Ivy Keating's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"

Recently I had a request to do a blog on how I promote 'Camouflage'. I'm happy to share some of the things that work and how I go about organizing them.

My background is in social work and I like to set up any challenge in a structured goal attainment way. First I define my goal. Then I do research to discover the best way to get results, and then I try what I discover.

In this blog I'd like to focus on the goal of increasing sales. 'Camouflage' is sold primarily online as an eBook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Apple iTune. Any promotion I run has to send readers to these sites.

After I define my goal, I do my research. I constantly search for the best promotional sites and then go to Kboards to see if anyone has had experience with them. Here's my favorites for science fiction and fantasy: Bargain Booksy, Booksends, EreaderCafe, (their last minute option) and The Portalist. BookBub is supposed to be terrific but they are expensive. A great strategy is to line up a few promotions in a row. This will help you climb in rank on Amazon.

I also promote my book for free by reaching out to bloggers, and I contact magazines and newspapers to write articles featuring 'Camouflage'. The New England landscape inspired my story and I mention this to interest local publications. My bank allowed me to set up a table with my book and information about my social media. Getting the word out always helps increase sales.

I hope this answers some questions about promotions. I am open to answering questions and anyone may email me directly through my website, ivykeating.com.

A great character in a book is similar to a good friend in the sense that they're both someone we want to spend time with. But, unlike our good buddies, great characters can be rotten to the core. So, what is it about certain fictional players that draw us in? Three of my favorite attributes are their intrigue, image, and depth.

Intrigue is what about them holds our interest. It's why someone should care about the character. What personality traits do they have that make them unique, or what behaviors do they exhibit that a reader could empathize with.

Image is what the reader makes a character out to look like. We don't really need to know if the protagonist has straight hair or curly, but if we can picture them-it closes the gap between our worlds.

My favorite trait to analyze is depth. Depth is how solid the character is. Can I get a feel for how they would act in any circumstance: even outside the story? Does the player feel authentic? This is done by showing the character's actions in a variety of situations and, every time, showing their behaviors are true to their personality and physical limitations. If a character is flawed or chaotic or rotten to the core-their actions still must make sense for their reality.

If you're a writer, think about the characters you've created and analyze them. If they're bland, inconsistent, or hard to imagine, they will have a negative impact on your story. Interesting, well developed, players will be the ones readers want to hang out with.

If motivation is the general desire to do something, then it's probably not lack of motivation that prevents us from reaching our goals.

The following are three common reasons we put off doing something we say we want to do.
1) There are aspects of reaching the goal that we don't like.
2) We don't know where to start.
3) We don't have a clear path to reaching the goal, so we become overwhelmed.

Here are a couple tricks to get you over the hurdles above and back on the path to success.

Usually there are elements of any activity that we love and some we do not. Take, for example, writing a novel; you may love crafting a story, but you may not enjoy editing it. Take a moment to think about why each step is necessary. Acknowledge "editing" is not your favorite. Then, try the Premack Principle and plan to do something you like after you complete the undesirable task. Modifying the environment may help, too. Keep your favorite drink handy or a book that inspired you on your desk as you continue to work.

If getting started is difficult, think about the very first step you need to take. Focus on it alone. A book can take years from conception to publication, but it starts with pressing the letters on the keyboard.

When we feel overwhelmed, it's hard to act. A great way to combat this is to put together a step by step plan. Break-down a huge task into manageable pieces. Finding a publisher or an agent is hard, but the first step is to create the book-then do a ton of editing-then create a query letter-and then look up publishers and/or agents that work with your genre. If you're not sure what to do next, researching the subject will give you the confidence to proceed.

If you're putting off reaching your goals, try modifying your method--it's likely you have all the motivation you need!

Characters in novels do not need to follow the same strategies for good communication that we do; they'd be boring if they did. In books, we want to see emotions take over reason and heated exchanges. It's one of the most enjoyable things about reading. We can loose ourselves in the drama. But, do these players have to follow any rules?

Of course they do. Here are my top three communication rules for characters:

The first is, they must stay within the confines of the story. A writer can have a scatter-brained hero - but, a character's way of communicating, no matter how quirky or interesting, cannot derail the reader from the plot or cause unnecessary theatrics. Dialogue must fit seamlessly into the story-line and make sense within the setting.

Characters must listen, but not in the same way that people do. They can choose to respond, ignore, or interrupt, but they must stay within the constructs of their personality. In my book, 'Camouflage', Chief Dermott is not always going to listen politely to his superiors--they are going to have it out!

Lastly, a character's dialogue must sound authentic. People have an established way of speaking that varies with few exceptions. This is even more important for book characters. Any communication that sounds unnatural can pull the reader out of the story. If you're a writer, reading the dialogue out-loud can help you detect awkward discourse.

We love outrageous characters, but even the most dysfunctional ones must adhere to certain guidelines. Fortunately, the rules we follow for "good" communication are different then the ones in books - giving those compelling players room to let loose.

The first stage of a project is often the most exciting. But, how many times do we set out to accomplish something and then abandon what we started? After the inspiration, what enables us to reach our goals?

For those that enjoy writing, one of the best moments is the moment of inspiration: when an idea comes to you that you must explore. It can be as simple as a thought. This is what happened to me when I wrote 'Camouflage'. I looked into a forest near my home and wondered, 'what's out there that we haven't discovered', and from that moment, I was gripped with a story.

But goals like writing a book are often difficult to accomplish. Before the energy that comes with inspiration starts to diminish, we must channel some of it into 'focus' and 'commitment'.

Focus has to do with the direction you take. If you have an overall idea of what is required to reach your goal, stay 'focused' on just the next step and you will get there. Put blinders on. Don't get caught up in where you are or how much further you have to go. It's easy to get overwhelmed and abandon a goal if you loose your focus.

Commitment has to do with the time you spend actively pursuing your goal. In the example of writing a book, it will take thousands of hours to complete your work. Sticking to a schedule or committing to a certain number of hours regularly is the only way the task will get done.

Draw upon the energy of what inspires you. It will certainly motivate you to start a project, but it will take focus and commitment to keep the momentum going.

Boo!

Did I scare you? No, of course not. That's because there's no context here for a fright. This October's blog is on one of the best ways for an author to create drama!

On occasion, I've been asked to read other writers' works. The first thing I may notice from a new author is head hopping (changing from one character's point-of-view to another), but the other frequent mistake is that they often write situations that sound good but are not grounded in the moment. A trick to solving this problem is to write with 'mindfulness'. Through mindful writing an author can achieve a dramatic effect.

To write with mindfulness, the author must think about what the character is actually doing, hearing, seeing, and feeling - plus what is actually taking place in the setting. If an ambulance goes by, the character turns her head. If she thinks someone is following her, the quicker she steps. If she notices the branches on the bare trees look like gnarly fingers reaching down, then maybe if someone yells "Boo!" she'll jump!

Every action is grounded in the reality of the moment. It's never a beat ahead or written simply because it sounds dramatic.

When moving the plot along don't skip to where you want it to go. Take the reader there by allowing them to see and feel things through the reality of the moment. This awareness helps create a seamless narrative. The reader will not be distracted by inconsistencies, and this in turn sets the perfect platform for the creation of drama.

It's a few days before Thanksgiving, so this is the perfect time to tell about my mistake with a "Turkey Vulture".

I try to be mindful not to write anything just because it sounds good. But, my editor caught me doing just that.

In my mind, a turkey vulture is a big, scary bird. It's wingspan is up to 72 inches, and some in the species are larger than vultures. They're bodies are dark, brownish-black, and they often sit high in trees with their wings spread. The sight of such a bird overhead must mean trouble. I referenced them as a bird of "prey".

This was my mistake. I said it simply because it sounded good. But turkey vultures are, in fact, not birds of prey; they are opportunistic feeders.

To the plot of my novel--it made no difference. But, the mistaken reference took the reader, my editor, out of the story to make the correction. Anything that distracts the reader from the plot is something a writer must avoid.

The turkey vulture gave me a good reminder to proof-read carefully, and always write for accuracy-never just to sound good.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Before a book is published, a copy editor can improve the story by enhancing the writing. It's one of the last steps before a book goes to print. I find this interesting because you might think it's the story itself that would face additional scrutiny, but it's actually elements of the written word.

A common mistake is word repetition. I usually catch redundancies when I reread a page. My second book is going through copy-editing now. Even with all the previous edits, the word "like" was overused, and this will have to be corrected. But, why are these repeats a problem?

Books let readers lose themselves in a world created by the author. Most novels will take hours to read, and good writing is the conduit for an entertaining story. Word repetition can be boring and uninspired. It can also be distracting if it garners attention.

When you're writing, challenge yourself to finding new words and different ways to say the same thing. This one fix will benefit not only the structure but also the readability. Remember, not everything bears … repeating.

We all have feelings of being stressed, overworked, or a whole host of negative conditions. It's often important to get to the source of these issues, but sometimes an in-between step of 'distraction' can be helpful.

There's a common saying, "Negotiate from a position of strength." This can apply to how we handle our mental health. Finding an activity to take our mind off what's fueling any extreme state can help restore calm and make us stronger.

For me, writing is a great distraction. It even works if I start at my laptop when I'm stressed or angry, because inevitably there's a character that imbues the same state. Now I have the benefit of drawing from a feeling I'm relating to. In 'Sarana and the Dark King', the Dark King is an evil character. I'll never reach his depravity, but I allow my emotions to give me a starting point.

A temporary distraction gives us time to gain perspective. Once back in a calmer state, it may feel like we gain that "position of strength" that helps us work things out.

Next time you find yourself overwhelmed, overstressed, or any negative over-the-top feeling, find something to distract yourself for a little while. You won't forget about the difficulty, but you'll be in a stronger place to handle it.

Why is it so hard to find an agent or a publisher? I think one of the reasons is because writing is thought of as an independent undertaking. Yes, when I wrote my last book, I did spend most of my time... alone... writing. But, the process of putting ones thoughts down on paper (or word doc.) is just one part of it. Here are some other key steps to becoming published:

I can't say enough about editing and what I'll call, “basic rules for writing a book.” They include no head hopping, don't repeat words, show vs. tell, and no intensifiers like "very" and "really." There's also marketing. An author has to put together a list of agents and publishers that are open to queries and are interested in their genre. This requires research.

So, why did I title this blog, Writing with 'Flaws'? I wanted to point out that it's unlikely that anyone is an expert on everything above. Your story telling may be great, but you need help editing, or your writing is grammatically perfect, but the action in your story starts way to late. Being able to pick out what you need help with is key to improving your work. The best advice I can give any writer is to open yourself up to criticism. Seek out anyone that will tell you the truth. This is usually not family members and friends. They are more likely to point out what they like, as a means of encouragement. If you're lucky enough to find your "flaws," seek help from professionals in the field. Keep working on your novel, and don't give up.

Finding an agent or publisher is not easy, but it is doable. Always submit your best work. Be open to suggestions along the way. Writing your story is often a solitary experience, but getting published can be a team sport.