PJ Nunn
Before you think I’m just ranting, remember that space is somewhat limited and I’m just finishing what I started a while back. I don’t talk about these things to be critical. I talk about them because they keep cropping up and I’m hoping that by talking about them we can prevent some hard knocks for new authors along the way. It seems like nothing is easy in this business and I find I’d much rather learn from someone else’s mistakes than learn things the hard way. So let's continue with some of the more frequent mistakes I've seen authors make:
9. No good hook - This mistake is one I wouldn’t have thought of until I started working in the area of book promotion. After all, writing any book is hard work and who wants to even think about promotion until the book is done? That seems like a logical way of thinking until you’re in a position to promote the book and can’t find a good hook anywhere. Probably there are some hooks that could be added after the fact, but the best ones are always things that are subtle but inherent parts of the story.
Think about it. You probably have only one book to promote at a time. But when you’re in a position like I am with sometimes 50 or more active titles at once, it can be challenging to determine what sets this book apart from the rest? Obviously, it’s rarely enough to say “It’s a mystery. Somebody dies and the rest of the folks have to try and figure out who killed him.” It’s surprising how many mysteries actually make it to publication without anything specific or significant that distinguishes them from every other mystery.
Ideally, a book will have several different hooks a person can use to promotional advantage, including some that are found in the author’s background and not in the book at all. But for the purpose of what we’re discussing here, let’s stick with the book. Pets can be good. Pet owners can be fiercely loyal as many authors have already discovered. What breed of dog has the largest number of breed clubs in the country? Would a mixed breed appeal to more people than a specific breed? Are there more cat lovers than dog lovers? Regardless of your answer to those questions, can you love your choice convincingly in print?
Jeff’s Aaron Tucker series is an excellent example of a good hook in his use of Asperger Syndrome. He can write it well because he lives it. It would take a whole lot of research to compare with what he’s learned in life. Another good example is Leann Sweeney’s introduction of Jeff’s sister with Down’s Syndrome. She doesn’t take up a lot of word count, but it’s an excellent tool to use to reach a niche market. So while you don’t want to be too formulaic in your writing, it’s wise to think of some good hooks you can realistically work into your novel as you go.
10. Failing to keep website fresh – this one still surprises me. It’s so easy to get help maintaining a website these days, I don’t know why I’m continually coming across websites that are woefully out of date. The website is often the first impression many people have of an author they don’t know. Many a journalist, in response to a press release, goes first to an author’s website before making any contact with the author or a publicist. If what they find there is old or otherwise unsatisfactory, it’s unlikely they’ll pursue any further contact. I don’t know how many times I’ve consulted the website of one or more of my own clients to get information on their tour or backlist, only to find the tour listings on their site ended a year or two ago and the book info is minimal at best. It’s not hard to set a reminder and make sure your site is updated every month or so. It’s well worth your time and expense to do it.
11. Addiction to social media – this is a new one. Yes, there is much to be gained by being active in places like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. However, they are all major time-suckers. Use them, enjoy them. Be careful to keep business separate from personal. That doesn’t mean you can’t discuss any personal matters but don’t cross the line into overshare. Once posted you can’t get it back and it’s too easy when the day is long and you’re tired to say something spontaneous that you might later regret. Ask yourself “Is this something I’d want my readers to remember about me next year?” Plan your days and portion your time. Be disciplined enough to know when enough is enough.
12. Not working well with publicist – For any team to work well together, there has to be good communication. Note I said good communication. That means quality, not quantity. Publicists spend a lot of time on the phone. Most that I work with have a similar work style to mine, of a necessity. We talk on the phone a lot during business hours to all sorts of people (usually radio hosts, tv producers, journalists, booksellers, event planners, agents, editors, other publicists – you name it). Because of that, we don’t spend a lot of time during business hours talking to authors. Does that mean you should never call during the day? Or that you should call them at night? No and no. Most, including myself, have no problem making time for brief but informative phone calls during the day. But you can do the math – if you spend 45 minutes talking about all sorts of things that don’t really have much to do with promoting your book, and you multiply that times the 3 – 4 other clients who do the same thing, it won’t leave your publicist with many prime hours to spend working for you. She can either talk TO you, or she can talk to the right folks ABOUT you. Email is a wonderful way to transmit information because we can read it before work, after work, or between phone calls. But back to phones.
My personal record is 3 phone batteries in a day. That means I make or take one call after another, prompted periodically by reminders set in Outlook that say things like “Call Kim at Book Store between 2.30 and 3”. I talk on the phone till the battery is done, then move to the next phone. It’s completely typical for me to be busy with one client, then interrupted by a call back from a producer I’ve been trying to reach for weeks. Do I take the call? You bet! He wants to know if my client is available on August 22 at 7.30 am and he won’t wait for an answer. I swivel in my chair, open the client’s tour sheet on my computer, scan down to the appropriate date and say, “Sure thing. Shall we confirm it?” “Absolutely. Send me a book (or whatever).”
So I pause what I was doing to type in the confirmation information, paste it into the client’s tour sheet, paste it into my Master tour sheet, paste it into an email and send it to the client, his/her publicist at the publisher, send jpgs or anything else the producer requested then go back to what I was doing in the first place. All goes smoothly until I get an email back from the client saying something like, “Oh, I forgot to tell you I’ll be in Europe that week. Can you get a new date for that show?”
Sigh.
“I’ll do my best, but first, are there any other off limits dates you’d like me to note on your tour sheet?” Thus begins another week or so of trying to catch the producer again, then to convince him that I’m really sorry (I would never blame the client) and that it would still be to his advantage to offer the client a different date. Most of the time, he will.
That’s just one incident. There are so many little details that would help me to represent my clients that they never think to share. I’m still working on ways to get that info out of them and help us all. But definitely the primary issue is keeping apprised of where they’ll be and how available they are. If you have a publicist working for you, whether a freelance or assigned by the publisher, make the best use of them by being sure they have everything they need from you and keeping them informed.
Nuff said? Those are the top 12 mistakes I see repeated frequently by new authors. I’d love to hear what you’ve seen!
Till next week,
