by Erin Mitchell
While its origin as a Chinese curse is less than clear, that we are surrounded by fascinating—and occasionally overwhelming—events is indisputable. Recent weeks have provided more “interesting” than I can shake a stick at, so I wanted to recap three of them here…
Bouchercon
The panel schedule is out for Bouchercon 2012! There are some doozies on here, for sure, and I’m looking forward to talking about Military Fiction and eBooks on Thursday (at 12:15 and 1:30 respectively). I’m also completely fangirl excited about the BOOKS TO DIE FOR launch on Friday.
If you will be joining the fray in Cleveland, I hope you’ll say hi. It’s nice to know who’s out there, to put a real face with the avatars. Fellow Dead Guys Ben LeRoy, Josh Getzler, Jeff Cohen, and Marilyn Thiele will be there, too…perhaps an informal Dead Guy Gathering is in order!
To prove that unusual marketing can work in the real world, on Friday I’ll be looking for authors who want to tell 3 million people what they’re reading (yes, really). If you want in on the action, twitter will be the best way to find me. Or I’ll find you. Either way.
Last but not least, Sabrina Ogden and I will be committing random acts of cupcaking throughout the weekend, to prove that the world needs more cupcakes and spread a little frosted joy. You're welcome.
Crisis Socks
As discussion continues around sock puppets (I found this article to be a superlative overview/summary), I’ve been thinking about…crisis communications. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I worked on several significant corporate crisis situations, some of which actually were matters of life and death. While this is not, Roger Ellory provided a perfect example of both how not to handle a crisis and also how to handle it.
The first statement he issued, which I understand was a product of and disseminated by his agent’s office, was a disaster. It was wishy-washy and tried to avoid taking responsibility while trying to pretend this was not the case. The Irish vernacular phrase “cute hoor” applies, which is not a compliment.
A few days later, though, Roger posted about his actions on Facebook, where he was honest and straightforward. He took complete responsibility. He apologized. He was not arrogant. Should you ever find yourself in a crisis situation, this is how to deal with it.
Oh, and if you’re posting positive reviews of your books and/or attacking other authors under fake names, cut it out. Delete the posts and the accounts. Just. Stop. Asking your friends and family or bloggers to post reviews is fine. But fake accounts? Yuck. Time to move on.
Politics
Don’t worry, I’m not jumping up on a soapbox. I am, however, wondering why nobody ever asks political candidates what they’re reading. That’s what I really want to know. Not what books influenced them and blahblahblah, but what they’re reading right now. If you happen to see a candidate, ask him or her for me, would ‘ya? Thanks.
