That About Covers It Part 2

When I was sent the cover art for my latest Lt. Jack Daniels novel, Fuzzy Navel, I liked it. The cover designer kept up the theme of the previous four books in the series, which is extremely important when building a brand.

If you've read this blog before, you know I'm big on branding. The fact that someone can go into a bookstore and say, "I'm looking for a mystery series but I don't know the author, or the main character, of the titles of any of the books, but I know they're all named after drinks" is not accidental. It's a calculated effort on my part to establish a brand.

Covers sell books. And having a consistent cover style, which can be recognized by fans by sight before they even see the book's title, is smart business.

Hyperion, my publisher, is smart. Not only have they provided my series with attractive, eye-catching covers, but they've also made sure that each new cover fits in with the theme. Here's what they've done so far:

The newest cover for Fuzzy Navel fit within this theme, but I had a four problems with it. Three were issues of consistency, and the fourth was stylistic.

So I emailed my agent and said this:

"I like it, but have a few small problems. The biggest is that my second novel, Bloody Mary, had a blue cover. I'm worried that when future fans see the paperback on the shelf, they'll believe they already read the "blue" book, and miss out buying one or the other. How about purple as the background color?

Also, one of the fun things about my covers is the hidden skull somewhere in the picture. This one doesn't have a skull. Maybe the cover artist can make the cherry into a skull?

Looking back on previous covers, I also noticed that both words of the title are the same length, stretching across the whole cover. In Fuzzy Navel, the second word is shorter.

Finally, and this is purely opinion on my part, I really don't like the gun on the swizzle stick. It looks like a spear gun. Is there any way to turn it into a sniper rifle, which is what the villains in Fuzzy Navel use?"

My agent agreed, and forwarded my note to my editor.

A week passed without a response. Then two weeks. I wondered if I annoyed my publisher with my suggestions. Then I got an email from them with this attached:

So they followed every one of my suggestions, and I think this cover works better. I also feel damn good about my publisher. They actually listened to me, when they could have easily done whatever they wanted to do. Points for them, and I'll remember this when the next contract negotiation takes place.

While many of my peers believe that the only thing you can get out of a publisher is advance money, I remain unconvinced. Call me naive, but I think there's still room for loyalty, mutual respect, and an open exchange of ideas and information between writer and publisher. Ideally, these efforts should compliment each other, and each party should have a similar vision for the book or books, and a plan to make that vision a reality.

A cover is part of that shared vision. If you have problems with a proposed cover, talk to your agent and calmly explain what doesn't work and why. As the song says, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need...

That About Covers It Part 1

Before we get into the topic of this blog entry, I wanted to say something about the new look. I've finally upgraded my Blogger template, which now makes adding links a snap. Check to see if you're listed in the links. If you're not, contact me and I'll add you.

Also, I'm putting together a list of all the cool folks who reviewed Dirty Martini, to thank them in the acknowledgements of my next book, and to send them free stuff. If you reviewed me, please drop me a line with your name and address. Thanks, big time. You rock.

Now let's talk cover art.

It is well known in the publishing biz that even huge bestselling authors don't get cover approval in their contracts. Usually, there's a clause that says the author has "cover consulting" which means the publisher makes a cover, the author complains that it is absolutely wrong, and the publisher uses it anyway.

This isn't always the case. Sometimes the author makes some suggestions, and the publisher makes the requested changes.

If you hate your cover, there are some things to keep in mind.

1. Remember that your publisher paid someone to create this, usually based on concepts or ideas that orginated in a meeting. That means a lot of people may have had hands in the design. Screaming how much it sucks won't win you any popularity contests.

2. Your agent is your buffer. Use her. Let her express your unhappiness, so you don't come off looking like an ungrateful prick. Don't respond or reply until you've conferred with your agent and decided on a game plan.

3. Make sure you point out the things that you like about the cover. Even if it's the font, or the way all four corners are perfect 90 degree angles. Say something positive before you start criticizing.

4. Explain why the cover doesn't work for you. Break it down, point by point, and go into some detail why it isn't going to have the desired effect on buyers. Save the passion for the conversation with your agent. Be clinical and intelligent.

5. Offer solutions. Easier solutions will be easier to change than complete overhauls. Overhauls take time and more money. Quick fixes are more apt to be obliged.

6. Be grateful, even if they don't listen to anything you say. Your publisher is your most powerful ally. Don't make them an enemy by being a snotty jerk.

That said, I recently got my cover art for Fuzzy Navel.

I have four minor issues with this cover. Three of those issues have to do with continuity, comparing this to my previous covers. One is something I simply don't like, because it looks odd.

Can you spot my four issues? You can click on it to make it bigger and see more detail. The first person to correctly identify all four gets an advance reading copy when they are printed up.

I'll reveal the answers on Monday, and also reveal how my publisher responded to my suggestions.

The Top Ten Signs You're Spending Too Much Time Online

10. Not only do you Google your name daily, but you also Google possible misspellings of your name.

9. Your mood fluctuates with your Amazon ranking.

8. Your main form of communication with your family is email.

7. You have a chamber pot under your desk so you don't miss anything.

6. Your computer keeps crashing because you have seven chat clients simultaneously running 24/7.

5. You've developed a callous on your mouse finger.

4. Your ass has taken on the permanent shape of your desk chair.

3. You forgot you owned a TV.

2. You've "pimped out" your MySpace page.

1. After reading this, you just have to share it with everyone you know.

Looking at POD

I've always believed that POD technology is the future of publishing, but that POD vanity press as a way for authors to succeed on their own has limited value.

For the uninitiated, POD is a way to manufacture books one at a time, using a high-tech copy machine. Traditionally, books have been printed on presses. Presses are expensive, large, and only cost-effective when they're printing many copies of a book.

POD as a technology is a good thing.

But then things become tricky.

Many companies have sprung up over the last decade that use POD technology to create books.
But most of these companies thrive by selling dreams to authors, rather than technology.

Publishing is a difficult business to break into, and this is important, because it means the quality of the work that traditionally sees print meets certain standards and criteria.

POD allows authors to bypass this vetting process. As a result, much of POD's bad reputation is justified. I've read hundreds of POD books (don't ask) and the 99% of them aren't very good.

POD also goes against one of the basic rules of writing: the goal is to get paid, not to pay someone else.

The problems with POD as a business model are twofold:

1. Higher prices for a mostly inferior product. The books aren't professionally edited, vetted, or typeset, the covers are often amateurish, and the books usually cost 20% to 60% more than traditionally published books.

2. Lack of distribution. In order to find readers beyond the author's own scope of influence, the book must be widely available. That means brick and mortar bookstores, drugstores, supermarkets, airports, and so on. POD doesn't get into these venues.

That said, I think that POD has some advantages, and I'm impressed by the rapidly evolving technology.

Traditional publishing, as a business model, is outdated and inefficient. Any company that destroys half of what they produce (based on an average 50% sell through) is wasting a lot of money.

Looking ahead, POD technology will probably be fully embraced by publishers. It's already being used for galleys and ARCs. The lack of warehouse fees and shipping costs, and the elimination of returns, could conceivably make books more affordable, as their costs are already built into the cover price.

Plus, the long tail that many authors fear (their rights never reverting back to them because their book stays in print forever with POD) will result in more book sales over the course of their careers. I've got 5000 books in my personal library. About 90% of them are no longer in print. In order to acquire titles I've been looking for, I buy them used. In most cases, I'd love to get a fresh, new copy, which would in turn make sure the author got paid. POD would allow this to happen.

Authors fearing that they'll never get their rights back need to take a reality pill and realize reselling lapsed rights is a rare exception, not a rule. And if an author suddenly becomes hot, and their out of print backlist is worth money, POD production of backlist titles would undoubtedly increase to meet that demand, ensuring royalties. Plus, backlists can be bought and sold.

That said, I'm speaking of POD as a technology used by large publishers, who will be able to keep the costs down, have a vetting process, and make sure the book is professionally produced.

When the author attempts to do these things for himself, the results don't measure up to traditionally published books. Paying POD presses for extra services such as "editing" or "cover design" sucks more money from the author's pockets, but still often fails to produce error-free, attractive books.

But I'm going to try an experiment, because that's the type of guy I am.

For the past few years, I've had a virtual store on my website, for people who want to buy signed copies of the Jack Daniels books. I also sold back issues of magazines and old anthologies I've been in. (Believe it or not, since 2003 I've sold over fifty stories and articles.) I created the store because I got a lot of emails from fans asking me to offer these things. Over the years I've sold a few hundred items.

Unfortunately, many of those magazines and anthologies I've been in are out of print, so the stories are difficult to find.

I collected my old stories, with the intention of getting them published as an omnibus, but I decided not to try to sell it. My reason is simple. Story collections don't sell as well as novels. If I published a collection, those lower numbers will follow me, resulting in lower bookstore orders for my next novel. I don't want that to happen.

I also get a lot of email about my previously unpublished novels---so much so that I made them available on my website as free ebooks downloads. My unpublished technothrillers ORIGIN and THE LIST have been downloaded over three thousand times. Reader response has been surprising, and many folks have told me how much they enjoyed these books, and asked when they'd be published so they could buy hard copies.

ORIGIN and THE LIST already had their shot with big publishers years ago, and big publishers passed. I'm pretty sure I could approach a smaller press and get them published, but like the aforementioned short story collection, those numbers would follow me. A smaller press means a smaller print run and smaller sales which could result in smaller advance orders for my next Jack Daniels book. So I didn't pursue it.

But then I got to thinking.

There are a few POD companies that function simply as printers. You do your own editing, typesetting, and cover art, then upload it to their site, and a week later they send you a printed book. The books are still overpriced, and they still don't look as good as professionally published books, but this still suits my purpose.

So I've just made three titles available on my website. ORIGIN and THE LIST can now be purchased, along with another unpublished novel I wrote called DISTURB. I've also collected fifty-five of my previously published short stories into an omnibus called 55 PROOF, which will be available this Halloween.

You can buy these books for $16 to $19.

You can also download these books for free. I've made them available as pdf downloads. So if you don't want a bound and signed copy, go ahead print them up yourself. The layout is the same.

Because these books are only distributed through me, and because they have no ISBNs, they are off the publishing grid. I can cater to the requests of my fans, without harming my overall numbers.

Since I don't think that the average fan is savvy about POD, or knows the difference between POD and traditional publishing, I've stated on my website what the difference is.

It will be interesting to see how many people download these books for free compared to how many purchase them. It will also be interesting to see if a midlist mystery author, operating solely from his website, can sell his older, out-of-print (or never in print) work in enough numbers for it to matter.

Your predictions?

Ants and Grasshoppers

Last week I got eighty-five emails from people I've never corresponded with before. Strangers to me. However, I wasn't a stranger to them.

These people found me. They found me, and thought enough of me to write to me. Some wrote to say thanks for my website and blog, which has a lot of info for writers. Some wrote to say they like my books. Some wrote to say they appreciated an article I recently did for Writer's Digest. Some wrote to ask for advice. Some wrote to exchange links, or to tell me they've already linked to me. Some wrote to ask me to be their friends on MySpace, Quechup, or Crimespace.

They found me by searching online, by reading my books or short stories or articles, by following links from other sites, or by having people tell them about me. Google Alerts has also informed me that 27 sites have mentioned me and/or linked to me in the past week, and my website and blog have had over 5000 unique hits since last Sunday.

And what have I done in the past week to garner all of this attention?

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Buttkiss. I sat on my ass and reorganized my iTunes library. ID4 tags suck.

Of course, the lesson to be learned here isn't that doing nothing will make people seek you out.

The lesson is that if you work hard establishing a brand and spreading name-recognition, then you don't have to work 24/7, because the machinery is already in place to do it for you.

Consider the old parable of the ant and the grasshopper.

The grasshopper believed that all he had to do was write a good book, and his future was assured.

The ant knew that writing a good book was only the beginning, and he had to make sure people knew about his book by building a brand and spreading name-recognition.

Smart ant.

ESTABLISHING A BRAND

Naturally, your writing is a big part of your brand. What you write is going to attract a certain audience. You should know this audience. You should like this audience. You should be a part of this audience.

But your brand is more than just your writing. It's your personality. Your expertise. Your persona. It's what makes you special, and what makes others want to seek you out.

Remember that no one can look for you if they don't know you exist. So a large part of your brand is aligning yourself with something that people do seek out, so when they look for it they will find you.

What about you and your work is interesting? Unique? Similar? Important to others?

Think about it. Think long and hard. Anyone can find you by Googling you. You need to make them find you when they're looking for something else.

But before you go searching for people, you have to create something that they want.

If all you have to offer is a book, which costs money, it's doubtful you'll ever have a big web presence. A certain number of people on the Internet may be looking for books, but the majority of them are looking for two things: Information and Entertainment.

If your blog is only relevant to a few close friends, and your website is only a big advertisement for your writing, why should strangers bother visiting either, let alone link to you?

Your main goal, if you want people to discover you, is to entertain and inform them.

Your Internet presence isn't about what you have to sell. It's what you have to offer, usually for free.

What are you offering? What on your website will make a surfer stay for longer than ten minutes? What on your blog will make it relevant in five years?

Just being a published writer isn't enough. Nobody cares that you're published. Nobody cares that you have a book for sale.

What do they care about?

Camaraderie. Offer people a place where they can be in touch with you, and with others. There have been close to 300 posts on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing. But there have been almost 10,000 comments. If the users generate the content, they'll return.

Expertise. By consistently putting relevant information on your sites, the search engines will keep ranking you higher and linking to more of your pages. People will also link to you, and recommend you to others. They'll also seek you out for real life appearances, speeches, and signings.

Entertainment. Guess what? Your three sample chapters and two paragraph author bio aren't enough to keep the average surfer interested for more than a few minutes, if they even find your site. And I don't believe that Flash animation, cool music, or games and videos will either.

Give surfers enough information about you and your work, presented in a fun way, to make them like you as well as your writing. Your website isn't an ad. It's not an appetizer either. It should be a fun place to go even if you weren't pimping your books.

This is also important when speaking in front of people. When you are giving a speech, doing a panel, or attending a signing, you are an entertainer. That means you must be entertaining. That means learn how.

Freshness. Make sure you add, update, and change your sites often, so people come back. Make sure you stay in touch with those who get in touch with you. Reward those that keep coming back.

Real Life Relevance. You're a writer, so chances are you're on the Internet constantly. The average person isn't, and doesn't put as much value or importance on it as you do. Give people something they can use offline. A free short story or book they can print up. Audio or podcasts they can download and take with them. Contests to participate in and newsletters to sign up for that result in stuff sent snail mail. An email from an author is nice. A real life handshake and a smile is even better.

SPREADING BRAND-RECOGNITION

Once you've established your brand, the hard part begins. No one is going to magically discover you just because you've got a cool website or a great novel. Sure, some writers get lucky with a huge marketing campaign. The rest of us have to seek out readers in order to make them aware that we exist.

On the Internet

You already know your demographic, and who your readers are, because you've spent a long time thinking about it. Now you need to go out and draw them to you. Here's how.

Find Websites. Look for websites, bulletin boards, Yahoo groups, blogs, listservs, message boards, and forums where people who like your books would visit.

Offer Links. Exchange links with those sites. Or link to them and write about them, so when people are searching for that site they'll find your site.

Participate. Be a human being, not a salesperson. I never seek out MySpace Friends by saying "I'm an author, read my books." I send them invitations and a message saying that I looked at their page and enjoy the same authors they do. After a few back and forth exchanges, 95% of them figure out I'm an author too, and many of them go on to read my books and are glad I contacted them, rather than annoyed at me spamming them.

Remember what people care about: Camaraderie, Entertainment, Expertise, Freshness, and Real Life Relevance. When dealing with people, low key flattery works better than bragging, listening is more attractive than talking, and being likable will sell more books than actively trying to sell books.

Revisit, Revamp, Repeat. Too many writers quit their blog after a year. They don't update their sites. They don't check in with their old web haunts. They don't seek out new haunts. They reach a point and simply stop.

You shouldn't ever stop making your Internet presence larger. And I don't mean commenting on the same six blogs you do every day. I mean searching for new sites and new people, going back to sites you haven't been to in a while, and making sure your sites are worthy of the hits they're getting.

In Real Life

If the Internet is where you're doing all or most of your promotion, you're going to fail. The majority of your readers aren't on the net, and they've never visited your website.

At first, many of your readers will find you accidentally. While browsing in a bookstore, or at the library, or a garage sale. They're looking for a book, and they find yours. You have little control over this. Yet, this is how a lot of books are sold.

Others will find you through articles or reviews written about you in the newspaper. You can spend big bucks on a publicist to get more reviews, or some local radio or TV spots, but I'm not convinced that those are cost-effective for new authors. The same goes with advertising. Does it work? Maybe. Is it worth the cost? For midlist authors, I don't believe so. Spending hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands on media attention and ads isn't as cost-effective as traveling and actually meeting the people you want to reach. Which leads us to:

Meet Your Publisher. The best money you'll ever spend is flying to NY and meeting your editor and the many folks at your publishing house and being charming. We do more for people that we like. Get them to like you.

Meet Fans. At the beginning of your writing career, meet as many readers as possible. This means going to conventions, book fairs, and conferences. Do book signings. Speak at libraries. Shake those hands. It's time consuming, and costly, but a smile and a kind word will get people to pick up your books.

Meet Booksellers. Real life is better than online. Booksellers have influence and power. They can handsell you. They help spread the almighty word-of-mouth that all authors need to succeed.

Sell Stories and Articles. I've got a few hundred thousand books in print. But my name has been in print several million times, thanks to short stories and essays and articles I've sold to magazines and anthologies. By publishing your writing, you can reach more people in a shorter amount of time than anything you can do online. Plus, there's no greater advertisement for an author than a sample of their writing.

Enlist the Media. You don't need a publicist to get you featured in the local paper. You just need to write a press release, making sure it has a hook and enough spin to interest them. You can contact reviewers, and radio stations, and local TV, and do it for free.

Enlist Your Peers. We're not in competition with each other. Someone can buy both my book and your book. So it makes sense to help your fellow writers. Pool information and resources. Trade contacts. Rather than sing your own praises, sing their praises, and they'll probably sing yours in return. I've been invited into many anthologies because I've had a beer with a fellow writer at a conference. When I'm interviewed, I mention their names. Sometimes I interview them. Sometimes they interview me. The more friends you have in this biz, the better off you are.

Of course, in both real life and online, be generous, grateful, amusing, and loyal. You are not a salesperson. You're an ambassador, representing your writing.

ANTS AND GRASSHOPPERS

Going back to the parable, the ant worked hard building a brand and establishing name-recognition, and several things happened.

1. The ant passed a tipping point. In the beginning, he sought out fans, speaking engagements, and media attention. But after a while those things came to him, in greater frequency than he could have imagined.

2. The ant realized the past continued to work for him. Booksellers he met years ago, stories he wrote for old magazines, and blog posts he penned in 2004 continued to send new fans his way.

3. The ant reached a lot of people, and those people talked about him with many others, spreading word-of-mouth and expanding his audience much further than his personal efforts.

4. The ant became a bestseller, then had a three-way with Angelina Jolie and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

And what of the blissfully ignorant grasshopper who disliked public speaking and believed that all he had to do was write good books?

He attended a single writing convention and complained the whole time, did two booksignings in his home town, and was cut by his publisher for poor sales. Then he died of cancer.

CONCLUSION

1. Figure out who your readers are.
2. Figure out what your readers want.
3. Reach out to your readers.

This will not only help you sell more books than you would otherwise, but keep this up long enough and you'll find that the longer you last, the easier it gets.

Or you can do nothing and die of Kaposi's sarcoma.

The choice is yours.

What Works?

I believe the main hurdle the publishing industry has to overcome in the upcoming years, perhaps even bigger than embracing technology, is the ability to learn from its successes and mistakes.

This isn't easy. A book is a one-time unreproducible phenomenon, with many factors that ultimately lead to its profitability or lack thereof. There are no controls in the grand publishing experiment--if a book does well, you can't truly understand why, especially since many of those things done to promote that book were done for other books which didn't do well.

So learning is tough to do, especially in a business model that still relies on returns and offset printing.

As authors, we can't do much to fix the industry. But we have the same hurdle to overcome.

As a reader of this blog, you know I believe self-promotion is essential for authors. I report here on my successes, and try to offer practical information about what works and more importantly why it works. Or, why it doesn't work. No effort is wasted if we learn from it, but are we truly learning?

Here are several things I've done on the self-promotion front, and my honest evaluation of if they've worked or not.

1. Visiting Bookstores for Stock Signings

I know this works. Not in every case, but in enough of them to be worthwhile. Booksellers remember me, and they handsell the books. Of course it helps if you have free books to give away to them, and if you keep in touch periodically with emails or thank them by name in your acknowledgements.

What is the percentage of the worthwhile ones? I'd say one out of four.

2. Having a Booklaunch Party

This is certainly fun, and a nice way to kill a few hours with family, friends, and fans, but it never justifies the expense. Sure, you can write it off, but it's a lot of effort for only a few books sold to people who would probably buy them anyway.

3. Having a MySpace Page

I'm still amazed that I had MySpace Friends show up at my booksigings in Italy. MySpace is better than any newsletter or mailing list I've ever used. But it is a time black hole, and you'll spend weeks and weeks gathering up a Friend list before it becomes worthwhile. When it does start to pay off, you can meet hundreds, even thousands, of new readers, but you have to put in the effort to make that happen.

4. Selling Articles and Short Stories

This works better than anything else you can do. Get into as many anthologies, magazines, and webzines as you can. I'm constantly hearing from people who read my short stuff, which leads them to my longer stuff.

5. Giving It Away

This works. In the past few weeks, people have downloaded 600 free copies of Whiskey Sour on my website. Six hundred may not seem like a lot, but the majority of people visiting my website already know who I am, and they've already read Whiskey Sour. So these are brand new readers, which cost me nothing to find. And many of them are later buying the books--I know this, because they email. I've received no less than a hundred emails from folks who have enjoyed the download and then said they were going out to find more of my work.

6. Mass Mailings

Last year, with fellow scribe Julia Spencer-Fleming, I mailed out more than 7000 letters to libraries. This was very expensive, incredibly time-consuming, and while it got me some publicity, and while it introduced many librarians to my series, I didn't see enough results to say it was worth the effort.

That said, I've never bought a book because the author sent me a postcard either. Snail mail is easy to ignore, and I don't recommend it.

7. Conventions and Conferences

I used to be a convention whore, and attend all of them. These days, not so many.

At the start of your career, it's important to attend writing conventions. You meet your peers, and fans, and the occasional reviewer or media person, and you expand your base readership. But after a few years, meeting the same people again and again, going to a convention is more about the fun than about the self-promotion. You'll never sell more than a few dozen books, and unless you're invited and get a free ride (or paid to speak), it's impossible to justify the several hundred to several thousand dollar cost of attending.

After you visit a few conventions, use your promotional time and dollar to travel and visit bookstores instead.

Of course, if you have a free ride, always take it.

8. Libraries, Bookfairs, and Other Speaking Engagements

This is a crapshoot. Sometimes a lot of people show up. Sometimes very few. I do them because I'm still flattered that anyone would want me to speak anywhere, but I go into these believing they're a way to give back to the community rather than to sell books.

Sometimes, I get paid a lot and have a huge turnout. Sometimes, I get paid nothing and have a nice one-on-one with the event organizer. It's about 50/50.

9. Scheduled Booksigings

These are only worthwhile if you're a big enough name already, or if you're planning on staying for four hours and handselling books. If not, expect a humiliating experience where you don't sell many books, which costs you time and your publisher coop money.

10. Newsletters and Mass Emails

I do one a year, and that seems to be enough. It's important to have a newsletter, and to have a space on your website where people sign up for it. But don't bombard them with an email every week. A mass mailing, announcing your latest book, is effective, but I question the effectiveness of any other use.

11. A Blog

Yes, you need a website. But do you need a blog?

This blog gets anywhere from 300 to 1500 unique hits a day, though it averages about 600. When I post more often, the number goes up. But even if I don't post for a week or two, the numbers stay pretty consistent.

This is because my blog contains information that Google regularly searches, so new folks are constantly being directed to old posts. Some of them stay for a while. Some become long term readers. I've sold books, and gotten speaking engagements, because of this blog, so I believe blogs are worthwhile if you have something to offer, like expertise, information, aggregation, or opinion.

That said, go to Statcounter.com, get a free tracker, and see if anyone is reading. If not, your efforts are better spent elsewhere.

12. Contests

I used to think contests were important. Now I think it depends on the contest.

I ran a contest of sorts for Dirty Martini, thanking everyone who reviewed it int he acknowledgements of my next book, and sending them free stuff (it's coming, I swear!) and I got many more online reviews than any of my previous books. That was worth it.

I ran a library contest that garnered a few hundred entries. While I love libraries, the only ones entering were folks who already knew who I was, so this really was more of a way to thank libraries than get new libraries to order my books.

I ran a few writing contests, and while many websites mentioned them, the work to read all the entries was exhausting, and I don't think it did anything for my book sales. I won't do another one.

My publisher has run contests on websites, and I haven't seen any dramatic results from them.

Don't think that just because you're running a contest that people will enter, or that you'll get any publicity for it, or that people entering will buy your book. Contests are more of a "thank you" than a self-promotional tool.

13. Free Stuff

I give away a lot of freebies; signed coasters, magazines, books, etc, although these are more goodwill than fan recruitment. But I'll keep doing this, because my core fans should be rewarded, because they're helping to spread brand awareness and name recognition.

To date, I've given away more than 30,000 signed drink coasters. Do these sell books? No. But they are something novel to give to people I meet so they remember who I am, and unlike a bookmark or business card, they're autographed so people might hold onto them.

I consider the money I spend on coasters to be wasted, but well wasted. It always amuses me when I run into someone who talks about the signed coaster they got from me four years ago that they still have on their desk.

If you want to spend a few bucks on bookmarks, pens, postcards, flyers, keychains, etc, know it's going to be at a 100% loss. A good quality business card with your bookcover on it is all you really need.

14. Advertising

As I've said before, I think that modern human beings are immune to advertising. Those who say it helps to reinforce a brand are correct, it does reinforce a brand. But at what cost vs. what benefits?

My publisher has run some big ads for me. I've run some small ones. I believe their money is better spent on ARCs and coop, and my money is better spent on travelling.

This also applies to Internet advertising. How many times in the past week have you clicked on a pop up or a banner ad? Did it lead you to buying the product?

Of course, advertisers admit that a very small percentage of people exposed to any ad rush out and buy the product, but advertising leads to overall branding and product recognition.

To which I can say that I recognize thousands of products, and can even sing ad jingles from my youth, but I still have yet to buy any of them.

Book trailers have been around for a few years, but writers continue to extol their virtues. Yes, you can put it on YouTube and on your website and MySpace page, and it's pretty cool. But is it a few thousand dollars worth of cool?

I don't have any book trailers, so I don't know how many hits they get. I do have a video of me acting like an idiot on my site, and that gets a few hundred hits a month, along with garners me a lot of email. But that cost me $25, not $2500.

Plus, like everything you put on your site, the people who visit are most likely the people who know about you anyway, so who exactly are you recruiting?

If you want to do a book trailer, be sure you tract the hits it gets, track the email responses you get, Google how many people link to it, then post your honest results here so we can learn from them and figure out if they are worth the cost.

15. Your Publisher's Efforts

Your publisher can do more for your book than you ever could. So it's important to coordinate your efforts with them, keep a line of communication open, and always be gracious, thankful, and polite even if you think they suck. You get more flies with honey than with vinegar, and a rep as someone difficult, unappreciative, and unrealistic can follow you forever.

16. Your Outlook

Winners act like winners. This sounds obvious, but the things you say and do in public can give the impression that you're one to watch or you're one to avoid.

Be one to watch in all of your professional relationships. A smile and a "thank you" is a lot more effective than a million dollar advertising campaign.

Conclusion

The goal is to get read. To be read, people must be made aware of your books. You can't make people buy them, or like them, or tell their friends about them.

But, as writers, we can help make the world aware that our books exist. The above are some of the things I've tried.

I measure a successful effort by the amount of time and money it takes versus the result it produces. I have no rigid method for this. A lot of my advance money goes toward self-promotion, and most of my time does.

Hardly anything pays for itself. But many of the above have intangible, unforeseeable benefits. Whatever you do, the rule seems to follow: the more you do, the more you get.

So take a look at your efforts. Look at the time and money you've spent. Then ask yourself:
What has worked for you and why?

Feel free to share your results here.

Pride

Somewhere in the annals of history pride went from being a virtue to being a sin.

While no one likes a braggart or a boaster, and being around someone who talks about themselves constantly is a major bore, I believe that many writers became writers because of a need to show off. After all, it takes a large ego to write words down on paper and believe that others will not only enjoy them, but pay you for the privilege of reading them.

This isn't too far removed from bringing home macaroni art in the third grade and expecting Mom to tape it to the refrigerator door. And what child doesn't swell--and rightfully so--at the sight of their hard work on display for anyone who reaches for a glass of milk or a sandwich?

I know I still get a giddy feeling when I see my new book or short story in print for the first time. I love getting email from fans, and reading reviews, and hearing friends and family share how they saw someone reading one of my tomes. This is a healthy feeling. In fact, with the many problems the publishing industry has, and the many pitfalls that go hand-in-hand with being a writer, sometimes feeling good about our work is all we have.

I've written fifteen novels and over a hundred short stories. Each time I pen "the end" I feel like I'm six-years-old again, and can't wait to show my mom my latest masterpiece. I still show my mom most of what I write, but my first reader is now my wife. I haven't written anything in the past thirteen years that she hasn't read immediately afterward, and I'm incredibly lucky to have her.

I think this need to show people our work helps tremendously. Not only does it boost productivity, but it also takes some of the loneliness out of a solitary profession. I'll often write a scene, or finish a chapter, grinning because I can imagine my wife's reaction to reading it.

Unlike many other careers that people seem to fall into due to attrition, luck, or apathy, writing is a career that is sought after, cultivated, and difficult to maintain. We should have a sense of pride in every success, whether it's finishing a short story or novel, getting something published, receiving fan mail, or simply hearing the laughter of a family member reading our words in another room.

I pity writers who tortuously labor over their prose, or who can never be satisfied with any accomplishment. Perfectionism is fine, to a point. But I know that I got into writing because of the joy it held for me. If I didn't have that joy, I'd be doing something easier. For me, the writing is the fun part, but sharing that writing is also fun.

It is possible, however, to be too into your own accomplishments. This not only annoys and alienates those around you, but it's not a very healthy way to live. Newbie writers are often guilty of this. Hell, even I was, and often still am.

So here's a list of Virtues and Sins for authors, centering around Pride.

Virtues

• Feeling good when writing.
• Feeling good when finishing a piece of work.
• Feeling good when something gets published.
• Feeling good when getting positive feedback.
• Feeling good when getting a decent review.
• Feeling good after a successful signing or event.
• Sharing major successes with family and close friends.
• Offering requested help and advice to peers, without being condescending.
• Feeling good when seeing something of yours in print.
• Feeling good getting fan mail.

Sins

• Thinking you're entitled to success.
• Bragging.
• Conversations that revolve around your accomplishments.
• Posting every little thing that happens in your career on your blog, website, favorite bulletin board, etc.
• Talking down to anyone.
• Fishing for compliments.
• Sharing major and minor successes with everyone moments after they occur.
• Offering unsolicited advice to peers.
• Believing that the opposite of talking is waiting.
• Hogging the microphone and/or spotlight at multi-author events.
• Believing the hype.

That said, I'm ridiculously proud to report that Dirty Martini is my first hardcover to ever go into a second printing. Thanks so much to all of you who have bought this book--and hold onto those first editions, because they'll be worth more on eBay in a few years. :)

If you have any additions to the Pride Sins and Virtues list, I'd love to hear them, and so would your peers.