So things are starting to move along quickly now. On Wednesday, I received the bound galleys for Solstice, and this morning, they went out to the first batch of prepublication reviewers and two distributors. I guess this is the official start of the novel’s marketing campaign! ^_^
When it comes to having your work reviewed, the odds are stacked against self-publishers, especially self-publishers of fiction (or worse, apocalyptic fiction ^^) like yours truly. But I think that, with the right presentation, anyone can have a fair shot. Dan Poynter, the self-publishing guru, will be the first to tell you that presenting yourself as a legitimate publisher is critical to any self-publishing venture. What I’ve found through my own experience is that there are lots of little ways you can achieve this. And it doesn’t involve spending loads of money on hiring publicists, marketing specialists, or specialty services. It can start with something as simple as a clean, consistent look for all your marketing pieces.
I guess it’s helped me a lot that I work in a marketing department for a Fortune 500 company, in a Creative Services department to be exact ^_^; Where I work, there’s a big emphasis on image standards, so that every piece of marketing collateral produced by the company has a standard, consistent look and verbiage style. This helps to create brand recognition, so that anyone who sees one of our pieces can say, “Oh, this is a [company name] piece.” Even fonts need to be consistent across all pieces. So this helped me create a set of Tragical Mirth Publishing marketing pieces that, like my employer, has a common, consistent look. And this, in turn, has given all my pieces a more professional appearance.
The review packets themselves were in exercise in careful, strategic positioning ^_^ (don’t I sound all knowledgeable and stuff? Yeah right…). The first step was to buy good, black, laminated folders with a business card slot. On the cover of each, I placed a full-color label featuring the novel’s cover art, a teaser tagline, and vital information (ISBN, publishing house, etc). The hope is that it will intrigue them enough to actually want to open up the folder (which, in this industry, is never a sure thing)! In the inner left pocket, I put in a press release, a fact sheet (that again featured the cover art), and an “about the author” flier. In the inner right pocket went the cover letter and a full-color flier detailing the novel, its plot, and its pertinent information. As I mentioned before, every item had a consistent look and feel, with Melior being my font of choice, and blue/green being the company’s colors. So the reviewers aren’t getting a hodgepodge of randomly created fliers and things. They’re getting an information packet that’s reiterating key points, speaking in a consistent tone, and presenting a series of key images (the cover art and the company logo) repeatedly and consistently so as to create that elusive brand recognition.
This is just one thing I hope will present Tragical Mirth Publishing as a legitimate venture, and not just a one-time, vanity-press author trying to make a quick buck. Writing is my passion, and being an author is my ultimate career dream. So I wanted to make sure that passion translated into top-line professionalism when it came to designing this first marketing campaign. Because if a reviewer can appreciate your professionalism, then maybe he or she will be that much more inclined to review your book. So hopefully it’ll work. And if not, well, I blame the Melior font! ^^; And my friend Pam.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The novel’s first big break!
Something funny happened yesterday on my way to my e-mail inbox. I got a response from someone I didn’t at all expect one from! And the result is a big break for Solstice.
A few weeks ago, my friends James and Dan took me to see Acid Mothers Temple at the Magic Stick here in good ol’ Detroit. It was at this show that I first heard their song, “Pink Lady Lemonade.” As I listened to it, I thought to myself, “This song would be PERFECT for the Solstice book trailer soundtrack!” (Yes, I’m developing a book trailer for Solstice, to be released in July.) So, after the show, I asked my friends what they’d think about me asking the band for permission to use their song for the trailer. They told me to give it a shot, that I had nothing to lose. So I did. I left Acid Mothers Temple a message on their web site’s message board (the only way I could find to get a message to them), asking for permission to use “Pink Lady Lemonade.”
So after pretty much assuming that 1) they wouldn’t respond, and 2) even if they did, they’d say no, it was a major shock when I saw an e-mail in my inbox yesterday from none other than Kawabata Makoto, the band’s awesome guitarist.
In a simple message, he said that it was okay for me to use the song for the book trailer, and that I should send him a link to the video once it was completed.
My first instinct was to e-mail my friends James and Dan with the subject line, “HOLY FRICKIN CRAP!” ^^;
I consider this a pretty huge deal. Not only do I now have permission to use a song I think is perfect for the Solstice trailer, but having the support of a band as well-known as Acid Mothers Temple certainly lends the project a new level of legitimacy. At least, that’s how I feel.
Everything else seems to be moving along well too. The novel’s bound galleys are complete, and I’ll be shipping them off to prepublication reviewers tomorrow morning. I’ve already printed out the necessary marketing collateral (e.g., fliers, postcards), and am a week away from sending the files to the printer to begin the official printing of the final product.
I’m really excited about my other project too. Even though I’m juggling everything else, I’m still trying to find time to work on my next novel. This last weekend, after returning to my main place of inspiration—the local coffeehouse—I churned out almost two chapters, just like that. Needless to say, I’m going to start hitting the coffeehouses again. Considering 70% of Solstice was written in a bunch of coffeehouses, I’d say it’s fairly conclusive that those are my best places to write ^__^
Okay, gonna shut up now. I talk too much. ^^; But check back soon, because the moment I start working on the trailer in earnest, you know I’ll be here, blabbing on and on about how it’s going!
A few weeks ago, my friends James and Dan took me to see Acid Mothers Temple at the Magic Stick here in good ol’ Detroit. It was at this show that I first heard their song, “Pink Lady Lemonade.” As I listened to it, I thought to myself, “This song would be PERFECT for the Solstice book trailer soundtrack!” (Yes, I’m developing a book trailer for Solstice, to be released in July.) So, after the show, I asked my friends what they’d think about me asking the band for permission to use their song for the trailer. They told me to give it a shot, that I had nothing to lose. So I did. I left Acid Mothers Temple a message on their web site’s message board (the only way I could find to get a message to them), asking for permission to use “Pink Lady Lemonade.”
So after pretty much assuming that 1) they wouldn’t respond, and 2) even if they did, they’d say no, it was a major shock when I saw an e-mail in my inbox yesterday from none other than Kawabata Makoto, the band’s awesome guitarist.
In a simple message, he said that it was okay for me to use the song for the book trailer, and that I should send him a link to the video once it was completed.
My first instinct was to e-mail my friends James and Dan with the subject line, “HOLY FRICKIN CRAP!” ^^;
I consider this a pretty huge deal. Not only do I now have permission to use a song I think is perfect for the Solstice trailer, but having the support of a band as well-known as Acid Mothers Temple certainly lends the project a new level of legitimacy. At least, that’s how I feel.
Everything else seems to be moving along well too. The novel’s bound galleys are complete, and I’ll be shipping them off to prepublication reviewers tomorrow morning. I’ve already printed out the necessary marketing collateral (e.g., fliers, postcards), and am a week away from sending the files to the printer to begin the official printing of the final product.
I’m really excited about my other project too. Even though I’m juggling everything else, I’m still trying to find time to work on my next novel. This last weekend, after returning to my main place of inspiration—the local coffeehouse—I churned out almost two chapters, just like that. Needless to say, I’m going to start hitting the coffeehouses again. Considering 70% of Solstice was written in a bunch of coffeehouses, I’d say it’s fairly conclusive that those are my best places to write ^__^
Okay, gonna shut up now. I talk too much. ^^; But check back soon, because the moment I start working on the trailer in earnest, you know I’ll be here, blabbing on and on about how it’s going!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
So I'm blogging now...
Several years after everyone's started a blog, here I am. Blogging. Yay ^_^;
Well, I've heard from numerous sources that starting a blog is a great thing to do when you're self-publishing. Which, it just so happens, is what I'm doing. So, let the shameless self-promotion begin!
Anyway, I'm a writer, and I'm self-publishing a novel, Solstice, that's scheduled for an October 2007 release. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about this crazy, but wonderfully fulfilling, process that's called "self-publishing."
Solstice
First off, if you want to know more about the actual novel, you can visit my web site at www.verytragicalmirth.com. It’s primarily apocalyptic fiction, a speculative fiction (i.e., involving science fiction and fantasy elements) book about people called Scribes who have the power to make anything they write come true. The story centers on one Scribe, Nadie, who decides to use her powers to punish humanity for its crimes. It’s a thriller incorporating elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. The first three chapters are available for download.
Why Self-publishing?
What made me go the self-publishing route, even knowing it's a labor-intensive, and reasonably expensive, process? There were actually a few reasons:
One: I’m too much of a control freak. Like anyone who’s written a novel, I’m very attached to my work. The thought of having someone else tell me to change the title, change the names, and change the characters’ ethnicities (my main protagonist, for example, is a Mexican-Japanese woman named Io) didn’t appeal to me. I also heard major publishers don’t really let their authors (especially first-timers like me) provide feedback and/or suggestions for the cover art, and I had some definite ideas on what I wanted the cover to be. So self-publishing seemed like an ideal solution to appease my control-freakish ways.
Two: I tried doing the agent thing in 2006, but after about 15 mailings, all I had to show for my efforts were a stack of form letters that told me nothing about why my novel wasn’t their thing. And it’s not like I even sent unsolicited manuscripts. I followed all the rules, including looking up each agent and sending them only what they asked for (e.g., query letters, first three chapters). So it got kind of disheartening that, despite all the effort that goes into crafting individualized letters, packages, and sending it all off, the most you could hope to get was a photocopied piece of torn-off paper telling you they have no interest in your project. Had I gotten any kind of actual feedback (e.g., “your novel is no good to us because, well, your story actually sucks!”), at least I could have worked on improving my weak points. But how can you improve when no one tells you anything about what you need to improve?
So I came to a decision: if I’m going to invest that much time, and money, into securing an agent, I may as well redirect my efforts towards self-publishing. I’m happy with my decision, no matter how it turns out in October. My book will be done, and I don’t have to spend all these months waiting around for agent replies that might never even come.
Three: My parents. You see, I used to be a grad student at the University of Michigan. But after five frustrating years of feeling significantly dumber than everyone around me, I came to a long-belated conclusion: academia and I didn’t mix. So I ended my graduate career without attaining that Ph.D. my parents really wanted me to get. I left grad school because I knew I wanted to be a writer of fiction. So, in a way, my novel is my dissertation, my gift to my family, and my way of saying, “hey, it’s not a Ph.D., but I hope it makes you proud.”
This gave me all the more reason to want to speed things up. Rather than waiting the (at least) two-year cycle from finding an agent to having your book published by a major publisher, I decided to just skim ahead and do it myself. I made this decision in January: the book’s coming out this October. That’s less than 10 months to get my book printed. I’d say that’s reasonably quicker than 2+ years ^_^
What’s going on now
The novel is actually set to go to print next month, so I’m in the middle of prepping and finalizing the files for that. But the next few weeks will be critical. After all, I plan to launch my marketing blitz in July. Part of this blitz is a book trailer, which I’m currently working on. Book trailers, I think, are a great way to promote a novel because they provide a visual element to something that’s strictly literary. And because my novel is primarily a thriller, I’m incorporating the kind of structural and thematic elements that we’re used to seeing at theaters. At least, that’s my hope ^_^
And, well, I’m also finalizing a lot of the marketing support materials that will go out with the review packets in June. That includes press releases, a bio on yours truly, a flier, and some additional artwork. Most of this stuff I’ve had to do myself because I’m on a shoestring budget. But hey, so far, everything’s going according to plan ^_^;
Anyway, now that I’ve started yammering on and on, I better stop now. So for now, I hope you’ll stop by at www.verytragicalmirth.com. Thanks for reading!
Well, I've heard from numerous sources that starting a blog is a great thing to do when you're self-publishing. Which, it just so happens, is what I'm doing. So, let the shameless self-promotion begin!
Anyway, I'm a writer, and I'm self-publishing a novel, Solstice, that's scheduled for an October 2007 release. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about this crazy, but wonderfully fulfilling, process that's called "self-publishing."
Solstice
First off, if you want to know more about the actual novel, you can visit my web site at www.verytragicalmirth.com. It’s primarily apocalyptic fiction, a speculative fiction (i.e., involving science fiction and fantasy elements) book about people called Scribes who have the power to make anything they write come true. The story centers on one Scribe, Nadie, who decides to use her powers to punish humanity for its crimes. It’s a thriller incorporating elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. The first three chapters are available for download.
Why Self-publishing?
What made me go the self-publishing route, even knowing it's a labor-intensive, and reasonably expensive, process? There were actually a few reasons:
One: I’m too much of a control freak. Like anyone who’s written a novel, I’m very attached to my work. The thought of having someone else tell me to change the title, change the names, and change the characters’ ethnicities (my main protagonist, for example, is a Mexican-Japanese woman named Io) didn’t appeal to me. I also heard major publishers don’t really let their authors (especially first-timers like me) provide feedback and/or suggestions for the cover art, and I had some definite ideas on what I wanted the cover to be. So self-publishing seemed like an ideal solution to appease my control-freakish ways.
Two: I tried doing the agent thing in 2006, but after about 15 mailings, all I had to show for my efforts were a stack of form letters that told me nothing about why my novel wasn’t their thing. And it’s not like I even sent unsolicited manuscripts. I followed all the rules, including looking up each agent and sending them only what they asked for (e.g., query letters, first three chapters). So it got kind of disheartening that, despite all the effort that goes into crafting individualized letters, packages, and sending it all off, the most you could hope to get was a photocopied piece of torn-off paper telling you they have no interest in your project. Had I gotten any kind of actual feedback (e.g., “your novel is no good to us because, well, your story actually sucks!”), at least I could have worked on improving my weak points. But how can you improve when no one tells you anything about what you need to improve?
So I came to a decision: if I’m going to invest that much time, and money, into securing an agent, I may as well redirect my efforts towards self-publishing. I’m happy with my decision, no matter how it turns out in October. My book will be done, and I don’t have to spend all these months waiting around for agent replies that might never even come.
Three: My parents. You see, I used to be a grad student at the University of Michigan. But after five frustrating years of feeling significantly dumber than everyone around me, I came to a long-belated conclusion: academia and I didn’t mix. So I ended my graduate career without attaining that Ph.D. my parents really wanted me to get. I left grad school because I knew I wanted to be a writer of fiction. So, in a way, my novel is my dissertation, my gift to my family, and my way of saying, “hey, it’s not a Ph.D., but I hope it makes you proud.”
This gave me all the more reason to want to speed things up. Rather than waiting the (at least) two-year cycle from finding an agent to having your book published by a major publisher, I decided to just skim ahead and do it myself. I made this decision in January: the book’s coming out this October. That’s less than 10 months to get my book printed. I’d say that’s reasonably quicker than 2+ years ^_^
What’s going on now
The novel is actually set to go to print next month, so I’m in the middle of prepping and finalizing the files for that. But the next few weeks will be critical. After all, I plan to launch my marketing blitz in July. Part of this blitz is a book trailer, which I’m currently working on. Book trailers, I think, are a great way to promote a novel because they provide a visual element to something that’s strictly literary. And because my novel is primarily a thriller, I’m incorporating the kind of structural and thematic elements that we’re used to seeing at theaters. At least, that’s my hope ^_^
And, well, I’m also finalizing a lot of the marketing support materials that will go out with the review packets in June. That includes press releases, a bio on yours truly, a flier, and some additional artwork. Most of this stuff I’ve had to do myself because I’m on a shoestring budget. But hey, so far, everything’s going according to plan ^_^;
Anyway, now that I’ve started yammering on and on, I better stop now. So for now, I hope you’ll stop by at www.verytragicalmirth.com. Thanks for reading!
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