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Five Elements of Emotion for Beginning Fiction Writers

The most common mistake beginning fiction writers make is focusing on what happens, or external plot, while neglecting emotion. It isn’t the writers’ fault. They’ve been taught to do this. In school, facts are often preferred over subjective feelings, reactions, and interpretations. In modern fiction, emotion is critical to good storytelling.

I often forget the titles of favorite books I’ve read, but I never forget the characters. By the end of a good novel, I’ve grown close to them and experienced their joys, fears, and passions. In character-focused fiction, emotions drive the story as much, if not more, than the plot. The emotions must be as carefully crafted as any other element of the story. Let’s take a look at a scene from Night Sins by Tami Hoag:

Hannah shook her head. Her hand trembled violently as she set her mug back on the tray, sloshing coffee over the rim. Ignoring the mess, she folded herself in two, hugging her knees, dry sobs racking her body. Someone had stolen her son. In the blink of an eye Josh was gone from their lives, taken by a faceless stranger to a nameless place for a purpose no mother ever wanted to consider. She wondered if he was cold, if he was frightened, if he was thinking of her and wondering why she hadn’t come for him. She wondered if he was alive.

Although Hannah’s emotions are never explicitly identified in this passage, it is hard not to experience the agony, guilt, and fear of a mother whose child has been abducted. One of the first rules of writing good fiction is ‘show, don’t tell.’ ‘Telling’ the emotions present in a scene, would only distance the reader from the very emotions the author intended her to experience. So, by what means do we show emotion?

The Five Elements of Emotion in Fiction

Actions

The character’s actions are an outward indicator of inner feelings. When confronted with a fire-breathing monster the character turns and runs. He is feeling fear.

Dialogue

Dialogue is another outward indicator of emotion. At times it’s appropriate for a character to label their own emotions, but this can be as flat as labeling emotions in narration. More often the dialogue will indicate emotion in some indirect way. Later the fleeing character’s partner asks, “How could you just leave me there to face that monster alone? Did you want me to die?” We understand the character is feeling betrayed.

Body Language

You’ve heard that body language is 90 percent of communication. I don’t know how accurate that is, but the idea is an important one. Body language is super easy to add into dialogue tags to boost or contradict the words your characters speak. A character can claim to be happy, but you know there is more to the story if they are gripping the steering wheel so tightly their knuckles turn white.

Physical Reactions

Physical sensations, that tight feeling in the characters chest, the frantic heartbeat, and other telltale signs of some reaction can convey emotion convincingly. Keep in mind; however, a single reaction could be interpreted differently under different circumstances. A rapid heartbeat could be caused by excitement, fear, arousal, or simply exertion. It can be tricky to find new ways to word these generic reactions, but it is important to avoid overusing common phrases, such as “her heart leapt into her throat.”

Thoughts

A character might reveal emotions in their thoughts, but again avoid labeling. The character doesn’t think, “I’m angry.” She thinks, “I wanted to slap the smirk off his face.”

The passage from Night Sins incorporated actions, physical reactions, and thoughts to build a gripping, emotional scene. When a character’s emotions are straightforward all of these indicators can be used in combination to make those emotions crystal clear. When the character is feeling one emotion and trying to outwardly portray some other emotion, you’ll need to use contradicting indicators. This is bound to happen at some point in the story. The dragon slayer puts on a brave front, but inwardly he’s terrified. Typically, body language, physical reaction, and thoughts reflect the true underlying emotion while actions and dialogue convey what the character wants other characters to believe.

Complex Emotions

All of the techniques discussed so far, focus on the emotions of the moment. It is important not to forget the big picture. In a great novel, the characters are complex and their emotions change over time. Fiction is all about conflict, both external and internal. Emotional conflicts often come from conflicting motivations, desires, and goals. The character wants two things that conflict: to exact revenge on Mr. X—to keep the love and respect of Mr. X’s daughter. The character might love the daughter and at the same time resent her for standing in the way of his goal of revenge. The key to pulling off complex emotions is in laying the groundwork. Characters must be consistent to be believable. If you merely show moment-to-moment emotional reactions that conflict, the reader will be confused. Carefully build the reader’s understanding of each emotion and motivation before you mix conflicting emotions into a complex scene.

Conflict and emotions drive your novel forward and keep your reader involved. The time you spend motivating them and helping the reader understand your characters is crucial to successfully crafting a complex, rich story your reader will remember long after The End.

Five Things Star Trek Taught Me About Being A Writer

When I was a teenager watching all night Star Trek marathons, I didn’t realize what valuable lessons I was learning or that one day I would be able to apply them to my writing career. Here are a few of my favorites.

Be Bold
It is right in the show’s tag line: to boldly go… I’ve heard it many times from editors and NYT bestsellers. Your voice is what will make your career. If you write sexy, make it very sexy. If you write funny, make it very funny. I you write tear-jerkers… You get the idea. Find your voice and use it boldly. Don’t let it get watered down to meet the expectations of others. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn the craft of writing, it just means to protect your voice in the process.

You May Need Help To Make It So
In Star Trek – The Next Generation, Captain Picard often said “make it so” to his right hand man, Riker. Picard was the captain, but he knew he couldn’t operate the ship alone. In your writing career you must be the captain but you will need the help of trusted experts along the way. Editors, artists, publicity people. Whether you publish in the traditional way or travel the self-publishing route, you’ll need them. Seek them out, ask questions, and keep your ship on course.

It Takes A Crew
Star Trek has always been an ensemble cast show. When you think of space, you might think it is a vast, lonely and dangerous place. It doesn’t seem that way on the show, with a whole crew of colleagues and friends around. Writing can seem like a lonely, soul rending business. Don’t let it be. Connect with other writers and your readers. Form close bonds and have fun. The setbacks are easier to recover from when you have a crew of friends and fans on your side.

Don’t Be Afraid To Be Different
Ever notice that Spock was one of the most loved characters on the original Star Trek series? How about Worf on The Next Generation or Odo on Deep Space Nine? Each of these characters stood out as different from the rest of the crew. That made them memorable. Make your characters memorable. Make your career memorable. Be different!

Learn To Reinvent Yourself
How many movies and television shows have spun off from the original Star Trek series? Too many to count. Each a little different and not all equally successful. Even if you take the things I’ve learned—be bold, be different—and apply them, things might not always work out as you hoped or your success might not last as long as you’d like. That doesn’t mean you should give up on being bold. The most recent movie installments in the Star Trek franchise were a reboot. It took the original story line and revamped it for a new audience to great success. Don’t let any setback end your career. Just reboot!

First published on the Savvy Author Learning Center blog.

The Secret to Writing Distinct Dialogue

If you’ve ever been told all of your characters sound the same, then you understand how frustrating it can be to try to fix this problem. When I first began to work on dialogue, I tried all of the common techniques: choose vocabulary based on education and background, use appropriate slang or dialect (sparingly!), make your men more direct and let your women ask more questions. All of these things are valid, but in the end all of my dialogue felt false and forced.

So… I went to the master of dialogue—Joss Whedon. I didn’t actually go to him personally of course, but to his body of work. I watched scenes and compared the characters in a scene, but that wasn’t helping. Finally, instead of comparing dialog using that same vocabulary-jargon-gender way of thinking; I started looking at how characters responded with dialogue to a particular stimulus. Eureka!

I found one major event and looked at the dialog of characters responding to learning about that event. Each character responded very differently. They saw and responded to the event through their own filter of views, background, and personality.

The idea of writing through the filter of the character will be familiar to authors who already write using the close-third point of view. It’s a common concept for coloring internal dialogue, but it’s equally important to writing spoken dialogue. The key is knowing your characters and developing them fully. Often, working to develop characterization has the direct result of improving dialogue. However, you might also consider adding a ‘dialogue’ pass to your editing routine to review and sharpen dialogue. The place where weak dialogue is most glaringly obvious is in extended conversations, so they merit extra attention.

Here are a few tips for ensuring that your characters come through in their dialogue. After you’ve written a conversation, stop and think about how you can use these tips to strengthen your dialogue.

Emotion – How does a conversation trigger your characters’ emotions? How can you reveal that emotion? Take this one step further and consider personality. One character might always turn to a joke when stressed while another responds with anger.

Background – Is there something in a character’s background that might influence the way they respond in a particular situation? For example, a Viking warrior who has converted to Christianity still turns to the Norse gods when he needs a comparison. He praises a young boy, saying he is as clever as Loki and as constant as Thor.

Goals and Motivations – What are the characters’ fears, insecurities, hopes, and dreams? Can these be reflected in the dialogue? Be careful here. Try to make the reveal indirect, using subtext whenever possible. A teen character who feels he’s trapped in a home that punishes his vibrant personality might replace the word home with jail house when speaking to a friend: I’m headed back to the jail house. The subtext is communicated to the reader without resorting to direct complaints or telling and the personality of the character comes through in the dialogue.

Surprise – Always consider what would be most interesting or surprising. Always strive for memorable dialogue. It will naturally be more distinctive.

I used some of these techniques in the scene below to differentiate Callie and Laney. The first version of this conversation conveyed the necessary information, but it was boring and flat. To elevate the dialog, I considered both the characters’ goals and personalities then looked for something surprising to make the conversation memorable. These two women have similar background, vocabulary, and even a similar sense of humor, but this short phone conversation makes it clear that Laney is restless and rebellious; she is not fond of domestic bliss. At this point in the story the reader already knows that domestic bliss is Callie’s greatest wish.

Already in the kitchen, Callie decided to start the coffee. She pressed the machine’s start button with one hand and pressed Dara’s speed dial number on her phone with the other, but it was Laney who answered.

“You’ve reached the poster home for domesticity,” she said in monotone. “State your business before I die of boredom.”

Callie shook her head at Laney’s antics and teased, “If you die, can I have your wardrobe?”

“Sure. Just promise you’ll leave me something fun to be buried in.”

“Geez, Laney. That is way too morbid.”

“You started it, Copper-Top.”

Callie laughed, picturing Laney as she last saw her. “At least my hair color is natural. Are you still sporting Easter-grass green?”

“Naw. Cougar said green hair wasn’t ladylike enough.”

“I don’t think I want to know what you changed it to.”

Laney and Cougar, her boss, always seemed to be in the middle of their own private war. “Where’s Dara?”

“Dara and Johnny are in the living room watching cartoons in their PJs. It’s so quiet around here I think I might slip into a comatose state at any minute.”

Dialogue is a vital part of your story and one upon which readers often heap high expectations. Some readers skim description, others skim narrative. Few readers skim dialogue and that makes it worth spending extra time and energy on ensuring your characters come through between the quote marks.

If you have more tips and tricks for better dialogue, please share them in the comments. Learning is a never ending process!

Article first appeared at www.savvyauthors.com

Three Quick and Easy Tips for Punching Up Your Fiction

Remember that old saying, the devil is in the details? I like to twist it a bit and say, when it comes to writing, the strength is in the details. Here are three quick writing techniques that focus on the fine points of writing to give your work more impact.

1) Focus description on significant details!
Not all details are created equal and not everything in your story needs to be described. Focus your powers of description on things that are important to your story—the significant details. What makes a detail significant?

Any detail that is integral to the plot must be shared. If a letter opener on the hero’s desk is going to be a weapon later in the story, then you’d better show it to us in that earlier scene where he’s sitting in his office. However, we probably don’t need a detailed description of the bookcase, the chair, the… you get the point.

Another type of significant detail is one that shows the reader something about the character or his situation. If the suit Mr. Zucker wears to church has a discreet patch at one elbow, we know his family is probably struggling financially. Sometimes these types of details are more subtle or symbolic. If the scene that introduces Mary Jane shows her standing barefoot amidst the broken glass spread across the kitchen floor, it becomes significant that she is barefoot and subconsciously we will pick up on the fact that this character is vulnerable.

2) Eradicate filter words!
Filter words put distance between the reader and the character. Words like saw and felt remind the reader that they are reading a story rather than experiencing it. For example:

Basic: He felt the wind on his cheeks.

Stronger: The wind stung his cheeks.

The stronger sentence provides more sensual detail and lets the reader feel what the character is feeling. And that leads to my next tip…

3) Use stronger verbs!
There are hundreds of thousands of words in the English language but most of us use only in the low tens of thousands on a regular basis. Look at only verbs and the number we use regularly drops dramatically. Common verbs like look, walk, stand, sit are overused in our fiction. They also do little to illustrate or color the action. Does this mean you should pull up a thesaurus and replace them all with synonyms? No. Don’t replace them with any synonym—replace them with a better verb.

Basic: He stood up.

Stronger: He jolted out of his seat.

The second version of the line above is stronger because it shows us that the “he” is either in a hurry, startled, or anxious. “Jolted” provides more information.

If there isn’t a better choice, stick with the more common word. It’s better for the verb to add nothing than to distract the reader or detract from the other strong writing around it. “He jolted out of his seat” would make little sense if he then limped to the fridge for another beer.

Putting these three quick techniques to work is sure to punch up your prose, because the strength of your writing is in the details!

This article first appeared in Coastal Connections, a publication of First Coast Romance Writers. It was reprinted in Connections a publication of Connecticut Romance Writers and Monarch e-News a publication of Monterey Bay Romance Writers. I happy to now be able to share it with you here.

Demystify Sequels: Why you can’t afford to ignore them.

I’ll let you in on a secret. I agonized over whether or not to use the word ‘sequel’ in the title of this post. Why? Because I know writers who cringe at the mention of the word. I know other authors who flatly deny using sequels in their fiction. Odds are they do use them and just don’t recognize it.

Why is sequel a must?

I’m not talking here about the kind of sequel that continues a story in a subsequent book or movie. Rather, I mean the sequel that is an integral part of your story’s structure. Sequel gets the reader from one scene to the next. It is that part of the story that is not conveyed in the action of the plot. It is the character’s reaction to that action. It is, in short, the emotional connective tissue of any novel. Without it characters rush headlong through a story without the reader understanding why they are doing so. A sequel may be a few words or a few pages, but if your goal as a writer is to deliver an emotional punch, sequel is indispensible.

Why study sequel?

It took several workshops and a few great craft of writing books before the idea of sequels clicked for me. When that happened, I realized immediately that I’d already been writing them. Most writers include them instinctively. That being the case, why bother to study them? Once you better understand sequels you can use that understanding to strengthen them in your work, mold them to suit your storytelling style, ensure they are working at peak effectiveness to deliver the emotional experience readers crave.

The structure of the sequel.

Although the characters in your story need not act perfectly logical at all times, the structure of your story needs to function in a rational manner. Action leads to reaction, cause to effect, and one action must connect to and grow rationally from the last to propel the story forward. Sequels provides the bridges between the action of your scenes. They gives the character time to react. Sequels can vary greatly, but should generally follow the logical pattern we know from real life. When something happens, something significant, your first reaction will probably be an emotional one. How do we deal with that emotion (and more importantly for storytelling, how does the character deal with it in a way that gets us to the next scene)? We think it thorough, come to some decision and then take action. Depending on the circumstances, this process may happen very quickly or take a great deal of time.

For example, a character sees her child fall into a river. She immediately feels fear (emotion), but quickly pushes past her fear to assess that her child cannot swim and will drown if the child is not immediately rescued (thought). In under a minute she has realized she will jump into the river (decision) and has taken that desperate leap (action). She went through the entire pattern of emotion, thought, decision, and action in a few seconds. Because the moment is so urgent, you as author might choose to deal with the entire process with a single sentence. If you also want to get the most emotional punch, revisit the character’s reaction to almost losing her child at greater length in a more expansive sequel.

No navel gazing required.

One reason I often hear for why authors don’t like sequel is that they think sequel must always be paragraphs of internalization dumped in and allowed to stick out like a sore thumb. That is not necessarily true. Internalization, well written and well placed, can be used very effectively, but it is not the only option for sequel. The clever sequel can masquerade as a scene. A sequel can take the form of a conversation with another character or it can be dealt with while the character is doing something active.

The first step in sequel is emotion. Emotion can be deftly conveyed through body language as a character is set in motion. Perhaps not the purposeful motion of a true scene, but deceptively close. Using the example of the woman who leapt into the river to save her child, later that night the woman processes her fear. Rather than sit on the couch and think, she climbs up to the attic and digs out a box of keepsakes from when the child was a toddler. The way she moves and handles the items in the box conveys emotion. This looks like action but the only thing truly happening is the character processing emotion. As she unpacks the items in the box, she will think about what has happened, what it means to her and what she wants to do about it.

Patterns of scene and sequel.

Continuing with our mother and child example, the time between the river incident and her evening at home might be described in summary (a tool eschewed in scene but useful in sequel) or it might be shown as a series of moment by moment scenes (if they further develop a story conflict) before finally getting to the sequel. There is no one correct pattern of scenes and sequels. No definitive length requirements. That pattern is uniquely your own and becomes a part of your story telling style and voice. It is up to you to determine how to use sequels to meet the goals of your story and fulfill the expectations of the genre you are writing.

Put a sequel check at the top of your editing checklist.

I mentioned earlier that most writers include sequels instinctively. We are readers first and as a reader you have probably long loved the emotion of sequels without using that label. It is natural to include them in our own work. However, adding a sequel check to your editing process can ensure that no opportunity to deliver emotional impact in your story has been missed. Checking that your sequels include emotion, thought, and decision, leading to action, will give you an opportunity to fine tune and strengthen your storytelling.

I’ll close with another secret (or more likely an obvious fact). This is the first post I’ve done on sequel—my first attempt at sharing my thoughts on this powerful part of novel structure. I hope it was helpful, but if I’ve left you dazed and confused, please blame it on me and don’t give up on sequel.

Three Powerful Tools to Build Momentum in Your Story

Pacing is probably one of the most misunderstood elements of fiction. We often assume that if we need to fix it, we should probably be trying to speed it up. That isn’t always true. That way of thinking is often followed by a list of superficial fixes: use less narrative and more dialog, use shorter sentences, shorter chapters, put more white space on the page. These aren’t necessarily bad things to do, but they might not be the right thing for your story.

Another approach to pacing is to focus on building momentum. Momentum is a measure of force, a force than can drive your story forward toward a powerful emotional climax. How do you generate momentum? First you need to understand that it is generated by two factors: velocity (the rate of speed in a given direction) and mass (the weight of your story). Let’s take a look at each element and the relationship between them. That will lead us to some practical, but substantive, fixes.

The Movers (Velocity)

The key to putting velocity to work is in the definition: speed in a given direction. Not just any speed will do. That’s where those quick fixes we talked about before can go wrong. All the snappy dialog in the world won’t help your story if it doesn’t drive your story to its conclusion. Short, choppy sentences will only work if they are used at the right moment.

The Shakers (Mass)

I must confess, I’ve recently become infatuated with mass. Not because I’m a science geek, but because I discovered mass is the hidden thread running through the books that make my keeper shelf. Some are movers (they have velocity) but others are not so zippy. What makes those less zippy books work? Mass. I call them shakers because they will shake you up, rock your world, touch your heart. They have weight. If your story has mass, or weight, you can get by with a little less velocity. If your story has less mass, it had better not only move, but fly. Finding the sweet spot between velocity and mass is your ticket to your reader’s must-buy list.

The How-To

So, how do we use velocity and mass to create momentum in fiction? This is where we get to the substantive fixes part. Substantive, because the very first thing you need is a compelling and emotional premise. Not talking about the plot here (a tough New York cop thwarts the terrorists holding hostages in a high rise building in LA) but the driving emotion (an estranged couple rediscovers the strength of their love when the building they are in is taken over by terrorists). Those both describe the movie Die Hard, but which is more emotionally compelling? Once you figure out the emotional premise of your story, you can use that to add mass to every scene in your story.

Now let’s take a look at a few more tools you can use to add momentum.

Dialog

It is true that dialog reads faster than narrative, but to build momentum it must also drive the story toward the ultimate climax. Give each dialog exchange this quick three step test. 1) Is it necessary? 2) Does it show your characters in conflict? 3) Is it loaded with emotion? Here is brief conversation from Ladybugs and Fireflies by Cheryl Alldredge that has all three.

Taylor lifted a hand to Callie’s face and traced her lips with the edge of his thumb. “I liked waking up to your smile…I’d like you to move back in.”

Her eyes widened and her smile turned sad, but she said nothing. The music stopped and she pulled away, moving beyond the edge of the dance floor. Taylor followed, stopping her before she disappeared into the crowd. All right, damn it! If she needed it to be a question, he’d ask. He turned her to face him. “Callie, will you move in with me?”

“I…” Her lip began to quiver.

“Baby, tell me what’s wrong.”

She laughed, but the sound was brittle. “Ask me again tomorrow.”

The emotion in this scene is amplified by a secret. The characters clearly want to be together, but something is standing in their way. Why would Callie tell Taylor to ask again tomorrow? She has a secret that she has been holding back. One that will be revealed the next day. The reader knows that and this conversation serves to build the reader’s anticipation of what will happen when the secret is exposed. The secret is tied directly to the emotional premise of the book, driving the story toward the emotional climax of the story.

Voice

No groaning allowed! Yes, we all know voice is important, but let us think about why. Have you ever stood in a crowd and heard an Irishman speaking three conversations over? If you had, you might have forgotten to listen to the people next to you because you were tuned into that very different voice. Naturally, the Irishman’s voice wouldn’t have the same effect if you were Irish and standing in a crowd of Irishmen!

So, a strong voice is one that stands out and helps you identify a story or character as a particular one—not just another voice in the crowd. If the voice belongs to a first person narrator this effect is even stronger. Now the reader has someone interesting telling them a story. It becomes more personal and the story begins to have weight. It becomes a particular story told by a particular person, directly to the reader, and as the reader becomes focused on the character they want to know more about them. The author can actually slow down and tell the reader things that would otherwise be deemed to slow the story down.

Consider this excerpt from the opening to Lee Roland’s Viper Moon:

Mama wanted me to be a veterinarian. She’d probably have settled for a nurse, teacher, or grocery store clerk. She never came right out and said, “Cassandra, you disappointed me,” or, “Cassandra, you have so much potential,” but I knew I’d let her down.

The idea of me running down a slimy storm sewer in the desolate, abandoned ruins of the Barrows section of Duivel, Missouri, probably never crossed her mind. The drugged, unconscious five-year-old boy strapped to my back and the angry monster with fangs and claws snapping at my heels were just part of my job. Maybe Mama was right—I’d made the wrong career choice.

Now, this book is actually told with a lot of velocity. This excerpt leads into an action scene, but the author can take time here to introduce the character’s voice because that voice is unique and compelling. She also does something else very important: she establishes stakes, both external and internal.

Stakes

Establishing stakes instantly adds weight to your story. It gives your story purpose and direction and it should relate to the emotional premise. In the excerpt above, the survival of a child is at stake. That is an immediate and powerful external stake and, to build momentum, those external stakes will have to build throughout the story (and in Viper Moon they certainly do). We also see the internal stakes for the character. Has she made the wrong career choice? We find Cassandra at a point in her life when she is questioning lots of things about her choices and we want to know how she will come to terms with her life. We are pulled along for the journey.

Summing Up

As genre writers we want to write page turners, books that keep readers up all night. More than that, we want to tell a story that will stick in the mind of readers long after they slide it onto the keeper shelf. In short, we want to write a book that is both a mover and a shaker. Building momentum is an essential part of crafting that unforgettable story.

10 Book Launch Strategies for Traditionally Published Debut Authors

Not long ago, a friend with a shiny new traditional book contract (Congrats Pris!) asked for advice on launching her debut. She new Indies like me have had to learn a lot on the subject and have a good finger on what is working. So, could I come up with marketing tips, despite the fact that we’re on different publishing tracks? You bet! I wasn’t always an Indie. I took some of what I’d learned about traditional publishing and gave it an Indie twist. If you’re a traditional debut author or even a newbie indie, I know you’ll be able to come with your own ideas based on these ten strategies!

Back when you landed your book deal, the release date seemed far, far away. Now, that tiny blip on the horizon is looming large. You spent hundreds of hours writing your book. What now? Like a parent, you aren’t done when the baby is born. Your baby has become a product that deserves whatever boost you can give it in the crowded marketplace. And that starts within the publishing house. Even after your book has been contracted, it must compete for the time and attention of the professionals entrusted with its success. You must be part of the process and you must start early. Your book wasn’t written in a day and it won’t succeed or fail in a day.

Here are ten strategies you can use to prepare for and execute a successful book launch.

1) Build a relationship with your publisher-assigned-publicist.

Publishing houses each have their own structure and methods. Even within the house and its methods, they rarely treat all authors in the same way. However, for any mid-size to large publisher, authors can expect to have a publicist assigned to their book launch. It’s important to find out who that person is and establish a working relationship.

Why? As a debut author, you probably won’t be the only author (or book) the publicist is assigned. She will almost certainly have many demands on her time with competing deadlines. We all want to focus our efforts where they’re most likely to pay off in positive results. By making an effort to be involved in the promotion of your book and coordinating your efforts with the publicist, you are telling her that you’re someone who will make the most of any efforts she puts into promoting your book.

You don’t want to call her just to say hi, I am me, please help me. Put a little effort into learning a bit about your market and the most common promotional opportunities. Know how many “author copies” of your book you’ll receive for your own promotional efforts. This information may be in your contract. Ask your editor when those copies are typically provided. Then ask your editor who your publicist is and how best to contact her.

Use whatever method your editor suggests to get the answers to these important questions:

What does the publicist already have planned? You want to supplement her efforts not duplicate them.

Is the publicist able to provide electronic or print copies of your book for giveaways, reviewers, or for speaking engagements that you suggest? She will already be doing some of these things, but you should plan to do more. Don’t assume you are limited to using your author copies. Some publishers are willing to directly supplement your efforts. Of course, be graceful if they say no.

Will the publicist be submitting review copies to reviewers you believe would fit and find favor with your book? Be aware that publicists usually won’t give you their list of reviewers (it’s considered proprietary). Have your list ready and ask her to compare it to hers. Find out if she can add any reviewers to her list or if you need to contact them on your own. Then follow through. If you have any special relationships or connections with reviewers or bloggers that could help get your book reviewed, be sure to share that information with the publicist.

Will the publisher be doing a Goodreads giveaway? I’ll talk more about Goodreads below, but it’s important to know whether your publicist will do a Goodreads giveaway and when. You’ll also want to know how many copies and what format, print or ebooks, will be given away. If your publisher isn’t doing a Goodreads giveaway, YOU should.

Do they have any graphics you can use for Facebook, blogs, other social media promotions, or any advertisements you wish to place? It is easier than ever to make your own social media cards with sites like www.canva.com, but take advantage of professional graphics if they’re available. Ads particularly benefit from professional design. Be prepared with specifics about what you can use and plan to do.

Will she be creating profiles for you online? Where? There are many places that will post an author bio and picture in association with book covers, like Amazon Central and Goodreads. The more places you and your books can be seen the better. In general, the web favors volume and connectivity. The more links back to your website, the more popular that search engines will believe you to be; and that, in combination with other things, increases your search ranking. More specifically, visibility and buzz build upon each other and improve discoverability for books and authors. If your publisher will be doing this, you might want to give them some additional content to use.

Is she planning a blog tour? When? There’s a lot of disagreement on the benefit of doing blog tours. I don’t recommend asking your publicist to add it to her plan if she isn’t in favor of it. Mostly, you want to know if you need to have content ready. You don’t want to get stuck a week before your book release trying to write twenty blog posts.

2) Play to the Amazon algorithms.

Create a launch calendar that begins slowly before your release date and builds to a crescendo about a week after your book has been released—this is perhaps the simplest and most powerful strategy I can recommend. Amazon book rankings are not a simple numerical indicator of what book is selling most. Many factors are taken into consideration, everything from how other books are selling to how long your book has been available on the Amazon store. Rankings are weighted in favor of new releases. That will be to your benefit in the first 30 days after release. Amazon rankings, also favor momentum over a spike in sales. Focusing all your launch efforts on release day can be counterproductive. A one-day spike of sales is likely to yield a lower ranking than the same number of sales distributed across three days.

Why are rankings important if they don’t directly reflect sales? Amazon wants their customers to find books they will buy and enjoy. To achieve that goal, they favor highly ranked books in everything from search results to also bought recommendations. They are also more likely to be recommended via Amazon emails to their customers. The top 100 books in any category are displayed from special bestselling links. Your publisher may also negotiate special “placement” for your book on Amazon and other retailers or in brick-and-mortar stores, but don’t rely on that. Amazon is the largest online retailer. It’s worth focusing your efforts there.

3) Make Goodreads a part of your plan.

Goodreads.com is a social media site for readers. It isn’t the only one, but it is the biggest and it’s now owned by Amazon. You should have an author profile on the Goodreads website. Your publicist may already be planning to create one for you, but if you plan to do any promotion on Goodreads, I’d recommend doing it yourself. You will also need to ‘claim’ your book. This is a pretty simple process and it associates your book with your profile. At minimum, your profile should include a bio, picture, and author website link. Goodreads is feature rich and has information posts and advice for authors on how to take advantage of those features. Be as active or absent as you wish, but be careful not to be too aggressive about promotion. Goodreads members will report authors they perceive as behaving badly. You don’t have to review books and join groups to reap the benefits of a Goodreads membership.

The most valuable tool there for authors is the Goodreads Giveaways. I strongly recommend it! Giveaways are particularly powerful on this platform, because they make your book more visible to other members. When someone enters a contest or adds your book to their virtual shelves, it can appear in their ‘feed’ and be seen by their followers and friends. If your book is on someone’s shelf, that person is likely to get notification of new books by you in the future. Giveaway winners are encouraged, but not required, to review the book they’ve won. Giving away a single copy can get your books seen by hundreds of readers, but I recommend giving away as many as you can reasonably afford.

Here are a few tips for your Goodreads giveaway:

Consider giving away 5 – 10 copies, if you’re paying for the books and postage or 20 if your publisher is supplying the copies.
Plan your giveaway to last 2 – 4 weeks to maximize the benefits of being seen on the giveaway list.
If you have advanced copies available, set the giveaway to end a week or two before your book launches. This will help you get some early reviews. If you don’t have early copies, set the giveaway to end launch week and get the books out to winners as soon as possible.
Limit your giveaways to match the locations where your book is available. If your publisher is only publishing in North America you don’t want to ship books to Europe or Asia.
Promote the giveaway on other social media.

4) Focus your Facebook efforts for the launch.

You’re already on Facebook. That’s great! You know you’re way around. How to find and make friends. What your friends like, love, and share. More importantly, you have a track record with Facebook. They know you are the kind of person that people like and want to receive posts from. All good, but not enough.

You need an effective Page. The transition from a friendly profile to a professional Page feels awkward at first, but it is critical in the long run and comes with lots of valuable tools. One way to help move people to your page is to share Page updates with your profile and add a note to encourage friends to become fans. Facebook is all about social interactivity and momentum. The sooner you can move that to your Page, the better. The key word there is social. Keep your promotional efforts to no more than 25% of posts, on average.

Schedule and post regularly. I recommend scheduling picture posts, memes, and teasers for your book to appear in your Page feed automatically. This will help make sure you don’t lose momentum when you’re busy. Supplement that with more personal posts when you have time. Pay attention to which topics and types of posts are popular and do more of that!

Plan a brainstorming session. Come up with three or four topics or themes for your Facebook posts. Pick things that work with your brand. Focus on those things for most of your routine posts. You want spontaneity and genuine social interaction, but you are also trying to draw in people who will like your books. Don’t forget that your Facebook Page is a professional tool.

Go for it during Launch week. If you’ve built up your Page audience and you’ve been posting regularly with fun, interesting and social content; it’s okay to let promotion take over on Launch day and even through the week. People have liked your page because they are interested in you and your books. They expect you to be excited about your debut. Just be sure to share that excitement in a personal, social way along with your announcements, teasers, and “call to action” posts.

Try paid promotion. Simple ads are a great way to increase followers for your page on Facebook before your book launch. For promoting your book and increasing sales, I prefer boosting posts. Be sure to target your ads for location, demographics, and interests.

My super simple strategy:

Start small.

Use Facebook insights tools to see what works.

Fine tune and try again.

Plan a Facebook Party? Facebook parties are a “hot new trend” that works great when done well and can be a huge waste of time if you don’t have the connections, skills, and time to pull it off. Your friends may encourage you to have a party and offer to help. If you have no experience with Facebook parties and you want to do it as a learning opportunity, and your friends are offering to do the work for you, consider your time and then do it if you have plenty. Honestly though, to be very successful, as a debut author you need to party with authors than can bring YOUR potential readers to the dance. You won’t gain readers by partying only with your writing friends and their writing friends. Sorry, just truth. While every reader you win is important and valuable, there may be a more effective way to win them.

5) Build and use your email list!

This is so important and universal that you have probably already heard it a few dozen times. Your email list is valuable because it is a way to speak directly to YOUR readers. Sending out an email announcement about a book launch should provide your highest rate of conversions to book purchases. The gravy is that you aren’t relying on any retail or social media platform. No one can take your list away from you. So, your biggest question is probably how to build that list BEFORE your book is out.

First, a caution. Remember that the list is valuable because it is targeted to people who like or have a high probability of liking your book. Growing your list with unrelated and out-sized prize giveaways can be counterproductive.

A few strategies for finding and capturing the right people for your list:

Make your email list sign-up easy to find. It should be prominent on the front page of your website. Link it up with your Facebook page. Include it anywhere you can associate it with your author profile. Periodically, post a reminder to sign-up on your social media channels.

Offer a free early look at a chapter of your book for a newsletter sign-up. I recommend posting the first chapter on your website and offering the second chapter free with the newsletter. This helps vet the reader before they’re added to your list. You’ll need to make sure this (giving away a chapter) is acceptable to your publisher.

Participate in a group “newsletter” cross promo with appropriate authors. This is usually done with a group of authors cross-promoting a group sale—each promoting it with their newsletter. But you can try to get a group of debut authors to cross promote with free chapters for newsletter signup or some similar idea.

Manage your expectations. Most debut authors don’t have an extensive list when their first book launches.

6) Optimize your website and messaging.

As soon as your book is available online, hopefully as a preorder, make sure your website includes links for each of the major online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks. If you have a sample chapter, include links at the end of the excerpt. If someone is visiting your site, make it easy for them to buy at whatever retailer they prefer.

Make sure that any communications you provide to potential readers includes contact information and links. That doesn’t mean you need a “buy my book” link in every Facebook post. It does mean your Facebook Page should include contact information and a link to your website. Do include a link in any promoted or “boosted” Facebook post. Sometimes, it makes more sence to include a single link to your website. Other times, it makes more sense to link directly to a retailer. If you are in promotion mode, include a call to action. Make it clear to your audience what you want them to do: buy the book on Amazon, visit your website to read the first chapter, join your mailing list for updates on book releases. Of course, you will want to phrase the call to action as an offer or as if you are providing information rather than demanding action. As long as you do that, you’re unlikely to annoy your audience.

7) Get listed everywhere you can, including BookBub.

I mentioned earlier that visibility, volume, and linking were all part of building online discoverability for your book. A simple, no cost way to do this is to create an author profile with links to your website on any reader targeted site that is appropriate for your genre.

One important site that allows authors to post a profile is www.bookbub.com. You don’t have to place an advertisement to be listed.

For sites like Goodreads, you can go ahead and get signed up as a member then associate your book when it is published.

Similar to Goodreads:

BookLikes.com

www.bookdaily.com

www.librarything.com

Romance Specific Sites:

rwww.authorsden.com

allaboutromance.com

romancejunkies.com

Google your genre and the phrase “book reviews” to find more!

8) Be smart about how you tap into the blogosphere.

There is an avalanche of book blogs on the internet. It’s tempting terrain to traverse, but proceed with caution. Arm yourself with knowledge and strategy or you could get buried in the pile.

If you aren’t already blogging, don’t start now. It is a lot of work to start a blog and rarely shows immediate results. However, you can use the blog feature of your website, if it has one, to post short updates. Label it News instead of Blog. Post a line or two about your next promotion, where you’ll be, and so forth.

Go big with guest posting. On the other side of the equation, if you have a desire to blog during launch week, target the most popular sites in your genre for guest posting. For romance, that would be RT Book Reviews, Heroes and Heartbreakers, and the USA Today HEA Blog. If you are inclined to blog, I recommend pitching each of these an idea for a post.

What about a blog tour? As I mentioned before, the effectiveness of blog tours is controversial. In my opinion, they can be useful, but not always in the way you expect. The number one outcome for blog tours is rarely book sales, although a few sales will happen.

I consider tours a form of outreach to bloggers. It’s a way to get to know them and, in the long-term, they are undeniably influencers. The tour post may not win you readers, but the blogger tweeting out that she loved you and your book will. Obviously, this is not a one-to-one guarantee or immediate reward strategy, but appearing on a blog and giving that blogger a good experience can make them more likely to try your book. If you can’t get a straight-up review scheduled before your book launch, doing a blog tour a week or two after book launch might be a good alternative.

I recommend doing a blog tour only:

if your publisher requests it or

if you have time after your book launch.

The one exception might be the cover-reveal blog tour. This is less of a tour and more of a publicity blast. It usually requires little effort on the author’s part and produces a nice prelaunch buzz.

If you do have the blogging bug, I recommend making occasional guest blogging, one or two sites per month, part of your long-term strategy instead of doing a blog tour at launch.

If you decide to do a blog tour, here are a few tips:

Choose sites that are targeted to your readers.
Choose sites with a following. Some authors feel a site with less than 2000 readers is a waste of time, but for a debut author I believe a few targeted sites with 100 engaged readers is worth cultivating as long as you are smart about your time investment.

Create a body of content such as short anecdotes, interview questions with answers, top five lists related to your book, and one to two paragraph excerpts with a bit of explanation or set-up. Mix and match these to make your posts. Think of it like coordinating your wardrobe to make more outfits possible. You want to give the blogger and her readers content worth reading, but you must minimize the amount of your time and effort expended.

Be friendly, reliable, and prompt. Put your best foot forward with the blogger.

Respond to comments and engage those readers. Make sure your post has material that asks a question or provides something readers can react to.

Don’t do a giveaway unless the blogger requests it. It’s more work and doesn’t lead to a sale. Giveaways with a low number of entries can be embarrassing to everyone. Instead, be sure to let readers know about your free chapters available on your website and with newsletter signup.

Promote the appearance. The blogger is lending you her audience and hoping you will introduce your friends and readers to her blog.

Mentions. Another possible alternative to blogging is requesting mentions. Some book-bloggers do a round-up of new releases and are willing to mention any new debut appropriate to their readers. Some of the community sites will mention it on social media. Policies change frequently, so it requires a bit of poking around to find where this is happening. Google can be your friend. Search for new book release roundups. One that is great for Romance is www.maryse.net.

9) Rethink advertising.

I think it is universally accepted that print advertising is really only appropriate for the biggest names in the business. With the exception of Facebook promoted posts, advertising in general, is more effective for established authors. For debut authors, advertising might provide some visibility and discoverability boost, but only if you have a lot of money to invest.

If you want to give it a try, there are many places online that sell advertising space. In addition to Facebook, all of the sites I mentioned earlier sell advertising or featured posting. Many blogs sell display ads. BookBub has recently started selling advertising space in their newsletters. This might be a good choice to try, since they have a proven track record, but their audience is accustomed to discount books, so maybe not.

For a debut author, my advice about advertising is the same as my advice for gambling, spend only what you can afford to lose.

10) Make it fun!

Whatever you do, be sure to include fun into the equation. This is a special moment. You deserve to enjoy it. Promoting yourself and your work can feel uncomfortable. Adding in fun will make you more likely to put in the effort. You might even enjoy it!

I hope this has been helpful!

I’d love to hear you comments below or send additional feedback to CharleeAllden@gmail.com.

Three Tips for Setting the Scene without Slowing Pace

Writers have always relied on description to immerse the reader in the story world, but modern readers of popular fiction expect a story to be told at a brisk pace. That means you’ll have to work a little harder to bring your setting to life …and your descriptions will have to do the same. Here are three quick tips to ensure your description is applied with a deft touch that will enrich your story without slowing it down.

Put Your Character In Motion

Whenever you choose the setting for a scene, consider how your characters will be able to interact with the setting. This is especially important in any scene that will require a great deal of description to orient the reader. Anytime you introduce a new or unfamiliar location you’ll need to spend a few words on description and in some genres, such as historical or paranormal fiction, settings may be even less familiar to the reader. If you can sprinkle in your setting description as the character moves through it or interacts with it, you’ll avoid a clunky block of description and the effort will be seamless.

For example:

The wooden slats beneath his boots shifted in the mud, most splintered with wear.

In this brief example, the character is moving through a town in a historical setting. This simple line of description will serves as a single brush stroke in the picture that is painted throughout a scene.

Use Setting To Carry Emotion

Emotion is at the heart of most good fiction. Readers are hungry for it. It is, arguably, the thing that makes reading worth the investment of time and the consequent of eye strain. When you use setting to carry or convey emotion, readers will be more indulgent.

For example:

Shocked by the icy blast of air that stung her eyes and the cold mush beneath her bare feet, she reminded herself it was only a dream. Besides, the scene unfolding captivated her beyond caring about a little discomfort. Her dream giant, Gunnar they’d called him, strode quickly through a snowy landscape toward a barrel-chested fellow with a long salt-and-pepper beard. Or maybe it was frost in his beard, she couldn’t be sure. The whole world seemed to be covered in snow or frost. A gray pallor spread across the sky, shot through with the barest hint of light struggling up from the horizon.

Because this passage from a short story I wrote is used to convey my time-traveling heroine’s shock and sense of unreality at suddenly arriving in ancient Norway, the reader will likely indulge in a bigger chunk of what is primarily scene setting description.

Focus On Significant Details
Not all details are created equal and not everything in your story needs to be described. Focus your powers of description on things that are important to your story—the significant details. What makes a detail significant?

Any detail that is integral to the plot must be shared. In another time-travel story, I had to describe the broach responsible for my heroine’s time-travel early in the story. Dropping it in out of the blue at the end of the story would have been cheating the reader. However, in the same scene, there was no need for a detailed description of the floor, the fireplace, the…you get the point.

Another type of significant detail is one that shows the reader something about the character or his situation. Again, one of the first things my time-traveling heroine notices about the hero is that he is dressed differently than the other men in the room. He’s been living abroad for five years. In a way, they are both outsiders within the group. Sometimes these types of details are very subtle or symbolic like the heroine mentioned earlier, who ended up barefoot in the snow. I chose to make her barefoot to subtly tell the reader she is vulnerable and to drive home that she is unprepared for her adventure. She is out of her element—somewhere she doesn’t belong.

If you keep these three tips in mind, there is no reason your description and setting shouldn’t be able to draw your reader into the story world without slowing pace.

This article first appeared at www.savvyauthors.com