Your First Mystery by Mar Preston

At the direction of a good friend who is a professional writer and marketer, I have just finished 3 eBooks of about 10,000 words on the topic of writing your first mystery.

Have I revealed secrets known only to a few bestselling crime novelists? Hardly. The only secret that I could disclose to aspiring mystery authors is that a 300-page novel requires the sustained ability to apply seat of pants to chair for long periods of time with fingers on the keyboard. But I suspect you already know that.

The first: Writing Your First Mystery is an overview of the basic structure of a whodunit or thriller.  The second: Plotting Your First Mystery, is the elements of plotting, obviously enough. And the third: Creating Killer Characters: Writing Your First Mystery is a digest of characterization techniques.

Has this been done before?  Oh my, yes. And done well, I might add. I’ve written it in my own words, carved it according to my special flair, but I have no illusions that these are the definitive statement on writing your first mystery. But they’re damned good for the beginner.

Why do it then? First of all, I didn’t intend to write three eBooks. I wasn’t sure I had that much to say. However, in the process of writing four unpublishable novels, five successful whodunits, and many short stories, I have learned something.

I’ve learned something about the rules of mystery genre writing and deep structure of a satisfying crime novel. I’ve learned a great deal about what goes on behind the blue curtain of law enforcement, especially in Santa Monica. I’ve learned that you can’t be a shy person who lives in a remote California village and sell the crime novels you’re proud of without some marketing edge.

So I am advised by my savvy marketing friend to make the first available for free and box up the other two in the sets that are becoming popular. This is not an announcement that they’re available. I just sent the third one to the graphic artist this morning.

These eBooks are a trial. We’ll see what happens. I’ll keep you posted. 

Here is the Amazon link to my books as of 2014. Expect A Very Private High School late 2014.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mar+preston

 

Promoting, Marketing, Branding, Platform

This past Saturday I gave a talk on a Writer's Platform at a small independent bookstore at the request of the writers' group that meets there. I'm up for talking about most anything. If I don't know about the topic, I can always research it.

While researching I found that a writer's platform is closely related to promotion, marketing and branding.

If you're writing non-fiction, of course the platform would relate to why you were the person (your background) to write that particular book. This could be the same for you if you're writing a book about a police officer protagonist and you are or were a police officer.

I write about law enforcement in my mysteries: In the Tempe Crabtree series, Tempe is a female resident deputy--and no, I never was; and in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series, I write about the members of a police department and no, I never was a police officer. What I wrote in my query letters way back when I had to write them was that I lived in neighborhood and was friends with many police officers and their families, I've gone on ride-alongs in a big city and small towns and I belong to the Public Safety Writers Association whose members are involved with all the different branches of law enforcement. So that could be part of my platform.

Promoting and Marketing are similar. Many publishers today ask for your promotion or marketing plan right along with your query. What is it you plan to do to promote/market your book? One acquisitions editor I know always Googles the querying author's name to see if he or she has a presence on the Web and this is part of her deciding factor as to whether she will recommend the book and author to the publisher.

Promoting might be more of what you actually do on the Web to let people know about your book: A webpage, Facebook, Twitter, other social networks, and listserves.

Marketing could also include the more in-person events you do: book signings and talks at bookstores, library appearances, speaking to local social and service groups, having a table or booth at book festivals and craft fairs, etc.

And then there's branding--isn't that also a part of what I've already been writing about? And it all boils down to name recognition. It's getting your name out there so people know you are an author and recognize your name and hopefully will want to buy your books.

There may be a better way of defining each of these terms--what do you think?

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

What Is Your Audience? by Morgan Mandel

Some people say to write what you know. Others say write for the market. Still others say write the book of your heart.

I have to go with the last advice. Too much time and effort is involved to write a book I don't have any interest in. There's no way I can get into my characters' heads unless I'm fully engaged. Still, even if I become emotionally involved, that doesn't mean during and after the process I should ignore potential marketing areas.

To me, what good is a book if no one reads it? By the time my manuscript is finished, I need to figure out what likely candidates will read it.

Here are some questions I ask myself to figure out the market:

What genre or cross-genres does my book belong to?
Where does the action take place? 
What occupations do the characters pursue, or are they retired, or incapacitated?
Do the characters have any hobbies?
Are any organizations featured in the book?
What about causes or volunteer work?
What about financial class?

Those are a few clues I use for finding markets for a book. Do any of them work for you? Do you know any others?

The New Publishing Reality by Christine Duncan

I had lunch recently with a friend who writes. She had been trying to sell her mystery and although she got good feedback, the manuscript kept being returned to her with notes that said something like, "loved this, but don't think I can sell it." What did they want? She asked.

My take? Simple. They want a writer who has a platform that will sell the book. Now if you are not already famous in some other venue, just how do you do that?

Establish an internet presence. Join Facebook and Twitter and start a fan page. Blog. No, don't just start a blog--be disciplined about it and do it religiously.

Investigate bookstores, blogs and groups that are about your topic. In other words, if you write mystery check out places like Stopyourekillingme and Crimespace (and makeminemystery!)Check out places where you could speak, or give talks. Learning to promote takes almost as much time as learning to write, and it changes all the time. Put in the effort.

Make yourself a marketing plan and submit it with the book. Don't promise what you have no means or intention of delivering. But show off your hard won knowledge of what it will take to promote and let the publisher/editor/or agent know that you know that it is part of your job.

Don't quit with the first (or thirteenth or twentieth rejection.) It's a hard market out there and selling the book to the publisher is just the first hurdle.

Christine Duncan is the author of the Kaye Bereano mystery series. Book Two, Safe House is available now.