Gone

Recently, during a session of blog and website housecleaning, where I was looking for dead links, a trend emerged. Some of my fellow authors, especially the younger ones, have deleted their blogs. Christina Barber's "The Writer's Crypt" seems to be history. Susan Grant ended her "Come Fly with Me" blog in favor of a news section on her website. A particularly good one, "Faster Than Kudzu"has also moved. Other blogs are on hiatus. No doubt more blogs will go away, because the online audience is moving toward different web addresses. For a time, My Space was popular, but no more. Right now, Facebook is the most important medium for many who want an online presence, but I suspect that it, too, will be supplanted by another form of communication.

Groups, such as the ones on Yahoo and Google, were big news a decade ago. While I am still connected to some of these "list/serve" sites, I've left a number of the groups I where I was once a member, and for most of the others, the "daily digest" is no longer in my inbox. Online forums are also fading away, albeit more slowly. I was once fairly active on the SFReader boards, but if I spend a lot of time doing online promotion and/or writing, I don't do any real writing, and that is a problem. Other authors have mentioned that online promotion, although cheap, is expensive in terms of time.

My goal, at the beginning of"Pam's Pages," was to promote my writing, to connect with people as a "real person" with ideas and opinions beyond what I express in my fiction writing, and to have a place to float concepts before I put a great deal of time into writing more formally about them. In 2005, when I began this blog, publicity experts were touting frequent updates, perhaps daily, to keep a blog at the top of search results on Google. While I didn't think daily would ever be realistic, I thought could manage once a week, and I have averaged that. But once a week, or even once a day, can't compete with Twitter.

Lately, due to time constraints and social constraints, "Pam's Pages" has leaned more toward book reviews, which is fairly easy for me, since would be unusual for my reading to amount to less than a book a week.

How ironic; thus, this blog an out-of-date means of communicating about an out-of-date hobby, reading.

Parallels

Parallel is a neat word, with multiple meanings in mathematics, gymnastics, and in literature. The very idea that ideas can be alike, yet different, is intriguing. I’ve often enjoyed works with parallels, such as the fable, Animal Farm, which is the tale of animals rebelling in England, but closely parallels happenings in Russia, beginning with the Bolshevik revolution and ending with events which happened during World War II.

I just finished, and I say that with a bit of pride because it was difficult, Parallel Attraction by Deidre Knight. Having heard Ms. Knight speak at a writer’s conference, in her role as literary agent rather than as a writer, I wanted to like this debut novel. As I struggled to make it through the chaos of the time travel plot, I checked out the reviews on Amazon. Some of them were glowing, especially those by her clients and fellow authors. But others, by readers, gave it one or two stars, and I tend to agree with some of their comments. The opening of the novel works well enough, and Knight’s prose is quite good overall, although she sometimes does some odd phrasing, such as, “...as he barked something at a group of engineers out in the breezeway who had been working on one of his fighter planes when they’d stridden in.” More troubling was the plot/peril sequence, which was a confusing time travel sequence. The hero wasn’t particularly heroic, nor was the villain particularly villainous, which is a greater flaw. Also, there was very little romance in this romance novel, because the main characters became “mated” with almost no build up, and the characterization seemed to be more driven by introducing minor characters to become main characters in subsequent novels in the series.

Recently, the proprietor of a used book store told me that one can judge a book by its price used. As I write this, Parallel Attraction can be purchased via Amazon for one penny, plus shipping, from fifteen vendors, and for under a dollar from seven more. Perhaps that says more than all of those glowing reviews from Deidre’s colleagues.

I will no doubt revisit Animal Farm, with its entertaining parallels with both history and human behavior, and I hope that Deidre Knight does succeed in writing a great romance, since she seems to be such a nice person.

Google Alerts, a great tool for authors

I discovered a hidden gem via one of my author groups, Google Alerts. Within minutes, authors can be signed up for email alerts that can give them a new way to keep track of what people are saying about their titles, including new reviews, and keep up with publishing news.

Here is how it works—

Google Alerts sends you an email each time a new page for your chosen term makes it in the top twenty results on Google’s web search. You can also have the alert check Google News and/or Google Groups for terms you choose.

To sign up for a Google Alert, all that you need to do is visit the Google Alerts homepage, enter the search term, type of alert (search Google News, Google Groups, or the web), frequency of emails (daily, as it happens, or weekly), and your email address.

You can set up alerts for as many terms as you like using a Google Account. I have mine set to let me know when searchers look for my author name, my married name, and my book titles. I’ve learned of new reviews via Google Alert, and at the beginning of each quarter, my married name (the one I use at my school) usually gets several hits. There is no information on the web for my students, but they always try to find out about the English instructor, and Google lets me know about it.

Why should authors use alerts?

By receiving alerts on publishers and/or other authors who write in the same genre, you can learn who has a new contract, which might steer you toward a new publisher. Negative news can be just as important, when you might want to seek a different publisher or agent.

By having Google Alerts on both of my names and my novels, I can be on top of anything negative relating to either of them. Also, it is fun when an alert lets you know of someone praising your work or your publisher. Those are the types of things that you want to make sure are on the PR page of your website. Get a free account, and let the info come to you!

Reflections

As one year closes out and another begins, reflection comes naturally. I’ve met some interesting folks and done some new things, so I am glad for all that in ’06. Regarding publishing, visits with readers and science fiction fans have been fun. Meeting new authors is especially fun, and the number of other writers I’ve met has at least doubled.

Regarding the internet, I have learned that web page design isn’t always fun, and that trying to promote via the web is more of a challenge than books and articles on the subject would have one believe. However, I did set up a Yahoo group, learn a bit about YouTube, and quite a bit about podcasting. My daughter has really enjoyed listening to some of the Indie stuff on the “podsafe” audio sites. I’m still working on the “book trailer” so with any luck, I’ll be posting a link to that soon.

My goals in writing seem to be changing, primarily due to marketing woes, and I am uncertain about the ultimate fate of the novel length fiction which is lurking in my “current manuscripts” folder. I could be sending out queries, but I’ve had trouble getting motivated to do so. While Trinity on Tylos is quite a good book, garnering a “Recommended Read” from FAR and really favorable reviews at several other sites, it hasn’t sold well enough to make a getting another contract feasible.

Oh, I’ll still write, but I’m uncertain about seeking publication for my fiction. I may work on other genres, including some non-fiction, which might be easier to market, either online or via more traditional means.

There will be many predictions by modern sages for ’07, but I think it is a safe bet for me to experience a continued joy in the written word, whether on the printed page or generated via pixels on a screen. I’m certain to enjoy reading other writer’s efforts, and perhaps I’ll be reading some of my own as well.

Author blogs

I began Pam’s Pages last May, in part as an experiment in marketing. Having up to date web content is a bit challenging, but the great blogging sites available make updating web content about as simple as writing a diary entry was in my youth. Of course, we couldn’t upload pictures, and we were rather selective about who saw the contents of our diaries. The public aspect of blogging is still ackward for me, because I tend to be the same online as I am in person— straightforward and sometimes brutally honest. However, I hope that readers who have discovered Pam’s Pages have found it both entertaining and informative.

During April, my goal was promote my website and my writing, including online publicity efforts. I’ve submitted my web addy to several more directories and sites; I’ve offered review copies of Trinity to some additional review sites; and I have approached the event directors of a couple of science fiction conventions, seeking guest status. I’m still working on those, so I’ll wait to write a post about that. Hopefully some of these activities will help garner some sales and build interest in my writing, but I’ve already discovered an unexpected benefit: new writers’ sites and their blogs.

After signing on as a book reviewer for Round Table Reviews— a site I discovered while looking for promotional opportunities— I got my first assignment: Rhiana by Michele Hauf. Her web addy is michelehauf.com, and her work is quite interesting. Fans of fantasy or paranormal romance should check out her Changling series. I’d read a couple of books by John Ringo, a prolific Baen books science fiction writer, for a few years, but now I’ve seen his website, featuring some unpublished essays and many links. BTW, Ringo is a fellow resident of Jackson County, GA.(Okay, he was before his divorce. That happens, I guess.)

Susan Grant is another author with a great web presence. I’ve been reading her work since her debut novel, Once a Pirate, a time-travel romance, was published by Love Spell. Grant writes stories which are more romance than science fiction, but often her characters have something to do with aviation, because Grant’s day job is being an airline pilot. My personal favorite of her work is another stand alone, Contact, and she has written a couple of series along with a few short stories. See her webpage at susangrant.com. One of her blogs, Come Fly With Me, is highly entertaining, and you don’t have to be a fan of sci-fi or romance to enjoy it.

As I work on other projects, I may not meet my once a week goal for posting entries on Pam’s Pages, but I’m sure to share a bit of what’s on my mind from time to time. This is my Anniversary Post, and I hope you enjoy visiting enough to return to see what happens with me and my writing for another year.

Why attend a writer’s conference?

A few weeks ago, I got registration information for the 12th annual Harriette Austin Writer’s Conference, which is held at the University of Georgia, about eighteen miles south of my home in Jefferson. My first visit was in 2000. I went with a friend, who basically went for moral support. Although I’d heard a number of authors do readings and workshops at conferences for English teachers, I was intrigued by the people who showed up, as well as the wide variety of information available. There is a link to this conference on my website, and I am adding one to this blog as well, just in case a writer or a wannabe writer reads this entry.

At HAWC, I met a number of authors who, like me, were struggling to get the attention of an agent or a publisher. Some were jovial, realizing that their chances were small, but determined to have fun with the process. Others were almost desperate. At dinner one evening, I met a woman, in her mid-fifties, who had wiped out her retirement account so she could spend three years devoted entirely to getting her mystery novels into print. Her game plan was to then use the royalties to pay back her retirement. And if she didn’t succeed, then she would have few more years to work and hopefully restore at least a portion of her retirement. I was amazed at her devotion to her avocation and yet troubled by her sacrifice.

Often, there are far more folks over fifty than under at such events. This seemed strange at first, but often people don’t have time to write when they are rearing children and working hard to make a living. The empty nest years and the retirement years afford the opportunity to write, so writer’s conferences will have naturally have more older participants. However, most of the ones I spoke with were filled with energy and hope, just like their younger counterparts.

Apart from meeting a variety of people, topics at writer’s conferences vary somewhat, but there is usually a choice among small sessions, and large group sessions often revolve around a successful author. I’ve found inspiration in the speeches made by those authors, but occasionally, there is a bit of wisdom which will remain long after the emotional afterglow is spent. One well respected regional writer at HAWC advised writers to listen more to the opinions of readers than to those of editors or agents. I took that to heart, and while polishing Trinity on Tylos, I gave the manuscript to three trusted “first readers” rather than seeking a professional editor. Often, editors and agents are too focused on what they feel will sell, rather than on simply judging writing on its own merits. Readers are more objective, and really, they are the target audience. How many books are purchased by editors and agents, anyway?

In choosing small group sessions, I have often visited those held by agents or small publishers, hoping to find someone who might be receptive to my writing. At first, these sessions were informative, but after each speaker covered the basics of “what I am looking for” all of their advice began to blend into what soon becomes common knowledge. If you don’t know how to approach an agent or publisher, then these sessions are quite helpful, of course, but they tend to focus on the needs of the novice.

Overall, there is probably more to learn at sessions which focus on improving writing, and often those topics are quite varied. Since HAWC is co sponsored by an association of mystery writers, there are usually some presentations by forensics professionals. I don’t write in that genre, but I have attended a couple of those presentations, and they are quite interesting.

Almost all of the “how to write” sessions are led by writers who want to plug their own work, but even so, it’s possible to take away some new ideas. One of my favorite topics was “great first lines” and the author who presented it gave some wonderful examples from modern fiction, as well as acknowledging such lines from the classics.

During the last such conference I attended, a publicist gave a talk on book promotion, which I found both useful and quite interesting. Of course, she was touting her media relations firm, and if I had a few extra thousand dollars, I’d be interested. But she did have some practical advise, and some of it conflicted with what I’d been told by my previous publisher, Gardenia Press. In fact, I wish I’d heard her talk before I got my first contract. Basically, she said that it is a waste of time to promote a book which hasn’t yet been printed, and yet many publishers push authors to promote months ahead. Apart from seeking reviews, there isn’t much to do prior to the publication date.

So, why visit a writer’s conference? To meet other writers in various stages of their careers, to be inspired by the success stories of writers, and to garner information from real people who actually work in the publishing business. Writing is a lonely task, and attending a conference is a chance to make contacts with people who just might help you later in your career. If you have income from writing, it is tax deductible, too.