AN AGENT ADVISES AND I FILL IN THE GAPS WITH SOME FEET

I could beat myself up about how long it is since my last post, or I could gloat about having spent some days in Paris and the north of Scotland, (all in the course of authory duty, naturally).Or I could do neither and just tell you something useful.In my usual kindly way, I will tell you something useful and then I will make a comment or three prompted by an inappropriate and unwelcome sight on

SERIAL by Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn

I just got back from the Afraid tour, having visited 206 bookstores in 13 states, and will do a recap very soon.

Until then, here's a cool freebie.

Remember the twin golden rules of hitchhiking?

# 1: Don’t go hitchhiking, because the driver who picks you up could be certifiably crazy.

# 2: Don’t pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be a raving nutcase.

So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Nutcase #2?

When Blake Crouch (DESERT PLACES, ABANDONED) and Jack Kilborn (AFRAID, TRAPPED), face off, the result is SERIAL, a terrifying tale of hitchhiking gone terribly wrong. Like a deeply twisted version of an “After School Special,” SERIAL is the single most persuasive public service announcement on the hazards of free car rides.

Beyond a thrilling piece of horrifying suspense, SERIAL is also a groundbreaking experiment in literary collaboration. Kilborn wrote the first part. Crouch wrote the second. And they wrote the third together over email in 100-word exchanges, not aware of each other’s opening section. All bets were off, and may the best psychopath win.

F. Paul Wilson says, “SERIAL reads just like a Crouch or Kilborn novel: Full speed ahead, no flinching, no blinking, no brakes.”

SERIAL contains the novella, SERIAL, a Q&A with Kilborn and Crouch, author bibliographies, and excerpts from their most recent and forthcoming works: Kilborn’s AFRAID and my ABANDON.

And finally, a note/disclaimer from the authors:

SERIAL is a horror novella written by two of the most twisted minds in the world of horror fiction.

But just because it is 100% free doesn’t mean you should automatically download it.

This is disturbing stuff. Perhaps too disturbing.

If you can handle horrific thrills, proceed at your own risk.

But if you suffer from anxiety attacks, nervous disorders, insomnia, nightmares or night terrors, heart palpitations, stomach problems, or are of an overly sensitive nature, you should read something else instead.

The authors are in no way responsible for any lost sleep, missed work, failed relationships, or difficulty in coping with life after you have read SERIAL. They will not pay for any therapy you may require as a result of reading SERIAL. They will not cradle you in their arms, rock you back and forth, and speak in soothing tones while you unsuccessfully try to forget SERIAL.

Yes, it’s free. But free has its price.

You have been warned.

To read the opening section of SERIAL online and download the entire eBook novella for free, visit Blake Crouch's website at http://www.blakecrouch.com/serialchapter.shtml.

While you're on Blake's site, I encourage you to poke around for a while. He's one of my favorite writers, and Kilborn fans will adore his work.

SERIAL is also currently available for free on the Sony Digital Reader, and will soon be available on the Kindle (either free or really cheap.)

As I'd promised pre-tour, I will blog about my recent experiments with eBooks and why they are the future of publishing. But first I need to take a nap, for about a week...

PS re BEING REALLY REALLY READY

PS An extra thought to add to last post (below, obviously), and one which I believe so strongly that I didn't want to add it to the post but say loudly and in shouty coloured letters, is this:The writing by a published author is not necessarily "better" than that of a writer who has so far failed to get published. There are many unpublished writers out there (including, doubtless, some of you)

ARE YOU REALLY REALLY READY TO BE PUBLISHED?

I am about to disappear again for a few days, this time to Paris - yeah, I know, being an author with a book to promote sucks - and I am also aware that a) I have been dilatory with your edification recently and b) I am about to enter a phase of being even more dilatory, as I have to hurl myself into more promotional stuff AND there's been (still is) the bloody Nanowrimo (sorry, Elen, I mean

Afraid Tour Day 17

In Savannah, heading northwest then northeast up to Richmond.

Miles driven: 3782
Bookstores visited: 142
Books signed: 1059
States traversed: 7
Days on the road: 17
Nights in hotels: 6
Gas cost: $364
Hotel cost: $401

Other costs include food, parking, and tools, which I'll add up later.

So far, bookseller reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, and I'm getting to meet a lot of cool people. I had to fly home for the Reaching Forward library conference, and signed and sold a lot of books and had a great time.

When this tour ends, the total cost for everything should be under $2000, and I'll have signed well over 2000 books and visited well over 200 bookstores.

Is it worth the time and money?

Well, it sure beats sitting on my butt whining about my sales. :)

Latest stores visited include:

Borders Orlando Airport FL

Borders Philly Airport PA

BN 213 Dale Mabry Tampa FL

Borders 909 Dale Mabry Tampa FL

Walden West Shore Tampa FL

Walden University Tampa FL

Borders Clearwater FL

BN 11802 Dale Mabry Tampa FL

Borders 12500 Dale Mabry Tampa FL

BN Clearwater FL

Walden Citrus Park Tampa FL

BN Merrit Island FL

BAM Merrit Island FL

BN Daytona FL

BN St. Augustine FL

Borders Jacksonville FL

BN San Jose Jacksonville FL

BN Midtown Jacksonville FL

BN Savannah GA

On to the Carolinas and Virginia...

DELUSIONS OF ABILITY

I've been thinking. It's kind of all you can do when you're up a mountain, other than wondering how the hell you're going to get down when the cloud has suddenly wrapped itself around your feet and you are on a peak without a piton.OK, I lie: I wasn't thinking anything interesting at all while on this mountain, but I did need to get that picture into the story somehow. Later on, I will show you

Library Events

Because I have zero planning skills, I had to fly back to Chicago in the middle of my tour to speak at the Reaching Forward conference for Illinois libraries.

And since I've been going non-stop for 14 days, I haven't written a speech yet.

It's been a while since I've posted actual advice on this blog, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and write the speech and my blog at the same time.

The name of my speech is Author Library Events: What Authors Want. But I'm taking that as a jumping-off point to explain how author events can be successful.

Libraries are more than book and video rental stores. They're hubs for the their communities. Books don't make a good library. People do. And an author event is a great way to bring people together.

FINDING AUTHORS

If your library wants to sponsor an author event, the first step is recruiting authors. Writing conventions are the best way to do this. Nothing beats face-to-face contact. Ask your boss to send you to writing conventions. When they stop laughing, pay for the trip yourself, and remember to write it off on your taxes as a work-related expense.

Approaching authors is easy. If you begin your sentence with, "I love your work" then you've already got a captive audience. Introduce yourself, and your library, and ask if they'd like to speak for you. If they're somewhat receptive, get their card (or their email) and give them yours.

This is a good time to talk about paying authors. I've discovered that you get what you pay for. Most famous and semi-famous authors are asked to speak all the time, and they charge speaking fees. These can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

If you've got thousands of dollars in your events budget, go after some bigger authors. They'll also want their travel expenses paid for. Is this excessive? Perhaps. But the writers that are good at this sort of thing are usually worth what they're paid.

I usually charge between $300 and $1500 to do a speech, plus expenses. I've taken less if the library is nearby, or if I'm friends with the librarian.

Often a library is hesitant to make a monetary offer, worried it will be insulting because it is low. I say, "Go ahead, insult me." If I'm interested, we can always negotiate. And like any good negotiator, your first offer should be lower than what you're actually willing to pay.

Usually, I'm happy taking an average of the last three speaker fees they've paid.

If you don't have a budget, you can still get authors, but they'll be of a slightly lower caliber. For example, for free you can get the guy who self-published his Print On Demand book "I Can Fit My Whole Fist Up My Butt." If you book him, remember not to shake his hand.

OTHER PLACES TO FIND AUTHORS

Besides meeting authors in person, meeting them online is a good way to recruit them. Every author has contact information through their website. Authors are also on many social networking sites, such as Facebook, LibraryThing, Goodreads, Shelfari, Twitter, MySpace, and so on.

A typical offer would list the type of event it is, the date, what you can pay, and what you expect the author to do.

Flexibility is important. The more flexible you are with your dates, the more likely you'll be able to get authors. Authors have deadlines, and travel a lot, and I often have to turn down events because I'm doing another one. So if you need to book a lecture room months in advance, request several days and give the author some options.

It's important to mention that you should NEVER book an author without having seen them speak in public. Most authors suck at public speaking, and these are often the ones most anxious to speak. If you've never met them in person, try to find them on YouTube.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THE AUTHOR

Content is king.

Library patrons are looking for two things: Information and entertainment.

Simply booking an author for a signing isn't going to draw much of a crowd, unless the author is a huge bestseller.

In other words, it isn't enough just to buy the monkey. Now the monkey has to perform.

What are some types of events I've done?

BOOK FAIRS. These are often a collection of authors, and usually an annual event. The key to a successful book fair is to get a great keynote, who you'll probably have to pay for. But you'll also get all of your local authors who will come out for free.

BOOK CLUBS. I speak at a lot of book clubs. If I can't be there in person, I'll talk to the club via conference call. Most authors will do this, and none of them, me included, charge for this.

HOW TO. I lecture a lot about how to get published. Since every community has newbie writers, this is always a good bet. Other lectures can focus on the writer's area of expertise. Raymond Benson successfully lectures at libraries about movies, something he knows very well, having been a writer of James Bond novels. Michael A. Black and Dave Case, both cops and authors, have a crime scene presentation.

PUBLICITY

Should you advertise on radio or in the local paper? I say no. I'm not convinced paid advertising gets people to come to events, and I think your money is best spent elsewhere, like on snacks. Or beer. (Yes, I've done library events that had an open bar. The turnout was amazing.)

Here's what you should do instead:

Contact the local media for free publicity. Most papers and some radio stations list community events.

Ask the book club and writer's group to read the author's book prior to the event.

Print up some cheap flyers and hand these out to patrons checking out books a week before the event.

Posters are nice, if you can get them cheap. Flyers posted on every wall works just as well.

Your website and email list should promote the event. Ask the author to use his net contacts as well.

HOLD A CONTEST/GIVE AWAY FREE STUFF

If you've been burned before with low attendance, even though you had decent, name authors, then you need to think about stepping up the program.

People love free stuff and give-aways. Someone on the fence about attending the event might decide to come if attendees can win something.

It can be something donated by library patrons or sponsors--a night in a bed and breakfast, a free hair style, an oil change, round trip tickets to Mexico with complimentary face masks to ward off the swine flu, etc.

It can also be free books, supplied by you or the author. Some authors will donate a character name. The sky is the limit, but contests and freebies do bring people in.

THE EVENT

The day finally arrives. You make sure the chairs are set up, the sound system works, there are plenty of cookies and coffee, and then you cross your fingers and hop the author and some patrons show up.

If the author doesn't show up, for whatever reason, have a back up plan. That's why a contest is nice--in case something happens, your patrons won't hate you.

If no patrons show up, the author might feel a bit stung, but a stipend takes much of the bite out of that. You'll probably feel the need to apologize, but all smart authors know that it isn't your fault, that these things happen, and they should be kissing your butt for thinking of them in the first place.

Then, of course, inflate your numbers on the report so your budget doesn't get cut.

But if you've followed the proper procedure, chances are you'll have a decent turn out, and everyone will have a good time. Be sure to collect email addresses from people who show up, so you can inform them about upcoming events. If the author had a good time, ask them to suggest other authors for you.

Any questions?