers. If not on our second book, then one down the line. If we get there, it means we stayed on track, and that's a good thing!

R.C. Lewis is the math-teaching, ASL-signing author of Stitching Snow and her *second book* Spinning Starlight (Oct. 6, 2015), both from Hyperion. You can find more information at her website, or find her random musings on Twitter.

The Right Yes

by Charlee Vale

"You only need one yes."

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this. It's one of those platitudes that gets splattered all over querying writers, or writers thinking about querying, or anyone who has even even thought about trying to get published. In the face of the vast enormity of trying to find an agent, and then an editor, this phrase does us the favor of shrinking down something daunting to a manageable size.

Back in 2011, when I was querying for the very first time, this was my mantra. I did everything I was supposed to do--I compiled a list of agents, worked on my query, started querying in batches. I was waiting, I was ready. After all, I only needed one yes, right?

Through a quirky situation (and a miracle) I got a full request on my very first query. Naturally, I did what every brand new writer does on a full request an fantasized about getting and offer of representation. Which was when I discovered something troubling: I wasn't necessarily excited about the thought of accepting that offer. I was nervous, and frankly kind of queasy.

I spoke to an author friend about my imaginary offer, and she said something to me so simple that I felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. 'Why would you query someone you wouldn't want to work with?'

I had made a list of every person I could possibly find that repped YA, and they were all on my list to query. Because in my mind, each of those agents was a potential yes. A potential chance at representation and the road to publication. However, I hadn't even considered that quantity in querying isn't necessarily the same as quality. It's true that you do only need one yes, but that's not the important part. You need the right yes.

So do your research. Find the agents you think you would want to work with, using whatever qualifications you're looking for, and make a list. Do you want an agent who is very editorial? Someone who is a newer agent trying to build their list? Someone who's a veteran and seen everything that can possible happen?

That final list may be twenty agents, five, or fifty. But every agent should be one you want to work with. After all, if they aren't, then why would you put yourself through that?

Keep trying to get that one yes, but just make sure it's the right one.

Charlee Vale is a Young Adult writer, bookseller, photographer, and tea lover living in New York City. You can also find her at her website, on Novel Thoughts, on Twitter, and doing research for her next round of queries.

It is 2015 And Everything Old is New Again

by Sophie Perinot

“Nothing is original, even in sin.” Somebody said that. I thought Oscar Wilde, but I've had surprisingly little luck pinning down the attribution.  Doesn't matter for these purposes, trust me.

Here’s the thing see, the publishing world as we know it is coming to an end!!! (Gosh I wish I could chant that while holding a sign on a stick).  What world isn't?  Things change in all industries, all the time.  Back when the paperback was first introduced there was a tremendous amount of hand wringing.  And we all remember the hysteria that surrounded the e-book and the supposed extinction of the paper book.  Who can forget this heady moment when, approximately 2 years after the Kindle was introduced, the Guardian trumpeted the news that Amazon was selling more e-books than paper ones? Oh yes, the paper book was doomed, until someone recently, helpfully, pointed out (by gum it was the Guardian again) it was making a comeback (“Whisper it quietly, thebook is back …”).

But I don’t really want to talk (aka argue, because wow there is a lot of yelling going around) about whether these are end times.  Because I think, as a writer, there is a more interesting question—what are you going to do about it?

For the purposes of this blog-post let’s assume publishing is the Titanic.  It is sinking.  It wasn’t supposed to, it was supposed to let you quit your day job and make you a legend in your own time (not that it ever did that at any point in its history for a vast majority of writers), and now it is going down into frigid waters (with historically inaccurate sharks for good measure). This is your moment to decide what to do and THERE IS NO ONE RIGHT ANSWER.  I picked the Titanic metaphor for a very specific reason—and no, I am not a fan of Leo and I am not going to start humming Celine Dion.  In this particular metaphor I am a proud member of the orchestra.  I can’t figure out where the lifeboats are, and even if I could, well, I am a writer.  Come hell—or in this allegory very high water—I have at least a couple more stories in me that have to be put to paper.  If somebody told me “your next publication date will be your last, after that you won’t be able to get your words printed on toilet paper with a crayon” I would still finish my wip, I would polish it and tie it up with a bow before trunking it.  I would go down clinging to it (maybe bop a couple of sharks with it as I sank).

None of us can be sure we will survive in the new (make that the new, new, new to the 10th power) age of publishing.  Nobody was certain in the past either folks.  I believe there is a certain dignity in pursuing your craft to the best of your abilities when things seem dire/hopeless.  It is an exercise in character.  And I say again (before I get tackled to the deck and pummeled in my last minutes) I am not suggesting this is the route for everyone.  But if you are of my mindset, pull up a chair, take off your life jacket (it is cumbersome anyway).  Let’s ignore the screaming and the abominable listing of the deck that makes it hard to keep the laptops from sliding off our desks, and let’s write the best thing we’ve ever written in 2015.

Gentlemen, ladies, it has been a pleasure playing with you.

Self-publishing, Free, and Flexibility

by +J. Lea Lopez 

Free is a hot topic in the publishing industry. Depending on who you ask, free is:

• an effective pricing strategy
• the only way to get people to take a chance on self-published books
• the reason publishing as we know it is dying
• devaluing writing and making readers reluctant to pay for good books
• pointless
• a way to gain exposure

And a whole host of other things. Everyone has an opinion, and if you know me even a tiny bit, you probably know that I'm going to tell you that none of those opinions are 100% right or wrong. There's often bits of truth behind each person's opinion. Quite often, authors will speak from personal experience, and in that case, I'm certainly not going to tell anyone that they're wrong about what they've experienced firsthand.

I can tell you from the experiences shared with me by several successful self-published authors that free certainly has a place in your arsenal of tools. Depending on the genre and type of book, it can be a very powerful tool. If all (or several) books in your romance series are out there and you're looking for a way to grab some more readers, putting your first book free (and yes, it is still possible to go perma-free on Amazon) could be a great tactic. Especially if each book has a strong hook or lead-in to the next.

If you're not writing a series, can free still work for you? Maybe. Maybe not. But a great thing about being self-published is your ability to analyze, react, and adapt. As a self-publisher, you have to be flexible and know when somebody else's tried-and-true isn't so true for you. Let me share my own experience with a free book as an example.

When I self-published last year, I knew I was going to publish my contemporary NA romance Sorry's Not Enough, but I was worried about readers taking a chance on me, an unknown author. Everybody was talking about the free strategy then like it was the holy grail of marketing tactics. But my book was a standalone. How could I still make the free strategy work for me? I got the brilliant (or so I thought) idea to pull together some of my short stories that had both romantic and erotic elements and package them in a collection. I figured it was a good introduction to my writing and a good lead-in to my novel because each of the short stories had elements you can find in my novel: character-driven and introspective narration, complicated relationships, steamy sexy.  It had to work, right?

I published my collection, Consenting Adults, and included an extended sample of my novel at the end of it so readers would be instantly compelled to go buy it after (hopefully) having enjoyed the short stories. Then I made it free. And then I spent many months trying to figure out if the free strategy was working like it should. I mean, I was getting a few sales a day of my novel usually, and the short stories were consistently ranked between 300 and 500 overall in the free Kindle store and in the top 10 of a couple different category lists. That must mean it was working, right? So I left it alone. Then something happened this year that made me rethink the free strategy for my books.

Sales of Sorry's Not Enough began to decline slightly early this year. I only worried a little bit, wondering if it was just a bit of a post-holidays slump. Sales continued to decline. And continued to decline. As of writing this, I've seen roughly a 60% decline in sales of my novel since the beginning of the year. Most of this year my worrying has centered on how to turn that around, how to increase visibility for the novel, how to entice more people to buy it. That included running price promotions, creating a new cover, tweaking the description and keywords, trying paid promotions on different web sites. Aside from publishing another book (which I'm working on doing), I felt I had done everything I could do and I had to stop driving myself nuts over it. And that's when my focus shifted from the novel to the free short story collection, and it dawned on me.

Free wasn't working for me. In all of my fussing with Sorry's Not Enough, I never paid attention to the fact that free downloads of Consenting Adults were still pretty steady. There's been a slight decline since the beginning of the year, maybe 15% or so, but nothing like what I've seen with my novel. My free book was not pushing readers to my paid book. And that's what it's supposed to do. That's the whole point of the free strategy. Obviously it was time to rethink that strategy.

I knew these things for sure:

• Consenting Adults has great innate visibility thanks to my keywords, description, and categories (and magic, because I swear sometimes it all just feels like magic)
• When you search for "erotica" in the Kindle store, Consenting Adults is the top result
• It had a consistent download rate of several hundred a day when it was free
• People who downloaded it for free were not going on to buy my novel

Because of that last point, I felt confident that having the short story collection out there for free was not doing me any good. That was the whole reason I'd put it out there for free to begin with. But could I make money with it? Would people pay for it? Or did they only want it for free? Based on those first three things I knew to be true, I decided that maybe some people would be willing to pay for it. I decided that even if no one bought it and the rank plummeted once it switched over to the paid lists, I'd wait to see if it negatively affected sales of my novel to further test my guess that it wasn't pushing people to the novel anyway. And if only two or three people bought it every day, that's still more money than I was making from 400 free downloads a day.

Consenting Adults switched over from free to paid this past weekend, and so far, people are still buying it. Not 400 people a day, but enough that I'm cautiously optimistic that this was the right decision. So what's the lesson for you self-publishers out there?  

Free is a tool. Use it wisely. Flexibility is also a tool. Use it to take calculated risks and to kick free to the curb if it doesn't work for you.

What are your experiences with free, either as a reader or an author?

Facebook for Authors: Page or Profile?

by +J. Lea Lopez

Let's talk about using Facebook as an author. I've gotten a lot of questions from fellow writers who aren't sure how to use Facebook as a tool, what they're supposed to do with it, how exactly they're supposed to do it, and so on. Eventually I plan to do a few posts on some specific how-tos, but in this post I'm going to talk about the differences between interacting with fans/readers through a page versus a profile.

I prefer to use a page, while others prefer to use a profile, and I'm not going to argue which is better or right, because I don't think there's a definitive answer. For a quick look at the differences, you can scroll down for a handy infographic that you're encouraged to share. Keep reading for some more detail and explanation.

Author Profile

If you have a personal profile on Facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family already, then you know how all of that works. Many authors will create additional profiles for their pen names, or even if they don't use a pen name, they'll create a profile for "Author J. Lea López" for the purposes of connecting with fans and having an online presence as their writing selves. It's easy, there's no learning curve because they already know how to use FB in this manner, and they can keep personal details out of their professional timeline and vice versa.

Attending FB events like launch parties and cover reveals and giveaways is easy to do. For event attendees, they get notifications whenever other attendees (who have RSVP'd) post in the event. This is great if you have some people who are waiting for Author You to show up and play games or run a giveaway. They don't have to babysit the event page and keep hitting refresh. Attendees do NOT get a notification when someone posts in the event using their page persona. It might seem like a small detail, but it can be important. Speaking as an attendee at one event, I was confused when I stopped getting notifications for a solid chunk of time, only to realize that the scheduled author was indeed posting in the event, but was doing so as her page persona. I was annoyed I'd missed out on some things.

A profile is a great option if you want to run a street team or a reader's group where you give away ARCs or a secret group to share sexy pictures of cowboys poll readers about what to name your heroine. ;-)

For me, the downsides of using a profile are many. As a reader, I don't personally want to send friend requests to all of the authors whose pages I would like in a heartbeat. There's a certain amount of distance with a page that I'm happy with maintaining. I don't want to share my life with them; I just want to see the fun things they share and learn more about their writing. As an author, I also don't want to share all of my life with my readers. And if you know me, you know I share quite a bit on social media. But I don't want to share everything, and the thought of creating a separate profile to share little more than I'm already doing on my page seems like too much work.

Author Page

When you create a page, you (personal profile you) are the admin for that page and you'll log in to FB with your regular profile when you want to share things from your page. There can be a learning curve and some confusion about how to share what where so it shows up correctly to your fans on your page instead of scaring your dear Aunt Ida with those sexy cowboy photos when you accidentally share them to your family and friends instead of your page. Getting the posting just right can be tricky at first, but at least you don't have to log in and out of different accounts or keep two separate Internet browsers dedicated to two (or more) separate profiles. If you have multiple pen names, you can have multiple pages all accessible from your regular FB profile. And as someone who does a huge amount of social media sharing via mobile devices, it's much easier to manage multiple pages in a single app than it is to manage multiple profiles.

You can send and receive messages from readers with a page the same as you would with a profile, and people can also post to your page publicly. There's still plenty of room for two-way communication with a page. There's no reader apprehension about "Does this author really want me to friend them? Is that too intrusive? Will they accept my request?" and no author apprehension about "What kind of person is this that I'm friending? Are they going to post things I hate? Will I have to hide them from my feed or unfriend them at some point?" Plus it's just super easy to click the Like button.

It's no secret that FB has narrowed the organic reach of pages, which is partially why I suspect a lot of people are using profiles instead, but there are some techniques you can use to broaden your reach whenever you post from your page. Hashtags, time of day, types of post, etc can help ensure that more of the people who've liked your page actually see the content. It's yet another learning curve. However, you do get some analytics with a FB page that you don't get with a profile that can help you target your audience better. The stats aren't perfect, but you'll get information about the overall reach and engagement of each of your posts, and you can look at that data in historic graphs to help you understand which of your posts perform better. You don't get any of that with a profile.

Of course, there's also the old-fashioned way of reaching more people: paying for it. You can pay to promote a public post on a profile, but that $6.99 goes toward pushing that post to the top of your friends' newsfeeds. It will ensure more of the people you're already friends with have seen the post, but that doesn't mean anyone else will. As a page, you can pay to boost a post with a budget as small as $5, and you can target by age, location, gender, and interests, meaning you have a better chance of making new connections and getting new fans.

A public profile is great for extensive networking, maintaining groups, planning and attending events, and connecting with readers in a format you're likely already familiar with. A page is great for sharing things with readers while maintaining some distance, analyzing the effectiveness of your posts, targeting paid FB promotion, and having access to all of your personas in one place. It's up to you to decide which you think is the best fit for you.

Here's that infographic I promised, which I made (for free!) using Piktochart. Feel free to share it around! (click to enlarge)

If you have one, do you prefer using a public Facebook profile or a page to connect with readers? If you don't, which do you think would work best for you?

J. Lea López is an author who strives to make you laugh at, fall in love with, cry over, and lust after the characters she writes. She welcomes online stalkers as long as they're witty and/or adulatory. Kidding. Maybe. Check for yourself: Twitter, Facebook, Blog.

Lessons From an Anomaly

by +J. Lea Lopez 

One author's success doesn't diminish the possibility of our own. Because there's not a finite pool of sparkling, shiny success that slowly empties with each new book published. We all know that, right? But there are still book deals that make even the most level-headed of us go Umm... what? I'm still slogging away in the [midlist/query trenches/self-pub maze] while they're showered with stardom for THAT? For some it was Fifty Shades. For others it might be the latest reality star's memoir. For many, recently, it's the six-figure deal for a One Direction fanfic picked up from Wattpad.

I don't particularly care if someone wants to read fanfic about a boy band. If that's their thing, more power to them. I'm not disparaging that. Usually I ignore such out-of-nowhere rise to fame stories, because it's sort of like that one person who wins a multi-million-dollar lottery jackpot: the odds of it happening to you or me are astronomical, but it does happen to some people. This time, however, I got to thinking. Even if Anna Todd's 1D fanfic book deal is that one in a million jackpot that none of us are likely to experience for ourselves, maybe there were still things we could learn and apply to our own journey. Turns out, there are.

Pace and productivity

According to the article linked above Todd's fiction was posted in 300 daily installments and garnered several hundred million views. Not hundreds. Not thousands. Hundreds of millions. I think there's something to be learned from the pacing and serialization aspect of her success. It's sort of like blogging, where one of the biggest pieces of advice people have to give is to have a consistent schedule, and generally the more often, the better. If you're on Wattpad browsing stories and someone else is on there posting a story (or part of one) every day for almost a year, chances are good you'll stumble across something they've written even if you aren't searching for them specifically. Fans of the story will want to read more of the series or even more from that author regardless of the story world. If they're pushing out something new very quickly, there's less chance of fans getting bored, wandering away, and forgetting to come back to look again.

What does that mean for you or me? Self-publishers may have a bit of an advantage here because they have more control over their publishing schedule, but those publishing traditionally can pay attention to their pacing as well. It might mean waiting until you have the first two books ready to go and another nearing completion before self-publishing the first one so you're able to set a quick pace with your releases. If you aren't writing a series, that doesn't mean you can't try the same technique with unrelated books.  High productivity helps to create visibility and increase discovery. Setting a quicker pace ensures that people who enjoy your writing never have to wait too long for something new.

Where the fans are

Todd could have posted her writing on her own blog, or on another writing web site that didn't have a specific fanfiction category. But she didn't. Wattpad has a category dedicated to fanfic, and people go there to read it, if the number of views on many of the top rated stories are any indication. It sounds simplistic, but being where your audience hangs out is important. That's why it's important for aspiring authors on social media to understand that tweeting or blogging only about writing techniques, while great, means the audience you attract is going to consist almost exclusively of other writers. Yes, writers are readers, too, but there's also a huge potential audience of non-writers out there.

I'm not saying we should all post our writing for free on web sites that have a lot of readers interested in our genre. But if you love to knit so much that the main character in your cozy mystery is a sweater-knitting sleuth, I really hope you're hanging out in knitting circles or online forums, or that you're tweeting your favorite knitting patterns in addition to writing advice. Does your book feature a talented tenor who must decide between his dream opera role and the love of his life? Then talk about opera and singing! Seek out places online or in real life to engage with other singers and other fans of opera. Most importantly, though, engage with people this way as a fellow fangirl first and an author second.

Passion

Fanfiction is, by nature, written by fans of something. They have a passion for the subject already. In reading her interview responses, it's easy to see how much Todd loves One Direction and how that passion bleeds over into the stories she's written. It may seem simplistic, but never lose sight of the joy and passion you have for your stories. If you aren't in love with the plot and characters you're writing, it's going to be difficult to get anyone else excited about reading it. Unbridled passion is contagious, so go ahead and let that cat out of the bag.

How do you usually respond to the latest big thing? What other lessons can we learn from these literary lottery winners?

J. Lea López is an author who strives to make you laugh at, fall in love with, cry over, and lust after the characters she writes. She welcomes online stalkers as long as they're witty and/or adulatory. Kidding. Maybe. Check for yourself: Twitter, Facebook, Blog.

Resiliency

by Jemi Fraser

Life is going to throw a lot of curve balls our way. That's part of life. It's how we handle those curve balls that defines us.

When that curve ball is heading our way, we've got some choices on how to handle it:

• duck
• close our eyes and swing
• keep our eye on the ball and swing
• jump out of the batter's box
• step into the pitch
• watch it go right on by

A writer's journey to publication is chock full of curve balls. 

• finding the right idea
• writing the first page
• finishing the draft
• finding a crit buddy
• sharing
• revising
• editing
• writing a query
• and synopsis
• sending out that query
• rejection
• more rejection
• marketing
• reviews
• contracts
• sales
• pressure of the next book
• ...

Resiliency is the key to survival in the industry. So how do we deal with those curve balls? A few suggestions:

• conversations and commiserations with writing buddies (this online writing community is incredible!!)
• always having the next idea ready to go - keep an idea bank
• critique the work of others - a great way to improve yourself & help out someone else!
• study your favourite stories to see what works in them to pull you in
• tears (but not for long!)
• time outs/times off (again, not for long!)
• chocolate (maybe that's just me)
• learn something new (this is my personal favourite. Not only is it productive, but it builds your skill set and your confidence)

There's nothing wrong with jumping out of the batter's box - as long as you're ready to learn something new and then jump right back in. 

How do you build your resiliency?

Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. She blogs  and tweets while searching for those HEAs.

Speaking Engagements for the Shy

by MarcyKate Connolly 

One of the things you may not think much about when you’re writing that first book or just dipping your toe into the query trenches is that if you do get that book published, you may have to talk to a lot of people.

As in, in front of them. Standing up. Trying desperately to keep your lunch down and not flail so hard you actually take flight.

If you’re shy like I am, this might be a bit of challenge for you.

I recently had the opportunity to speak to a couple of groups (one as a guest speaker at a local reading council and another as a presenter on Scrivener), and while I’m definitely still learning, I thought I’d share what helped me stay calm and keep on.

Namely, passion.

I was terrified for that first event. They wanted me to talk about me and my publishing journey, a topic I suspect would make many shy writers feel squeamish. (They want to hear about me? But I’m boring!) It was a challenge to find a way to make it engaging, and fortunately I was able to also read an excerpt from my book (which is infinitely more interesting than me!).

Practicing my speech beforehand helped considerably for that first event, but the second was easier (even though I had to talk for 2 hours instead of only 30 minutes!) because it was a topic I was passionate about: Scrivener. The fact that it was a familiar atmosphere (NESCBWI, my favorite conference), also made me feel more at ease.

This is not to say it went entirely smooth—we had some technical difficulties with the microphone, and with getting a room full of people at various levels of usage all on the same page with Scrivener. But it was a topic I loved, knew inside out, and could easily wax poetic about for hours. So, I did.

If you’re fairly shy too, and the thought of public speaking makes you twitch, here’s my suggestion: start small, and start with what you love. If you can, arrange something in a place that is familiar like an event at your local library or a presentation or panel at a local conference you’ve been to in the past. Even better if you can choose something you love to speak about – maybe it’s revision, or story structure, or fairy tales, etc. If you’re passionate about the subject matter, and the location is familiar, an event like that can be a great way to ease into it before you have to stand up in front of a group of strangers.

Since I’m still learning too, I’d love to hear your thoughts on ways to feel more comfortable and be successful at public speaking!

MarcyKate Connolly writes middle grade and young adult fiction and becomes a superhero when sufficiently caffeinated. When earthbound, she blogs at her website and spends far too much time babbling on Twitter. Her debut upper MG fantasy novel, MONSTROUS, will be out from HarperCollins Children's Books in Winter 2015.

6 Reasons You Will Never Escape the Listicle

by Riley Redgate

The listicle: it's an article, but also a list. No, that's not a portmanteau of "list" and "testicle," though that also sort of works, in a way.

Thanks to BuzzFeed taking over the world, you probably see a listicle or two popping up in your Facebook feed or on Twitter daily. This very blog post is a listicle! Help, I've been converted to the Dark Side, ha ha. No, seriously. Help.

I've seen plenty of people complaining about listicles being the downfall of civilized society or the end of Real Readership. I don't particularly agree, but that's fine. One can think listicles are the end-all-be-all of perfect journalism or that they are some terrible plague on society; everyone's opinion is pretty much valid. But I'm more interested in why and how they became such a phenomenon so quickly, because that is an undeniable truth. This is a type of writing that's catchier than chicken pox, and wherever writing trends pop up, it's always good to examine them closely.

As I see it, here's why these articles have proven themselves to have the sticking power of particularly determined leeches:

1) The ever-clickable titles.

The portal into the listicle inevitably has a cutesy but wait, there's more! tone to it. I just know there's some person out there behind a keyboard whose actual job is titling listicles. They're probably cackling gleefully, cracking their knuckles, and making unfathomable amounts of money off it all. These titles have a great and terrible power. 12 Quirky and Adorable Times Jennifer Lawrence Enraptured the General Viewing Public? I like being enraptured! Show me more! 9 Facts You Won't Believe Are True? Is that a challenge? That sounds like a challenge. I'd better click it, just to show them I can believe those facts are true. That'll show them.

More page views equals more success. Clickable titles are the first step, then, to taking over the world. These titles sell a product with efficiency and clarity -- you know exactly what you're getting. Brevity is the soul of wit. It is also apparently the soul of capitalism.

2) The convenient organization.

Listicles are essentially pre-chewed food. Everything is easily digestible, lined up in order so that the quickly scanning eye can hop from point to point with maximum efficiency. It's also convenient for the author, because it's essentially just an article taken to the chopping block: you take the topic sentence of the paragraph, turn it into a sentence fragment, put a number before it, and voila. There's an emphasis here on comprehensibility, rather than style. It's hyper-commercial, and organized to be so.


3) Their unthreatening nature.

Honestly, listicles seem to betray how scared the internet has become when it comes to reading anything long. This format is a great way to make articles look low-calorie. It's not some tremendous block of text, the listicle cries. You're still on the internet, the land of the miniature attention span! This is a quick article!

This is funny to me, because (as mentioned in point #2) I feel that many plain ol' articles could be easily converted into list-form, and conversely, many listicles could be transformed into plain ol' articles without too much hard work. Not that writing lists and writing articles aren't different arts, but wow, the magic effect of white space. How much more likely is someone to read an article titled 30 Things You Loved About the 90s, which is simply 30 numbered evenly spaced paragraphs about the 90s, versus an article titled What You Loved About the 90s, a 30-paragraph-long essay?

4) The ranking system.

Something that's uniquely wonderful about the list format is that it presents the opportunity for you to rank the importance of your points without having to state explicitly, This is the important part, for these reasons. Especially if the list is reverse-numbered (5, 4, 3, 2, 1), the reader can expect that #1 on the list will be something special. This also helps retain readers who otherwise may have stopped reading before the end. They will feel some terrible tug in their chest that urges them to finish the listicle, to see it through to the bitter end, no matter their current feelings toward it, no matter how much they might want to quit. They will want to be impressed. They will be stubborn. I am not at all speaking from experience.

What I'm saying here is that the setup creates unresolved tension. If you see #5 at the top, you'll naturally want to read down to #1.

5) Humor.

Cracked.com has been doing these for ages. (Though there's a world of difference between BuzzFeed listicles and Cracked listicles.) The list format lends itself to joke format. Each number gets a setup and a punchline, and then you move on. In a lot of cases, the last number on the list is also a punchline. The audience expects this, in a way, which means it's all the more satisfying when their expectations are met.

6) The internet has a long memory.

The internet is the place that still can't let go of videos like They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard and the trololo song. I doubt it'll let go of this oddly specific, highly successful writing format that's created a million viral articles. The internet has dug its little hands into the listicle, and the internet loves the listicle, so the listicle, BasedGod decrees, is here to stay.

So little time and effort involved, and so many laughs. Here's a gif of a cat. Moving pictures. We're basically in Harry Potter now. This is the final stage of human evolution. This is it. We've reached the top.

Am I against listicles? Not really. I think they're hilarious, and expeditious. And frankly, at least people are still reading articles at all. It's 2014. Weren't we supposed to be uploading information to our brains by now?

Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a bookstore-and-Starbucks-dweller from North Carolina attending college in Ohio. She is represented by Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Sporadically and with occasional weirdness, she blogs here and speaks with considerably more brevity here.

Rhinoceros Skin - Every Writer's Must-Have

by Mindy McGinnis

I recently did a presentation about the path to publication that included a big fat picture of a rhinoceros, which always seems to set people back a bit. One of the first things I tell aspiring authors to procure for themselves is some rhinoceros skin. Don't actually go kill a rhinoceros and say Mindy McGinnis told you to do it before reading the rest of this post.

Rhinoceros skin is 1.5 centimeters thick - that's pretty thick skin. Even on our fleshiest parts (hands and feet) human skin is only about 4mm thick. Big game hunters in the early 1900's even believed that rhinos had bulletproof skin. This is not actually the case, but that particular myth has staying power- Kevlar backpacks have been dubbed Rhino Skin.

And this is the kind of protective layer you need to have covering your ego when it's time for feedback. Whether that is coming from your critique partners, casual readers, agents, editors, bloggers or professional reviewers, anything negative that anyone has to say about your book is going to sting a little. And stinging a little is just fine. In fact, even the rhino is used to it - the biggest threat to their skin is sunburn and insect bites. Rhinos cover themselves in mud to protect their skin from these threats, and then they move on with their lives.

These topical concerns can't kill you - in fact, much like the rhino you learn from them. But you can't allow the negativity about your work sink past your epidermis and get down into your organs where you can be fatally damaged by it. Your ego can take a bruising (in fact it's good for all of us) but a seeping lesion will drain the life out of you.

So put on your rhinoceros skin and roll around in some mud, at which point you'll be ready to face any negativity about your writing. And yes, you can say that Mindy told you to roll in the mud.
_____________________________________________

Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent. The companion novel IN A HANDFUL OF DUST releases September 23, 2014. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire and has serious social media problem. You can find her on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, 

The Joy of Slow

by Jemi Fraser

Our world today is Fast. Everything seems to move at lightning speed - including us. I've found this extends to a lot of people going through the journey to publication as well.

But there's a very valid argument for Slow. Especially in the publishing world.

Most writers write because they love it, but few are adverse to making some money along the way. Most writers also want others to meet their characters and love their plots. I get it.

But rushing leads to too many mistakes. Too many regrets.

You don't get a 2nd chance to put out a debut. Make sure it's a book you'll always be proud of. A book that starts the brand you want. A book as clean and polished as you can make it.

Enjoy learning how to revise. How to edit. How to take that story down to the bare bones and build it back up again. Have fun with the slash & burn. Enjoy taking that risk with crit buddies and really listening to their opinions and learning how to share your own. Take your time and study the available paths you might take. Find the joys and the advantages of each but keep an eye out for the downsides too. Learn to deal with rejection until you realize it's not personal and it's often helpful (really!). Find the joy - not just the fleeting fun - in the process. If you hope to make this a career you need to learn to love it all.

There truly is joy in the journey, and the journey never ends. Don't rush. Savor. Be a kid again and play with your words, find the ways they flow. Learn from your mistakes and make new ones. Learn again.

The publication journey is kind of like the pursuit of education. Dropping out of school at 15 so you can work at a job will certainly give you more money in the short term. But, by staying in school your chances are much better that you'll find a job that pays you more. A lot more. Enough to make up for those early years and then some.

Is slow a guarantee for success? No.

Are there exceptions out there? Of course.

Are you willing to take the chance?

Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. She blogs (today about her personal slow journey) and tweets while searching for those HEAs.

Decisions, Decisions: Choosing the Conference That’s Right for You

Writing conference season is nearly upon us!  So many conferences of all shapes and sizes! But how does one choose?

There are many things to consider, but first and foremost, ask yourself: what are your goals in going to a conference? What do you hope to get out of it? This will help determine which conference will help meet those goals.

For example, some conferences are networking-oriented, like the Winter SCBWI conference in NY. Others are more craft-based, such as the New England SCBWI conference in Springfield, MA. Looking at what sessions they offer can clue you in to which type – networking conferences tend to offer bigger picture topics and have more of a lecture format with lots of opportunities to mingle. Craft-based conferences also have plenty of mingling opportunities of course, but their sessions are often more specific and hands-on.

Then there’s the question of broad or specialized conference. Are you looking for something that will let you take sessions on a broad variety of topics and genres or are you looking for something that focuses on a category such as children’s’ books, romance, Sci-Fi/fantasy, etc? An example of a broad spectrum conference would be The Muse and the Marketplace in Boston, and in addition to the afore-mentioned SCBWI conferences, there’s more specialized options such as RWA, Romantic Times, Reader Con, and many others.

Once you’ve decided what type of conference you want (crafted-based or networking) and what focus is best for you (general or specific), the next question is location! Local SCBWI and RWA chapters may offer regional conferences, as well as larger national ones from the main parent organization. Often (but certainly not always), national conferences have more of a networking focus, while the regional tend toward craft-based. And of course, cost is a factor for most people--unless you happen to live in or near the city where the conference is being held, national will likely take a bigger bite out of your budget with the high cost of hotels, travel, etc. since they're usually held in major cities. But on the flip side, they may also hold greater networking opportunities.

In short, there's a lot to consider, but every conference has its benefits and can be a wonderful, worthwhile experience!

What conferences have you been to? What made you decide to go? Did you get what you expected out of it? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

MarcyKate Connolly writes middle grade and young adult fiction and becomes a superhero when sufficiently caffeinated. When earthbound, she blogs at her website and spends far too much time babbling on Twitter. Her debut upper MG fantasy novel, MONSTROUS, will be out from HarperCollins Children's Books in Winter 2015.

Twittequette Tips

by Jemi Fraser

I remember joining Twitter a few years ago and being completely overwhelmed. I've seen/heard/read a lot of questions popping up here and there regarding Twittequette lately so I thought I'd tackle that today.

Twittequette Tips for Interacting with Agents & Editors

• Is it okay to follow agents and editors on Twitter or do I need an invite?
• Absolutely okay to follow them!
• Is it okay to talk to agents and editors on Twitter?
• Yes, but don't be pushy. Start small - retweet what appeals to you, answer questions they ask. Personally I suggest doing a lot more lurking and learning than interacting.
• Is it okay to ask agents and editors business questions on Twitter?
• Not usually. If there's an #askagent #askyaagent or similar chat going on, go ahead, but don't be a pest at other times.
• Can I pitch agents and editors on Twitter?
• NO!!! Absolutely not.
• Unless it's a contest, then check out the rules and feel free to participate.

Twittequette Tips for Self Promotion

• Is it okay to promote my book?
• Yes.
• I sense a BUT... coming, what is it?
• But... don't do it very often.
• A standard tip I've seen is to have at LEAST 5 tweets (10 is probably better) about something and/or someone else in between your tweets about you.
• Don't promote every review you receive but when something genuinely excites you go ahead and post it! (Need I repeat... not too often.)
• If all you talk about is you and your books, you'll soon be talking to yourself.

General Twittequette

• Follow people because you're interested in them ... NOT because of what they can do for you.
• DON'T unfollow people shortly after you've followed them to inflate your numbers. Nobody really cares about numbers and this makes you look like a dweeb.
• Listen to Mrs. Rabbit. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
• having said that it's OK to be funny and snarky ... just don't aim at a person. I follow some hilarious people who are incredibly snarky but they're never mean. If you don't know the difference, err on the side of caution.
• Be yourself and relax. Twitter is all about fun and connections.

Any Twittequette tips to add? Any questions to ask of our knowledgeable readers?

Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.

Being Supportive, Being Authentic

by R.C. Lewis

One of the best things about the writing community is that it's so supportive. Writers share information and experiences on blogs and Twitter, offer advice to newer writers, and spread the word about others' books.

For me, there's a fine balance between that support and being authentic. If you don't like someone's cover or book, do you still rave about it in the name of being supportive? Some writers do, and I think they often have valid reasons for it. Tastes are subjective, so they're objectively celebrating the effort and accomplishment. They're offsetting the inevitable snark-reviews.

Good reasons. If that's what makes sense to you, go for it!

The trickiest place for this is in reviewing. I decided a long while ago that I wouldn't review books. Period. Books I love, hate, or are so-so about. My own nature is to find things to pick on, so I make a lousy "celebrator of effort and accomplishment" if I don't adore everything about a book. And if I review one writer-friend's book (because I love it) but not another's (because I don't love it), it gets way too awkward. I can't say I love everything, because I don't. Because I'm admittedly really picky, it's often hard to focus on any aspect I thought was good.

So no reviews for me, and I think that's a decision each author has to make in a way that works for them. It has to do with personality along with a whole host of other factors.

There are other things I can do, though, that I think are more universal. I can be vocally supportive of all paths—traditional, agented, small publisher, self, whatever. I can likewise be supportive of writers in all genres.

Most importantly, I can make sure I never look down on a fellow writer.

While it's critical to have self-confidence in this business—we need to believe our stories are worth reading—it's just as critical not to let that cross over to arrogance. In my case, I write Young Adult sci-fi. I do so because it's what I love, and I think my books have something important to add to the conversation.

That's not the same as thinking I'm better than everyone else publishing or attempting to publish in that area. I think I'm pretty good at some things. I know I still have plenty to learn.

I think I can add a different voice. I don't think "different" means "better."

I have opinions. I have some expertise. I don't have the right to poop on someone else's parade.

This is why decisions about how to publicly convey our support for each other can be so tricky, at least for me. Being honest, authentic, and supportive while keeping our egos in check … it's a big balancing act.

How do you choose to show your support for your fellow authors? Are there things you find you just can't do? Where's your balance?

R.C. Lewis teaches math to teenagers—sometimes in sign language, sometimes not—so whether she's a science geek or a bookworm depends on when you look. Her debut novel Stitching Snow is coming from Disney-Hyperion in Fall 2014. You can find R.C. on Twitter (@RC_Lewis) and at her website.

Quick & Dirty Social Media Guide for Writers, Not Intended to Make You Feel Inadequate

by Mindy McGinnis

Vine. Really? Yep, that's right. Post three second videos of random things and see if people think it's cool, funny, cute, awkward... or you can just go for the gross out if you get injured a lot like I do. Oh wait, you can't hear me because you just took your bottom lip and pulled it up over your head to avoid yet another social media thing that you feel pressured to make yourself a part of?

Unhook that lip. Nobody looks good that way.

Here's the thing about social media - it works.
Here's the other thing - it's a time suck.

So what's the key? Find what works best for you. Sure, you've heard that, and I just became the 340th person to tell you it, which makes this blog post as useless as that Vine video of a pug chasing it's tail.

Or... is it? Because people really like pugs, and a pug lover might also be a book lover. That video of your dog being a dumbass will probably get more reach than you talking about your book (again). And let's be honest, you already took the video anyway. Post the damn thing.

Honestly, this is my approach to social media. I hit myself in the leg with a sledgehammer this morning and I tweeted about it, to great applause. This has nothing to do with my book. Neither do about 3/4 of my tweets. My Instagram feed is mostly of my dog sleeping in weird positions and my cat in the Christmas tree.

The biggest drawback I hear about social media is that people claim they don't know what to say. Guess what? There are plenty of outlets where you don't even have to worry about saying anything! There truly is something out there for everyone when it comes to social media, and below you'll find a list of my own accounts and how I use them as an author.

Facebook: Yes, it's true that I'm a YA author and teens have abandoned Facebook because their parents can monitor them easily there. At the same time a huge amount of YA sales are to adults, and they are using Facebook, so I will too. What can an author do with a Facebook page? Anything you want! Host giveaways, link to your latest blog post, share fan art, your trailer, any current deals on your book. Funny memes. My posts reach anywhere from 200 to 2000 people on any given day. People are looking. Write about hitting yourself with a sledgehammer. Whatever.

Twitter: It's not hard, I promise you. 140 characters per tweet. The @ is your name, the # is a topic or thread to follow. You can post pictures, link to your blog, participate in chats and contests. More importantly, follow agents you are interested in to see what they're saying. A lot of preferences come out on Twitter - and personalities. Follow people for awhile and you'll find out who you do - and don't - want to work with. Also tweet about hitting yourself with sledgehammers.

Tumblr: If you're a YA writer, this is where the teens are right now. If you're not, this is still a good place to be. It's gif-heavy, yes, but that doesn't mean you have to be a gif-fer to play. Think of your Tumblr dashboard as your Facebook Home page and it'll all fall into place after that. Easily shared and with a wide audience, anything interesting you say (or see) here will reach who it's intended for eventually. Word to the wise - Tumblr is very image based. Text-heavy posts are more appropriate for your blog, although certainly anything can be shared here. This is a quick moving crowd that wants easily digestible bits - so provide that. Pics, cover shares, quick YouTube videos, fan art postings all have a good home here. A pic of that sledgehammer and the bruise wouldn't hurt.

Pinterest: Seriously? For writers? I thought this was all cupcakes and home decorating and fashion? Yeah, there's a lot of that. Pinterest is pictures, period. What's a writer to do? On my boards I share all my covers, pics from tours, fan art, pictures of NOT A DROP TO DRINK in the wild (which fans are happy to provide), and most importantly, pictures of the setting for my book. My boards build a tone for my readership, something you can do for your book too. A very important thing to remember with Pinterest is that you need to have the rights to post / pin said pictures. Play it safe and post pictures you've taken yourself. A great place for a sledgehammer pic.

Instagram: Yep. More pictures. I know, it's an unfair world. But guess what? You don't have to just take pictures of your book. In fact, you really shouldn't because that would be incredibly lame. Have a cat? A dog? A cool house? New shoes? Take a pic, people love it. Your social media isn't just about selling your book. Your readers want to know you, and if you show them literal snapshots of your life they'll love you for it. Sledgehammer? Def.

Google+: I know, you're all - WAIT THAT EXISTS?!? It does. It's Facebook in Google colors, and it's not quite the social media graveyard some might lead you to believe. Catch the quiet ones here, the people who don't want to go all-out and shotgun splay themselves everywhere. That's a massive generalization on my part, but there are great niche groups on G+ that you can build an audience among if you take the time, especially readers. Even better, you can maintain a nice looking page there without a lot of time on your part. As you know, Google owns the internet so your blog (if you're Blogger), YouTube channel and various other Google owned shinola can all be wired to auto-post there. All those things you said about sledgehammers? Just say it once - it'll end up here if you set it up that way.

YouTube: OK, so you're probably all, "Mindy. I'm not insane like you. I don't blow up inflatable circus clowns and make paper mache arms and read about lockjaw from the encyclopedia and videotape myself doing it." And... well, nobody should probably do that, but I'm my own type of girl. YouTube and vlogs are for the outgoing. Definitely don't make one if you're one of the "I don't know what to say," types. This is for people like me who never shut up and whose brains generally crank out vlog ideas at 3AM because they're in a manic phase. However... do you have a book trailer? If you do, here's a great place to put it and link back to. I know you're waiting for me to say that I have a vid of me hitting myself with a sledgehammer, but I don't. More's the pity.

Goodreads: Yes, there's good things. Yes, there's bad things. Roll it all together and it's just like real life. What's Goodreads best for in my opinion? Showing people what you're reading. Hey, we're trying to reach the book crowd here, and I'm guessing that all writers started out as readers. So show that side of yourself. What are you reading? People care. A lot more than you think. Set up your Goodreads account to tweet when you begin and finish a book and you'll get a ton of interaction on Twitter. Especially when you finish that one about the history of sledgehammers.

Riffle: This is a new one in the book crowd, and personally I love it. It's like Pinterest + Goodreads = Riffle. Visually heavier than Goodreads, if you've got a good-looking cover this is a nice place to make your presence known. It's a book lovers site, and one where you get the experience of being in a bookstore because you are literally browsing covers on the main page. One to keep an eye on. So you finished that sledgehammer book? Won't the cover look nice on your list of recommendations?

Vine: Yep. I mentioned this one already. Think of it like Instagram but with videos. Kind of like what MTV was for radio when MTV was you know... for music videos. What do I have to say about this? I seriously have no clue because I just set up my account. Like, two seconds ago. Come learn with me. I promise my first vid will be of the sledgehammer.

I know I said this post is not intended to make you feel inadequate, and right now your hands are buried in your hair and you're damning my name. There's no reason for that. I do everything because I like to play, and if playing isn't you thing, cool. Pick what looks like fun to you, then dabble.

The biggest thing about social media is that it takes time. I don't want you to run out and create an account on every one of these platforms and then acquire a massive five followers (two of them probably bots) and make yourself insane trying to keep up, all the while screaming, "Mindy said this works and all my followers are the same people! And one of them is my MOM!"

Relax. Like I said, it takes time. I first started using Twitter two years ago and after a week was convinced it was a waste of my time and a passing fad. Er... bad call on my part. But I stuck with it and now I have a solid fan base there that I can reach out to at opportune times- like my upcoming cover reveal for IN A HANDFUL OF DUST.

In the end, social media can be magic if you make it work for you. The keys are knowing your own preferences and limits, and having the patience to stick with whatever platforms you choose long enough to let the network grow.

Also, sledgehammers are dangerous. Take note.
__________________________________________

Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent. The companion novel IN A HANDFUL OF DUST releases September 23, 2014. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire and has serious social media problem. You can find her on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest,