We all like to make sure our books are shown in the best possible light. But when we send our new release out into the world, things can get ugly. What if someone doesn’t like our book and we have an upcoming interview with them? What if our books get negative reviews?
How far can we go in controlling our publicity and appearances? For my thoughts on this, please pop over and visit me on The Blood-Red Pencil.
Okay, y’all. It’s Thursday, and…as usual…that means it’s heart-attack on a plate day! Please visit me on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen for a recipe to send summer off in style.
It was my my husband’s and my 16th wedding anniversary on August 7th. We decided to go out for a nice dinner to celebrate. We choose a fancy restaurant in South Park Charlotte called Zebra.
This meant I needed to look nice. Oh, I clean up well, but nine days out of ten I take no effort at all with my appearance. In fact, I’d packed my makeup for our trip to Highlands, NC (about a month ago now) and have not located it since then. I think I stuck it in a bag that was inside another bag and inside another bag….I’m wondering if I threw it away. So now, even if I’m reacquainted with my makeup, I’m not sure I’ll remember how to effectively apply it. I pulled on a brown dress, wore strappy sandals (I’m way-tall for heels), yanked a comb through the long brown hair and called myself good enough.
We walk into Zebra and I realize that I’m in the midst of the most glamorous and elegant women I’ve ever seen. AND—they were all at least 10-15 years older than my 38 years. I squinted at them through the dim lighting. Did they have work done? No, it didn’t look that way. But…oh. Make-up. Well applied. Fortunately, my husband seemed oblivious to the Glamazons in the restaurant, and delighted to be with his wife with the AWOL makeup.
I’m not a competitive person (good thing, since I don’t tend to win things) and I’m not a jealous person (a trait I find rather disgusting), but I’m a very Type-A person. I want to do a Good Job.
Since I’m writing the first book of a series for Berkley Prime Crime, I bought a bunch of epicurean mysteries published by Penguin. I wanted to make sure I’d done a Good Job. This was both helpful and disturbing. Helpful: I was able to gauge the approximate ratio of food to mystery. I was able to get a good feel for their line. Disturbing: I was reading a very polished finished product. My draft didn’t seem to measure up.
I’m not sure I can recommend purchasing books that are similar to your own and critiquing them. But, if you choose to do this, here is my big tip:
Treat it like English class: I brought out my red pen.I circled things, wrote notes in the margins, and completely deconstructed the books. This encouraged an objectivity that helped me remain calm.
Noticing the pretty ladies in the restaurant? Cost=$50 at the Clinique counter at Macy’s. Feeling inadequate while reading a well-edited version of what I was trying to accomplish? Cost =$10 lunch with a friend where I babbled the whole time about fabulously-talented writers. Keeping my objectivity while obtaining useful strategies to apply to my novel? Priceless.
Saturday, I was fussing at a garden hose before finally asking my husband to reconnect the hose to the spigot. He found a wrench. “With this,” he explained, you’re stronger than the strongest man in the world.” It wasn’t a task I needed to hand off, after all.
Also on Saturday (busy day), our son pointed out that the upstairs hall’s light fixture was full of dirty water. Oh, and that there was a big brown spot on the ceiling. This is never a good thing.
My husband braved the attic (and whew, is it HOT in the South in August), and discovered the drip pan thingy for the furnace/A/C had overflowed. He soaked up the tray’s water with old towels. He poured bleach into the pipes to clear them. Then he emptied the light fixture.
But then—the downstairs A/C suddenly wasn’t working. Did I mention the August heat in the South?
It was time to call in the big guns. Yesterday we had an air conditioning repairman come out. He stepped right into his heroic role of restoring cool air to our family.
Yesterday I also emailed a draft to my agent. My September 1 deadline is fast approaching for Memphis BBQ series book 1. I’ve fiddled and fiddled and fiddled with the draft. I’ve added scenes, removed scenes, rewritten characters, and changed the ending. I changed the murderer and then changed it back.
It was a task that I could handle myself at first. And I already had the tools. But then it became like the leaky drip pan. I needed to call in a pro. I’d done all I could on my end, but it needed to go one step farther.
I realized it had gotten to the point where I needed another set of eyes. I needed someone who was going to tell me straight-up and in short order what I should consider changing….before my Berkley editor gets it. My agent, who has a vested interest in my writing career, was the perfect recipient.
Signs it’s time to hand over our project to another reader:
I think handing off a project too early isn’t good—like the garden hose, it’s something we can handle ourselves. Too many different opinions can do serious damage to a work in progress. I don’t like people reading my unfinished drafts.
But there comes a point where the draft is completed and we’ve struggled through it enough. That’s the time when it’s a relief to discover what a fresh set of eyes and a different perspective can do for us.
Today is Awards Day on Mystery Writing is Murder. Look around you—see all the celebrities in evening clothes, the multimillion dollar bling the stars are wearing, the hilarious Master of Ceremonies, the orchestra? No? Sorry about that. But please use your imagination…we’re all writers here!
I’ve received some fantastic awards from my blogging friends and wanted to return the favor during an awards ceremony. I read a lot of blogs. I have many favorites. Today I’m recognizing some of my favorite places to hang out online, and some of the friends, new and old, I’ve made in my browsing trek.
Please accept the award with my thanks for your comments and your wonderful blogs. You’re welcome to post them or not, pass them on or not—with my thanks to you all!
I also want to thank everyone who takes the time to comment on Mystery Writing is Murder. I appreciate your thoughts and insights so much and only wish I could list everyone here who regularly visits me.
(****If you want to pass the Kreativ Blogger award or the Superior Scribbler award along to others, see the bottom of this post for details.)
Kreativ Blogger Award
Awarded to me by Dorte
My recipients are:
Marybeth Smith—Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins
Galen Kindley—Imagineering Fiction
Helen Ginger—Straight from Hel
Hart Johnson—Confessions of a Watery Tart
Nancy Sharpe—Realms of Thought
Patricia Stoltey—Patricia Stoltey
Cleo Coyle from Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen and her cool website at Coffeehouse Mystery.com
When passing the award to others, we list 7 favorites. Here are 7 of my Favorite Mystery Authors (of many authors and in no particular order)
M.C. Beaton
Elizabeth George
P.D. James
Deborah Crombie
Louise Penny
Agatha Christie
Ruth Rendell
The Humane Award is to honor certain bloggers that I feel are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn’t for them, my site would just be an ordinary blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a regular basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendships through the blog world.
Awarded me by Helen Ginger
My recipients are:
Elspeth Antonelli—It’s a Mystery
Alan Oroff—A Million Blogging Monkeys
Glynis Smy—Author Blog: Glynis Smy ; New Scribbles from Glynis Smy
Dorte H– DJ’s Krimblog
Karen Walker—Following the Whispers (Karen, I know this might be a repeat for you, but I wanted to show my appreciation for your comments!)
Labanan at Crazy Jane
Awarded me by Marybeth Smith.
My recipients are:
Julie Lomoe—Julie Lomoe’s Musings Mysterioso
Terry Odell—Terry’s Place
L. Diane Wolfe–Spunk on a Stick
Marvin Wilson—The Old Silly’s Free Spirit Blog
Jane Kennedy Sutton— Jane’s Ride
Thanks so much everyone! I only wish you could leave the award banquet with full tummies, and goodie bags.
*****Rules for Passing on the Superior Scribbler Award
The blog award rules are as follows (which according to rule #5 I am required to post here):
*****Rule for Passing on the Kreativ Blogger Award
It functions as a meme—list 7 of your favorite things, 7 of your favorite activities, 7 things no one knows about you, etc.