I am excited to announce that the prequel to my fantasy series, Malgraf’s Dawning, will be published by Dream Write Publishing later in 2023. I have already contracted a book cover designer and will work with her to create an apt cover for this dark tale of a witch in the making, from childhood to adulthood.
The fantasy series began with The Rython Kingdom and was followed by the reader requested sequel, Rython Legacy. Set in medieval England these novellas are full of tales of kings, castles, sorcery and mystery.
Both books are available as print or e-book on all purchase sites. In several bookstores (Daisy Chain, Edmonton, The Bookworm, Sherwood Park & Shelf Life Books, Calgary) and also several libraries. (Sherwood Park, Jasper, and Spruce Grove)
Currently the first draft of the prequel is around 16,000 words and Malgraf is obtaining her dark powers and spells daily. Delving into the psyche of the villain in a story has its struggles, but can also be fun, as a writer it allows you to go to dark places with permission. As a Gemini, I find this easier than maybe other writers! Read into that as you will…ha,ha.
What is your motivation for writing? There are as many reasons to write as there are genres. We may want to persuade, catalog or inform on ‘real’ events or topics but many of us (fiction authors) want to entertain. It is an author’s purpose, to bring to life a concept.
So let’s look at each scenario for motivation:
a) Money – we would all love to be a best seller and have fame and fortune like the ‘big’ names, such as Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and the like. However, we need to be realistic – firstly can we manage to get a publishing contract with a big publishing house? How many years are you willing to wait for that? If you use the self-publishing route how much of your time (unpaid) can you sacrifice for promotion? Should you give your work away? Is the income enough to live on? Could your writing supplement your lifestyle?
If you determine that the net income (we all need to report it in tax season!) is a nice bonus for a treat here and there, rather than your sole income – it will take the stress out of the equation.
b) Success – once again we should temper our expectations. Global sales are a dream we want to make real but maybe measure our success on more of a local level. Do you have your books in local bookstores, the library, offered at local events? The more you attend and promote within your own locality the more your ‘success’ becomes tangible. Articles in the local newspaper could have people approach or question you in regard to your being an author. Social media allows us to expand our locality, of course, but starting small will give you a firm basis from which to start. Never under estimate the power of word of mouth for promotion.
c) Satisfaction – Although this is third on the list, I feel it is the most important of all, as having your words, ideas and stories readily available for people to read now and for future generations, is the penultimate success. Our narratives will be enjoyed and relayed long after we are gone. It is our legacy.
Obviously, in an ideal world, a mixture of all three of the above would be the perfect scenario.
What is your motivation?
What do you consider the most satisfying part of being a writer/author?
As writers and authors, we are formidable in our ability to create narratives but we also have to learn how to market the ‘end product’ of those many months or even years of creativity. We become a book business.
The first avenue many authors take is social media, which can be seen as a ‘soft’ option. After all we are not up close and personal with the public but at arm’s length. However, due to the countless sites available just choosing the ‘right’ one or two can be overwhelming. Then there is the matter of maintaining our ‘presence’ on each platform. We need to research which avenues of promotion will work best not just for our genres but also our ability to sustain them. Do your research on similar authors in your genre and see what they use (and of course ‘follow’ them).
2. Following selected authors, genre based bloggers, book reviewers, and writing groups allows you to gain followers but also to learn about your particular genre and gain a reader base. When someone is interested in your genre they ‘search’ for more posts, articles, links and books within that specific field. While you are doing that follow 10 ‘friends’ of friends on Facebook and 100 people on Twitter – this can gain a wider audience. However, in light of these two platforms losing participants also follow people on Instagram. (We have to keep up with the ‘in’ thing!)
3. Improve your author bio on all platforms to entice and inform as many followers as possible on all sales sites, your blog and social media platforms. Ask yourself – does it reflect you as a writer as well as a person.
4. Use hashtags specific to writing, authors, books, genre and associated links – look at what other authors use.
5. Then there is the personal touch, which means organizing or being involved in author readings, attending book events and participating in Q&A panels. Search your local area for book related events, get to know your local bookstores, inquire at your library, join a local writing group, the wider your reach the easier it will be to find avenues of sale for your book.
6. Merchandise is another way of promoting your book. It can be as simple as custom bookmarks to T-shirts with the book cover/main character on the front. Make up a prize basket for a contest to be collected at an event (good photo opportunity to use on social media) or create an online contest for a free autographed copy of your book.
7. An easy promotion is to leave five of your author business cards in local businesses, at the doctor’s or dentist’s office, or anywhere you visit on a regular basis. Many places have community boards too so pin some cards or a poster of an event you are attending there too.
Do you have any promotion tips you would like to share?
As I was browsing the internet this morning, a thought occurred to me regarding libraries and the phenomenon of thefts from them. Most of us enjoy the extensive choice of genres, reference resources and visual media options our libraries give us, however there are a startling amount of these items stolen. Furthermore the topics stolen change from region to region – that is the interesting and puzzling part. As you can see from these two articles, subject matter is area specific.
Of course, some books are taken because of their rare or significant historical value – these thefts deprive future generations to enjoy and witness the words of our great scholars and philosophers. There is an underground world of book thieves. See this article:
It’s National Library Week (April 13 – 19) in America – not a global celebration run simultaneously unfortunately but let’s take it to our corner of the world, shall we? Libraries have changed from the ‘quiet, echoing halls’ of bygone days into spaces enjoyed by all ages, classes and cultures. There is investment in new city libraries and fierce support for numerous small libraries in towns and small hamlets alike. As you can read in this article – libraries are well loved around the globe and have adapted to the needs of their visitors. The range of traditional and modern buildings is striking.
I have included images of our new library, which my community is extremely proud of. The original looked like this. It served it’s community well and there is still a fondness for the ‘old’ building.
The interior of the new one is spectacular – as you can see here. With numerous specialized spaces it caters to all.
What is your library like? Do you love spending time there? Does it have a unique feature?
I enjoyed this article and thought we should write our own love letter to our library. So that is the fun prompt for this week. Mine is below.
Love Letter to Strathcona County library, Sherwood Park, Alberta.
With gleaming glass panels reflecting the light and spectacular artwork adorning your walls, you are a vision to behold. A comfortable chair nestled into an alcove embraces the solitary reader while communal study rooms and computer desks cater to the young and senior alike. Your glowing fireplace makes for a cozy reading nook or a place for conversation sitting on low sofas. The story tree changes with the seasons as children read and listen to fascinating words under its branches. You embrace all who enter and feed their minds. It is a privilege to call you my own and I love the hours I spend within your walls.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 