Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

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Monthly Archives: September 2021

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Back-list Promotion – A Necessary Task

September 30, 2021
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Promoting a back list can be frustrating, if a little boring, as we naturally want to concentrate on our latest shiny novel. However, all our books are worthy of attention for as long as they are available for sale. There are several ways to keep the back list titles fresh and you can actually utilize the change in seasons to plan it.

Firstly, can you categorize your books by season. Look at the season the narrative is set within or it’s genre and use that as your starting point.

  1. Summer: romance/vacation adventures/a beach read/contemporary summer town story.
  2. Spring: a character’s new life/moving to a new town, school or college.
  3. Fall: chilly horror/mystery/monsters and Halloween.
  4. Winter: isolation/struggles of survival/Xmas romance.

I think you get the idea.

Here are some other ways to keep the older titles fresh.

  1. Do a live reading (if restrictions allow) or read on any social media site or streaming site.
  2. Upgrade the cover.
  3. Revise the content – new edit, additional information, add book club questions and new reviews.
  4. Write a prequel.
  5. Arrange guest blog posts centering on the back-list book(s).
  6. Create a readers guide for book clubs.
  7. Use niche topics to promote.
  8. Utilize a podcast interview to promote all your books.
  9. Request new reviews.
  10. Offer a sale price.

What methods do you use to keep your older books fresh and saleable?

Bibliophile’s Collective Tuesday – Fall is Rumble Time – The Kid’s Book That Is.

September 28, 2021
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With the change to autumn/fall, I begin to think about my little monster, Rumble, and thoughts of Halloween. With the current restrictions, I am unable to hold the annual Rumble’s First Scare colouring contest, which is such a shame. The entries are always so good. As you may (or may not) know this little monster, Rumble, is in his element on All Hallow’s Eve. After all he’s spent all spring and summer in his underground home.

I wanted to create a story about a monster that would not scare children, but in fact, make them love him. The illustrations by Matty McClatchie help with that goal. As you can see he is quite adorable and appeals to children as he is also slimy and has little pets in a bag. When I first published the picture book, I made (with the help of a sewing friend) a plush toy of Rumble for display purposes on my event/sales tables. He was very popular and many children asked if they could take him home. I always told them he was like Tigger – the only one! Several years later, I found online, a company that makes plush toys of your children’s drawings and thought Rumble would be perfect. As you can see the result was very good. Mine on the left, professional on the right. If you are interested this is the link:

You can purchase the book or e-book of Rumble’s First Scare here: It is a perfect gift for younger readers for Halloween or anytime of the year. It can probably dispel monster nightmares too.

As you can imagine I read Stephen King’s latest publication, Billy Summers, in record time. It is not horror, but a tale of a man trying to escape his profession as an assassin and encountering a wealth of people – good and bad – along the way. An unexpected relationship is thrown into the mix and adds to the overall tension and twists and turns in the narrative.

I am now reading: The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

What are you currently reading? Can you share your thoughts in it?

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Utilizing The Seasons Transition in our Writing

September 23, 2021
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As we welcome autumn/fall with its brilliant colour metamorphosis across the landscape, we begin to think of cooler weather and a new space to write. We transition from writing on the deck, in a beach house, or a lakeside cabin to a cozier study or quiet room with a view or flickering fireplace. The seasons affect our mood and in turn our writing. These seasonal changes can also add to our content.

If we are on the cusp of a new project, we can use the crisp mornings and evenings to walk in nature and percolate ideas. We can watch the flames dance in a fire-pit or the leaves dancing on the wind or crunching beneath our feet. Why not take day trips to a wine festival, a corn maze, a pumpkin farm, immerse yourself in the season and its special harvest of smells and sights.

Let your imagination experience this new season and bring your idea to life. Ask yourself what your new project’s genre might be.

  • Is it an autumnal romance?
  • A spooky horror?
  • A ghost story?
  • A contemporary ‘change’ of scene narrative?

If you are in the midst of a project use nature as an example and lose any extraneous content, edit with the thought that the project will be renewed, fresh and improved. It is a reorganization, much like changing your clothing to suit the cooler weather. The autumn/fall scenery can inspire more descriptive language – colour, scents, mood and more.

With the change to autumn/fall, we can utilize the season to promote a book that reflects it. For me, I begin to think about my little monster, Rumble, and his Halloween adventure. I will be looking at a specific promotion for this children’s picture book.

Link:

Do you have a novel that is set in autumn/fall?

Did you write the idea in the autumn/fall season?

What inspired you the most?

Bibliophile’s Collective Tuesday – Reading Billy Summers and Stephen King Interview at Bloody Scotland

September 21, 2021
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This past weekend was special for me as I attended an online interview hosted by Bloody Scotland between Stephen King and Linwood Barclay. As you all know by now, I am a huge King fan – his ability to immerse his readers into a story immediately is such a skill. You become invested in his characters and their plight.

This interview is one of many I have watched with Mr. King, and in all of them it is his sense of humour that makes them such a delight. Obviously, his words of writing wisdom are also gratefully received too. In this interview, Stephen did mention a slight revision to his latest work, Billy Summers, as the book was originally set in 2020 and we all know what happened then! So he backtracked a year to avoid difficulties in the protagonist’s journey.

I read half the novel over the weekend! It is really good and not the ‘horror’ that many believe is all Stephen can write. It is a character study of an assassin and his last ‘job’ and the unexpected events he finds himself coping with.

In other news my publicist, Creative Edge Publicity, has been spreading the word about me and my novels. I have been highlighted in these places, if you care to take a look.

Reader’s Entertainment Magazine

Escape with a Writer

403-464-6925 
mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com

Thank you all for continuing to follow me. I have a favour to ask.

Which character from my books would you like me to interview. I have already interviewed Evan from Life in Slake Patch and Lenni from Creature Hunt on Planet Toaria. So who is next?

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Creating Plot Twists

September 16, 2021
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When we write a story, as the author, we are within the narrative – it’s characters, setting, backstory and genre format. We can become too close to the action and reveal our plot too early or make it too obvious. Here are a few tips to help entice your reader and keep them guessing, because if you can foresee a plot twist so can the reader. We have to think up options and/or steer the event in another direction to avoid being obvious. 

  1. One way is to use subtle misdirection, such as:
  • Red herrings – false clues or misleading information to steer readers in the wrong direction.
  • Dead ends – not writing the obvious outcome your readers thought was coming.
  • Misguided attention – Bury hints or clues where the reader is redirected to another scene, or dialogue and misses a cleverly dropped hint.

2. Foreshadowing is an excellent vehicle for adding subtle hints for a twist to come. These can be as part of a characters actions, or non-action, a secondary character’s dialogue or even disguising a plot twist within a plot twist. The twist, however, must be believable and necessary and also makes sense within the narrative.

3. Use a subplot that misdirects your reader.

  • It can feed into the plot line, or not – that is your choice.
  • Interact or intertwine your subplot in an unexpected or unusual way.
  • You can make the subplot more important to the overall story, than initially appears.
  • It can also distract from the main plot.
  • Depending on your genre you can use the ‘no-one is safe’ mentality to add tension and ‘what if’s’.

Other misdirection techniques include:

  1. Killing off an important character.
  2. A character discovers a plot twist organically.
  3. Elevate a minor character.
  4. Your big reveal instigates a twist ending.

Remember to keep up the momentum after the big reveal so that the reader will continue reading to find out the ultimate conclusion of your narrative. If you are struggling there are plot twist generators on the internet, you can use them or manufacture your own from the ideas.

How have you kept a reader guessing? Care to share?

Which book plot twist surprised you the most?

Here is a list of the more famous literary plot twists.

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