Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

There are good things and bad things about the immediacy of social networking.

On the good side, Twitter and Facebook are useful networking tools. Now writers can easily interact with their readers, booksellers, agents, editors, and reviewers.

On the bad side—people who don’t think before they tweet.

If you haven’t read about author Alice Hoffman’s poorly thought-out response to a mediocre review, check out Galley Cat and Gawker for the play-by-play.

Basically, Ms. Hoffman got on Twitter and flipped out. The review wasn’t that bad. No, the reviewer wasn’t wild about her newest release, but praised her past books and stated this one wasn’t up to par with her others.

Ms. Hoffman posted the reviewer’s phone number on Twitter and asked her fans to call the reviewer and complain. For me, the unprofessionalism involved is the worst. The reviewers do their jobs, we do ours. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I try really hard to remain unaffected and professional with both good and bad reviews. So far I haven’t gotten any real stinkers, but I’m sure they’re coming. If you have any longevity in this business, you should get both over your career. Right now my policy is to post the good ones on my publicity stuff and put the lukewarm ones out of mind as I write.

There’s even a blog called The Worst Review Ever: Feel the Pain. Heal the Pain. Now this is a more healthy approach to getting a bad review…with humor. I’ve enjoyed reading the posts (and readers then rate the review on a scale of bad to horrible.) The idea behind the blog is that they’re looking for the most scathing review ever. Not exactly something I want to aspire to, but fun to read.

And to all the reviewers out there—thanks for reading. Good or bad, these reviews translate into publicity. And writers can’t afford to drum up our own.

I love subplots.

I love reading them and writing them and watching them on television.

I think they should be approached with a degree of caution; you don’t want to distract from the primary plot for too long, you don’t want to inflate your book with fluff, you don’t want to add too many extra pages to your book.

That being said—they’re just fun.

Things I like about subplots:

When it seems there’s no resolution in sight to the primary plot, there’s usually a steady and easily-seen process toward resolution for the subplot (every time it’s introduced, something has changed.)

It’s a good way to introduce a different element to a particular genre (introducing romance to a thriller/mystery, introducing a puzzling mystery to a non-mystery, etc.)

Sometimes I like to connect my subplot with my main story at the conclusion of the book (I’ve done this with my current WIP.) Maybe something the reader thought was completely an auxiliary strand ties in with the plot in a surprising way–my subplot in the current WIP, that seems totally unrelated, plays a part in saving the protagonist’s life. In some cases, the subplot can affect the book’s outcome.

It adds another layer of intrigue to a book—something else the reader wants to see resolved.

I’m careful not to add too many subplots—I don’t want to create confusion over the real thrust of my story. But frequently, I enjoy writing my subplots most of all.

It’s that new-release time for me again and I need to get my rear-end in gear. Publicity in even the most casual way (giving someone your card when they ask about your book) requires a certain amount of prep work.

Let’s just say I’m a little behind. :)

I’m going to try to catch up this week, especially since I’ve missed a few opportunities recently to hand out something nice about my book.

Vista Print is a good resource for post cards, business cards, flyers, and brochures. I’ve used them a few times and have been very pleased with their low costs and lack of hassle I’ve encountered.

As far as groups that have great ideas for promotions, my pick is Murder Must Advertise. The threads cover all aspects of promotion (and the group isn’t limited to mystery writers.)

Interested in blog touring? I recommend Blog Book Tours for information on making your own blog successful and what to look for in a potential tour host.

Publicity prep isn’t the easiest thing in the world (and it can be very time-consuming.) But I try to remember that it’s just as important as the other parts of the writing process.

Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Snow White, Harry Potter…and it’s not just in children’s literature that there are absent mothers/fathers/wives/husbands.

If you think about it, many novels (except, maybe, ones that are specifically focusing on family life) have protagonists with no significant other.

Why is that? I think it’s because husbands or wives or–in the case of children’s lit, parents–can be domineering, interfering, or overly influential. Worst case scenario, they can weaken the protagonist as a dominant force in the story.

I was editing my current WIP yesterday and noticed that my protagonist is a widow. Not only that, but four supporting characters are spouse-free.

I’m fine with my sleuth being single (her husband might try to curtail her crime-fighting activities: particularly after they put her in danger), but I’m going to take another look at the bevy of single characters in the supporting cast.

I always thought it was funny in Cheers that Norm’s wife became a character, even though we never meet her. Just his remarks about her were enough to bring her to life.

I think the trick is to have these characters fleshed out and represent them as part of a family—even if it’s one that doesn’t mind if they’re out at one a.m., fighting crime.

Soooo….I’m editing. I’ve got this 70,000 word document on a computer screen that needs to be assessed, reorganized, and added to/subtracted from. I wrote it primarily on my laptop (although sometimes notebooks were used when I was ‘on location’ at the park, roller rink, pediatric waiting room, etc.)

But looking at the expanse of screen and scrolling, scrolling, scrolling is very awkward. I can’t flip quickly between page 22 and page 222 (well, I can, but it involves computer commands.)

At this point, I’m using my unwieldy print-out of the manuscript. I went to Office Max yesterday morning and bought some 1″ binder clips that I’ve slapped on it to keep the thing from falling apart.

I have a large supply of Post-It notes that I stick onto a page when I’ve got a question that needs to be checked out (like a continuity question, setting issue, forensic or police procedural fact, etc.) I also attach sticky notes to pages that have clues, red herrings, alibis–important plot points–on them so I can easily access these pages later.

I’ve printed the story on one side of the paper and use the opposite page to add text to a scene or to dialogue. Cutting text is easy–just draw a line through it.

I’ve also got a collection of photographs from magazines or printed pics I found online that I’ll stick in the pages of my manuscript. Sometimes I come across faces in news media that remind me of my characters. When I do, I tear or print them out so I can picture these folks more easily.

Drawbacks to this method: These papers are a mess and they get messier everywhere you go. They’ve been rifled through, drawn on, there are Post-its sticking out of the top, etc. A kid dripped on them at the swimming pool yesterday and I doused my pile of papers with coffee this morning.

Another draw-back is that anything you do on paper has eventually got to be transferred to the Word doc.

Even with these issues, though, I find I edit myself better on paper. It just helps having something tactile for me to shuffle through.