The Shrinking Violets are on the Road this Week

Dear Friends,

Robin and I are both headed out in different directions this week for some speaking engagements and book promotion. We are going to wish you all all a Happy St. Patrick's Day a wee bit early and then hit the road and the skies! We are each picking one of our earlier posts to share while we are out.  Since I've been doing some range of motion work on my N-O joint lately, thought I'd share this one from last year.

Hope your week is full of love, luck and unexpected abundance!

Mary Hershey

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ON SAYING NO

I was talking with a client this past week about that very essential survival skill of saying "NO." It's just a tiny, two letter utterance, and for many of us it feels about as awful as gargling fire. We expect devastation, ruin and the need for rescue people to be summoned in our NO's wicked aftermath.

The trouble with saying no is that it most usually invites a lot more conversation, cajoling, sometimes whining, often conflict. And as introverts, we'll take collaboration, harmony, being off-stage any day of the week. It's so much easier to say yes, and be done it. Or, the alternative, which is to tell a big fat fib. And, then you have to make sure you remember it, in case there is,uh, follow-up about that alleged sherpa gig you pulled all summer. Which is why you couldn't join the rowing team.

Dawg, I hate the big fat fib stuff! Even though I have a great imagination, and could think of a gatrillion reasons that I can't do something. (Call me if you need some fresh material) But I just can't stomach the guilt that comes with it. Nor should I have to! I feel quite certain that I've spent the equivalent of an entire decade at events I don't want to be at, faking a lively interest. In my head, I'm picturing myself home alone with a book, a cat, and bucket of diet coke.

This next year for my birthday, I'm going to make this really cool party invitation where I ask everyone to stay home alone, without any talking, no electronics, and be quiet for three hours. (Gifts could be mailed to me.) 'Cos that's my idea of a fun time. And, it's so way past my turn--

Before writing and publication, I could get away with blowing my wad on things I didn't want to do, and the mandatory recovery period afterwards. So what if my spirit felt sucked dry-- I'd just sleep an extra two or three hours. Now, if I've got that kind of extra time, I need to be
w-r-i-t-i-n-g.

It has turned into a simple math problem. I don't have enough minutes left in life to do things that don't serve my life purpose-- which is to be a good partner to my sidekick, write for kids, be a decent coach, and have lunch with Anne Lamott. That's all I can focus on. (Okay, there are seven other things, but you get my drift.)

Thing is, I'm actually an expert at saying no. Pretty much have a black belt in it. So do you! Every single time we say yes to something we don't want to do, we are saying an unequivocal NO to ourselves. NO to what we might have preferred to do. NO to what works better for us. NO to what we know we need to move our project or situation forward. NO to who we are as introverts.

This very succinct little word sets a good model for explanation. Be brief. "No thanks." "Sorry, I can't." "No, I've got other plans." You really don't need to explain yourself more than that. Any more than the extravert would be expected to explain why the heck they need a lot of people coming over to their house on Friday night after being with people all day at work. A brief regret, wish them a good time, and change the subject.

Be very, very pleased with yourself. Swallow the scary aftertaste of the NO you just delivered, and focus on the big, juicy YES you just gave yourself. Strong work!

First published 4/10/08

Calling On The Violet Collective

Long time blog reader Celise Downs posted an interesting question in response to my post on marketing co-ops last week. She asked:

Book One of my YA series comes out in Oct and I'd like to plan both an offline and an online book release. How far in advance should I plan these? Should I give something away every day during release week? What about at the physical party? Any ideas/suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Mary and I thought it would be fun if the Violet Collective stepped in and did some brainstorming with Celise to help her design a terrific book release and launch party.

So first things first, here’s a description of Celise’s upcoming book from her website:

Draven Atreides, Teenage FBI Series

Draven Atreides NEW NAME NEW LIFE…COOL JOB

Hey. My name is Draven Atreides, I’m 16-yrs-old. And I’m a spy. Yeah, okay, not really. I’m more of a snitch. I mean, I dont travel to exotic places, I don’t wear disguises, I don’t handle or carry weapons (unless you count my Canon AE1), and I don’t work for a top secret agency. Well, three out of four isn’t bad. Let me explain. You see, I was abandoned by my biological parents as a baby and I’ve spent all my life in the foster care system. I graduated from high school at the age of 13 (Yay for homeschooling). At 15, I ended up with the Foster Couple From Hell. I discovered their dirty little secret–the bastards–so I called them out to the local authorities. Lucky me, when I decided to play tattletale, an agency with three letters had been investigating the FCFH for years. So, being the good citizen that I am, I decided to help them out. The agency with the three letters, that is. I cashed in my Get Out of Hell Free card. Three months later, I got a new name, a new life…and a paying gig as an informant for that agency with the three letters. Book One is called A Royale Pain and it's her first assignment: stop a mad french chemist from peddling is deadly product line to upscale spas. His target is a spa in Paradise Valley, AZ called The Royale Treatment Day Spa.

She also adds: One of my ideas was having a spa-themed party with spa-themed goodie bags, door prizes, chair massages and mani stations. But then I thought, what about the guys? I'm looking for online release giveaway ideas, too. The official release date is Oct 23rd, which happens to be during Teen Read Week. Should I stick with giving books away, spa-themed goodies or both? Looking forward to the feedback. Thanks so much.

First of all, Celise, you should definitely start planning the marketing and publicity for your October release right about now. At least the planning and brainstorming part. (Also, if you are the one responsible for getting ARCs out to reviewers, then you should start that NOW. Many of the mainstream review publications have quite a lead time involved, so you don’t want to fall behind on that.)

Secondly you have already sown the seeds for a terrific web presence and done a lot of online preparation for this upcoming release. It’s mentioned on your website, Celise already has an ongoing author blog, and she even has a blog for her main character! Great work, Celise!

Now, about that release event, both online and in real life . . .

I think the idea of having a launch week event on your blog or website it a great one. I also think giving away copies of the book is a terrific tool. As Susan Wiggs said a few weeks ago, “I think the most direct way to win over a reader is to give her a book. If she loves it, she'll look for more, tell her friends, pass the book around to friends, family and co-workers.” But I think it might add another layer of fun to toss in some other prizes.

Your idea about a spa related theme is a fun one, but it does make me pause, if only because your book is about a girl who is a SPY rather than runs a spa. I get that a spa figures in the first book, but I wonder if it might be better to try to tie the launch into the more central premise of the book? That’s the hook of the series—her being a spy—and it won’t change from book to book, so maybe it’s more effective to start that branding now.

Definitely real life invitations could be marked TOP SECRET. Does Draven have a badge? An identity card that she uses when she needs to make contact? Are there any spy elements that you could use for invitations, tattoos, swag? Violets, what do you think? Do you have any fun spy ideas?

Swagology 101

Dear Friends,

Hope everyone is having a marvelous Monday!  Robin and I are both fully submerged on very tight novel deadlines, and we both have BIG presentations looming next week.  Wish we were doing them together-- that would be insanely cool!  Robin is jetting off to Dallas to do a presentation at the Museum of Art-- does she have the best publicist or what?  I am headed off to the Raisin Capitol of the World, Fresno, California.  Tres glamour! Seriously, I am very excited to be a keynote for a group of librarians at their annual retreat. Librarians, in my book-- RULE the world, or they should, for god's sake. 

I am mainlining green smoothies to stay well throught it all, and feeling very grateful to Robin for keeping me supplied with the best homegrown spinach ever.  We are both seeing green these days, thanks to her spouse's bumper crop.  All very fitting, given that St. Patrick's Day is nearly upon us.  I am praying for the luck of the Irish that we both meet our deadlines easily, get the very fun presentations behind us, and are soon sitting together behind enormous salmon salads, happily recharging.

So, our topic de jour-- Swagology, or as my hair stylist calls is Schwa-a-agology.  Either way, swag generally refers to the free promtional booty one can find at conventions, or conferences-- and for the sake of our conversation, on your author signing table.  It is a hot topic among authors and illustrators, and there is usually a bit bemoaning about how little the publishing houses are able to help with the financing of swag.  In the writerly circles in which I run, which include a goodly group of esteemed writers, we might see an occasional poster, perhaps some reimbursement for postcards-- but generally, all the costs come from us.

And, the purpose of swag?  That depends on who you ask.  For me, it serves as both a welcome and an icebreaker in connecting with kids or adults who are looking at the book table.  (Or in the case of lurking introverts, trying to look like they are NOT looking at your table.)  And, as a former kid that had no disposable income, I love being able to give a child something totally free, no strings attached.  I give out postcards, candy, stick-on gem earrings, small notebooks, fun erasers, and pencils.  Only the postcards have my promotional information on them.  I keep meaning to order personalized pencils, and then I just never get it done.  I'd rather just give out cool pencils.  (But I'm absolutely not advising this--  I'm just confessing here, folks.)   

Robin has beautiful items, and I get SSE next to her (Serious Swag Envy)  She has gorgeous pencils, scary/cool tattoos, Egyptian symbols, black cats, bookmarks, postcards.  She's good at this. And, she usually raffles off a really nice gift set of a few of these things packaged together.  (RL, am I forgetting anything?)

For those of you pre-published and those up and coming, I think swag works best when there is a specific and personal point to it.  Since  this will likely be your money you're spending, make sure that you know why you're doing this. I don't think I've ever heard of good swag being the thing that launched a book from obscurity to the Bestseller List.  I'd recommend that you start out small and conservatively, and see what items seem to be popular.  I think buying in bulk is good, but if  your order requires a forklift to get it into your garage, you might want to slow down a bit.

Consumables items are the best-- things people can actually use, not just some  medium for putting your name on it. That's why pencils, pens, pads, bookmarks, book thongs, snacks, stickers, and tattoos are great.  Postcards are good, too, but I'd encourage you to actually leave space on the back for a child (or adult) to use the postcard.  As a kid, I always hated when I got something cool like that, but there was no room for me to write on it.  I will sometime even put stamps on them, and make sure there is plenty of room for a child to write a message to their remote BFF.   Or, put your editor's name and address on the back, and ask the child to tell your editor if they liked the book and why. 

There are a number of sites we've talked about previously that are great for perusing and ordering inexpensive items.  I don't think you can beat Vista Print for ordering postcards, business cards, pens, pencils, sticky pads, tons of great items.  I've always enjoyed fabulous customer service which them, which goes a long way with me.  The Oriental Trading Company has just about anything that you could possibly think of, particularly in terms of looking for book tie-ins.  Two other sites that I like are Zazzle and epromo.

We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about Swagology, and any fave sites that you use.

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Big congratulations out to Beth Cato who is the winner of last Monday's contest-- Please Help Luther!  :-)  We recieved a number of terrific posts and suggestions.  Thanks so much, everyone!  It was tough to choose.  I had to empanel a very special judge to help.  If  you haven't read the comments from that post, and public speaking can be a challenge for you, do go back and check them out. Beth's suggestions were practice-practice-practice, try to have some fun-- even at your own expense, use sturdy note cards, visit the empty stage or podium in advance if you can, have a cough drop or mint on hand for desert-throat, and make sure you don't wear anything that could choke you, trip you or otherwise present a clothing malfunction.  

And, we want to thank Kimberly Lynn for sending us the fun 'nervous speaker' case study.  Beth and Kimberly have won a copy of the soon-to-be-released (March 19!) new novel by the amazing Laurie Halse Anderson entitled Wintergirls.  If you both will email me off-line with your mailing address, I will put the orders in for you. 

Have a great week!

Mary Hershey

You Don’t Have To Go It Alone--Marketing Co-ops

We’ve talked a lot here on SVP about the joys of using the buddy system for marketing and promotion, but it’s also worth a look at taking that one step further and creating a marketing co-op.

And while it’s true that co-op marketing can be as simple as a group of writing buddies linking to one anothers' sites or blogging together, you can also take the concept and really expand it into a full scale marketing co-op.

Nowadays there are so many marketing and promotional tasks that an author is expected to do, but really, just how many skill sets can one person have? That’s where the beauty of a marketing co-op comes in. If you get a group of authors together, the chances are they will each have skills that can be pooled. Perhaps one author is fairly web-savvy and can help the others with their websites. Maybe someone else has some marketing experience or media contacts and can be a huge resource for press releases and publicity packets. Then of course there’s a good chance that one or two of them are highly involved in their children's schools or parents’ group, and could be a great contact for school visits. Yet another person might be quite adept at graphic layout programs and can be the go-to person for help with designing bookmarks, postcards, and other promotional materials. There might be query letter geniuses, Facebook experts, MySpace whizzes, you get the idea.

With a marketing co-op, you don’t personally have to become an expert at a wide variety of skills, nor do you have to shell out a lot of money. By forming a co-op, each of you gets to tap into the area of expertise of another group member.

Of course, you have to work out a system that allocates fair value for all the different tasks involved. Is creating a press release the equivalent of designing a bookmark? And how many press releases equal setting up a website? Only you and your group can make those determinations, but you should definitely make them in advance, and be sure everyone agrees. It’s also a good idea to stay flexible and plan on making adjustments as you all roll up your sleeves and get to work.

So the next time you meet with your critique group or a gathering of local writers, put your heads together and see what you come up with. I'm guessing you'll be happily surprised at all the talent you'll find. . .

Public Speaking 101: A Case Study

Dear Friends,

Our reader, Kimberly Lynn, sent us this very funny clip from a 1966 film called The Ghost and Mr. Chicken , starring the late actor, Don Knotts.  God rest his howlingly funny soul. I remember watching this as a kid, and man, do I recall this scene. Talk about empathy pains!  In this clip, his character Luther, is giving a speech at a community event. As I watched this cringing and laughing, I thought what a great coaching piece this could be for all of us.  I was feeling his pain in particular, having just done a writing workshop two weekends ago where at last minute I was forced to change classrooms. I lost the ability to use the computer and projector.  You mean, I'd have to just talk?  Without my electronic props?  Say it isn't so! Take a look at the clip, and then come on back--

Click here to watch.

There are so many things that go wrong here that contributed to his melt-down.  Right out the gate, he has technical problems with a screeching microphone.  His hands are shaking.  His voice follows suit.  He loses his  notes.  He has people sitting close and behind him on stage, which can be unsettling to our kind.  A woman he has a big crush on is sitting in the audience. His opening joke goes over like a fart in church.  And, he is getting heckled.  What else? Well, his bowtie looks way too tight. That can't be good.  Finally, he is giving what seems to be a brain-numbing speech at a festive outdoor event, when people are probably stuffed with hot dogs and pie.  Anything I missed?  

So, imagine that you have been given the opportunity to freeze frame this public speaking debacle, jump in and give poor old Luther some in vivo coaching.  What would you say to him? How could you help him survive his public address? 

Keeping with the ghost theme here, I've got a copy of the latest Newberry winner, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, to the person that comes up with some of the very best coaching tips for him.  

I also want to point out that Robin has just posted the covers for three YA novels written by our accomplished readers in the sidebar on your right.  This is part of our newish showcase of our tribe.  Congrats to Tanita Davis, Cynthia Leitich Smith and Susan Schmid. May your books live long, and reach far and wide!

Best of luck to you and... peeps, help save Luther!  

Mary Hershey

Happy Accidents

I’ve spent the last week or so immersing myself in some of the wonderful books that were recognized by the Newbery Committee this year, notably The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, and it occurred to me that as a marketing or promotional coup, pretty much nothing beats the Newbery. There are few things that can do more for your sales numbers than that.

And yet, there is not a single thing the publisher or author can do to arrange that any given book of theirs wins that coveted prize. Which then led me to a fascinating marketing fact: all the really amazing promotional opportunities happen by accident. Seriously. Every single big-bang, promotional bonanza is something completely out of the publisher or author’s control.

The truth is, I’ve spent money on advertising and sent press releases and done all sorts of things—all with minimal affect on my book sales. The things that have most affected my sales have been completely out of my hands. Or even my publisher's hands, if truth be told. Being selected for state reading awards, being featured on television shows, all these happy accidents were because someone—usually an independent bookseller or librarian—has loved one of my books enough to become it’s advocate.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that we give up on doing anything for our books; you never know which of the things you did attracted the attention of that person who ultimately played advocate for your book, but it does help to keep a sense of perspective in what you’re doing: you’re seeding the ground, you’re getting the word out about your book to as many readers as possible, never knowing which faceless soul will nominate it for an award or bring it to the attention of a talk show producer or tells their father it’s their favorite book ever and could he please make a movie of it.

It’s also why we talk so much here about writing the most amazing book you can. That single thing wins over more advocates for your book than just about anything else.

Here’s wishing you many happy accidents in your writing career!

Code 99!

In the hospital where I work, we have a secret distress code which is Code 99. It is the equivalent of Code Blue, which you hear on every television medical drama... everyone knows it means that someone is in a Very. Bad. Way. Get the Crash Cart-- now! Since people know what Code Blue means, we've changed it so it doesn't frighten every family member in the hospital who will assume it is their person headed toward the proverbial light while they're out grabbing a cuppa.

I was a walking/talking Code 99 in my personal life all last week, but forgot to let anyone in on the secret.  I even forgot what it meant for me. Sort of missed that I could be headed for a crash. I had entirely too many pokers in the fire, too many pots on the stove ( too many cliches), and not enough time to care and charge my introverted soul. I thought surely I could survive till Sunday. Just push a tiny bit harder. Go! Go! Your day off is coming, girlfriend.

And survive I did, and I did a pretty bang-up job of getting things done, giving where I wanted to give, teaching and giving my ALL.  I strove to be a decent human being along the way (Jury is still out on that last piece).  What fell by the wayside was any real exercise but a few short walks, my dietary intake was a sketchy at best, I was seriously short-sheeted in the Sleep Department, and I had nothing that even resembled an Artist Date-- unless you consider staring at LA underpass grafitti.  

The point? By the time Sunday rolled around, I was medically unresponsive.  From my perch above my body I knew that I needed to go to Mass, wash and vacuum my car, write three hours on my novel, send out my client coaching assignments, EXERCISE, see if my partner still recognized me, write an alarming number of emails, and try to eat something that didn't come in a Kashi wrapper. Except that I couldn't move.

I had completely shorted out.  I lurched toward the coffee which just made me a very alert wreck.

I was in a bad way and I knew it. So,  I gently and lovingly let myself off every single hook that I could feel dug under my skin-- from my shoulders, the back of my neck, and every appendage. Turned off the cell phone and the alarm clock.  Did not go to  Mass.  (We'll keep that between us, okay?)  Ate well.  Ate slowly. My partner and I talked for hours in our PJs. Read the paper! Cleaned out the drawer of my bedside table. (Okay, random, BUT, if anyone needs any cat toys, give me a call. I have a few dozen extra, turns out.)  Took a nap at noon. A good, long one. I treated myself like a beloved aging aunt that needed  kid glove treatment. The day stretched on and on.  Nothing was accomplished at all-- except that I was brought back to life.

I woke up this morning, thirty years younger. Leapt to my novel and wrote many pages. Recognized I needed a brief extension on my book deadline, took a bracing breath, and asked for it. Got it. Took another nap today.  Cleaned my car with that Zen-like attention that Robin described in the story about the monk cleaning the bowl.  What was happening with me and the car vacuum was near holy.  I was completely awake.  My meter needle was back in the green zone.

I do have a point.  It isn't a new one, but it is critical to our survival as a species.  And, god knows, the world cannot function without introverts!  Do insure that embedded in each of your days is a time spent at your personal recharging station, whatever that looks like for you.  It may be reading, daydreaming, walking, stretching, tinkering, gardening, puttering, playing Scramble on Facebook.  Whatever it is, you need (read REQUIRE) the time.  Take it.  Revel in it. Claim it. Protect it.  Own it.  Do not negotiate it away in your eternal quest for productivity.

That equation is flawed for folks like us.  We're kinda special, you know?

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Don't miss this!  Robin and I did a guest interview today over at Becky Levine's place. "PRE-Marketing: Seven Important Things You Can Do Before You Sell Your Book.  Hop on over and say hi to Becky while you're there. She is currently writing a book for Writer’s Digest, The Critiquer’s Survival Guide, due out in Fall 2009. We can't wait to get see it and report on it. Thanks for having us, Becky!

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Mary Hershey 

Code 99 Survivor