Book Marketing is a 4-Letter Word

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

By Lois Winston

Book marketing? Unless you’re someone who majored in marketing in college (and maybe not even those people,) most authors will tell you the part of being an author they hate most is marketing their books to readers. Unless you’re James Patterson, Nora Roberts, or one of the few other “anointed ones,” no matter if you’re traditionally published or indie published, the bulk of book marketing rests on our shoulders. Most publishers, including what is known as The Big Five, do very little, if anything, to promote their authors’ books these days. For most, if they’re lucky, they receive a box of free promotional bookmarks or postcards.

And it doesn’t matter the genre you write in, the awards you’ve received, or whether you hit a bestseller list. I have friends who consistently make the New York Times list with each new release and are still required to do the bulk of the promotion for their books, including arranging their own events and handling social media marketing.

The competition is stiff out there, and it’s getting worse. Every author I’ve spoken with, whether traditionally published or indie published, is complaining about falling sales. This year has seen a flood of A.I. generated books going up for sale on etailer sites. There were so many flooding Amazon that they instituted a new policy, limiting uploads of new books to three a day. It maybe stemmed the influx from a major tsunami to a tidal wave.

Moreover, various marketing that once worked well for authors no longer shows the same results. What’s an author to do?

At the Killer Nashville conference in August, I attended a workshop on creating landing pages at Bookfunnel. Most marketing gurus will tell you every author should have a newsletter, that it’s one of the best tools in your author toolbox. I have a newsletter. Prior to Bookfunnel, I had about 1800 subscribers, some of whom are loyal fans. But the workshop instructor had tens of thousands of subscribers. Talking to other authors at Killer Nashville, I learned the best way I could increase sales of my books was to increase my newsletter subscribers.

The thing about a landing page, though, is that you offer a freebie in exchange for the reader subscribing. I’ve always been opposed to giving away huge numbers of books. I’ve heard from too many readers who only download free books and brag that they haven’t bought a book in years. I have newsletter readers who have told me they love my books but only read them if they can get them from the library or by winning a copy when I do the occasional contest giveaway. They won’t even spend .99 cents for a sale book.

I’ve never had a problem with putting a book on sale for .99 cents for a limited time. I think of it as a loss leader to spur sales of the other books in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. That series currently has 13 novels and 3 novellas. Historically, I’ve seen good results from sales of other books in the series when one is on sale for .99 cents. But even those results have not been what they used to be lately.

So I decided to create a landing page on Bookfunnel and offer one of the novellas in the series for free with sign-up to my newsletter. I’m also taking part in two group promotions with other cozy authors on Bookfunnel throughout November, the Thank Goodness for Cozies promotion and the Cozy Mystery Month promotion. Signing up for any of the authors’ newsletters will get you a free book by that author.

My landing page has been up on my website and on Bookfunnel since mid-October. When the group promotions end at the end of November, I’ll be able to judge the results of the book giveaway. I’ll see how many downloads and new subscribers I’ve had and if all those free books translated into sales of other books in the series. I’m crossing fingers and toes that I’ll be pleased with the numbers.

Love it? Hate it? How do you really feel about marketing? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of any one of the first 11 Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. (US and UK residents only)

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

An Interview with Raegan Teller

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I met Raegan Teller through our local Sisters in Crime Palmetto Chapter. In fact, Raegan and I were two of the founding members of the chapter. Since that time, she has independently published seven Enid Blackwell mysteries, marketing them herself through personal appearances at unique festivals and events, most of which are not focused on books. In addition, she has written numerous short stories and organized local Noir at the Bar programs.

Raegan, it’s a great pleasure to have you here at The Stiletto Gang to tell us about your writing journey.

If you have not already read Raegan Teller’s work, add it to your “to be read” list. You’ll truly enjoy it and find it’s an excellent holiday gift!

                                                                        Paula Gail Benson

Raegan Teller

Q: What was your earliest memory of wanting to be an author?

RT: I began reading mysteries as a young girl: Nancy Drew, Trixie Belton, and then later Agatha Christie, Daphne Du Maurier, Victoria Holt, and Phyllis Whitney. Those were the mystery authors the library carried. And like most avid readers, I dreamed of writing my own novels one day. But it was just a pipe dream for most of my life.

Q: Your work experiences have shaped your writing. Tell us about your background and how it helped or found its way into your stories.

RT: I worked for a Fortune 100 company for most of my working life. I held numerous positions and roles, but the ones I enjoyed most were those with a lot of writing involved. But working for a large insurance company, I also investigated auto and other accidents, took statements from accident witnesses, and much more. When I left that company after 20+ years, I started my own management consulting company and found myself doing a lot of writing for my clients. I particularly enjoyed writing white papers because they are just another form of storytelling. I also did some editing work for clients. While my dream of writing a mystery got buried somewhere along the way, little did I realize that all those experiences would help me write mysteries. And my main character, Enid Blackwell, mirrors a lot of my own frustrations with large corporations. All of my work and life experiences have contributed in some way to my stories.

Q: In developing your craft, you studied a number of places with wonderful instructors. Tell us about your journey to becoming a fiction writer.

RT: I’m laughing as I respond to this question because my journey was rocky. First of all, while I was an experienced business writer and editor, I had never written fiction. The goal of business writing is to make sure all questions are answered and that you keep yourself and your feelings out of your writing. I was good at that. But when I tried to write fiction, I was baffled when it came to diving into my emotions and letting them feed by stories, or how to hide information from readers. Worse yet was allowing myself to mislead the readers with red herrings—false clues. Writing fiction was the total opposite of what I knew how to do, and it was maddening! So I took a number of workshops from writing experts around the country. One was Jerry Cleaver, who wrote Immediate Fiction and taught classes at The Writers’ Loft in Chicago. I quickly became annoyed with him, even though he was right. I can still hear him repeatedly saying “add more conflict.” As acclaimed as he was, his teaching style just never clicked for me—but I did learn to add more conflict! I also took a few workshops with Donald Maas (Writing the Breakout Novel), where I learned that my first novel would not be a breakout by his definition. At some point in my journey, I saw an advertisement for Alan Watt’s LA Writers Lab. He believed you should quickly write a novel in 90 Days and clean it up later. And I actually did finish a draft of my first novel in 90 days. (I’ve kept it to remind me how awful my writing can be.) But Watt clicked with me for reasons other than writing quickly, and I ended up doing individual coaching and numerous workshops with him. I loved how he taught story structure and made it less intimidating. He is a screenwriter, so I learned to visualize my story as I wrote. Like Cleaver, Watt offered me a constant reminder, but his was “go deeper.” By far, Watt was the most influential instructor I worked with. With his coaching, I produced the final version of my first novel, Murder in Madden, after three years of trial and error. (I wrote the second novel in eight months.)

Q: You base your novels on cold cases and pending court matters. How did you decide the subject matter for each of your novels?

RT: My novels are inspired by, rather than based on, real-life crimes and events, that either happened near me or just resonated with me in some way. The genesis of my series was the murder of my husband’s seventeen-year-old cousin, who disappeared from a bus stop in Columbia, SC, in 1990. Several days later, they found her body but no has ever been charged with the murder. I wanted to write a non-fiction book about her with the message that we shouldn’t forget these victims. But I didn’t have enough material for a book. Instead, I decided to write a fictional story about a forgotten teenage victim, Rose Marie Garrett, in Murder in Madden. Following that pattern, I chose a real-life victim to be my muse for each subsequent novel.

Q: Is your protagonist, reporter Enid Blackwell, based on a real person? Does she share any of your characteristics?

RT: One of my earliest childhood heroes was Nellie Bly, one of the first female investigative journalists. From the time I read her biography, I wanted to be a journalist just like her. But like many young people, I was encouraged instead to pursue a more practical career. In many ways, Enid Blackwell is a contemporary version of Nellie Bly. As to whether Enid and I share characteristics, I get asked that question a lot. Many of my close friends and family see a lot of me in her. We both have red hair, and we’re both determined to accomplish what we set out to do—some would call that hardheaded. We both value friends and family. But she’s far braver than I, and unlike Enid, I like to cook.

Q: How did you decide to publish independently? What benefits does that offer? What difficulties does it present?

RT: I used to teach a class on self-publishing that was four hours long, but I’ll try to be brief here. When I began looking at publishing options for my first book around 2015, I interviewed both traditionally published and independently published authors—of which there were few at that time. Self-publishing was just emerging as a viable option and was still shaking off its vanity press reputation. The indie authors I talked with had all turned to SP when they were unable to get an agent and/or publisher. SP was not their choice but their fallback. After spending all my working life in large corporations and then owning my own consulting firm, managing my own publishing company was appealing. I knew how to set up and run a small business. And I made a vow to myself that if I made the decision to go indie, I would not try traditional publishing at all. I wanted to choose SP, not use it as a fallback. So I formed Pondhawk Press LLC. SP is a lot of work because you’re running a business. You make investments in cover design, editing, proofing, etc., with your own money, so you need to have cash to get started. DIY is not advised! I do a lot of in-person events, so my husband, who is also my business partner, manages our inventory, provides set-up assistance, helps scope out new venues, and much more. I couldn’t do it without the help of my team, which also includes my editor, proofreader, cover designer, and more. And of course, you have to promote your work constantly on social media and elsewhere. You have to have a marketing plan. It’s a lot of work, but very rewarding for me. I’ll conclude by saying that SP is definitely not for everyone, but for some of us it’s the only way to go.

Q: Which characters have you particularly enjoyed writing? Are they the characters readers identify with most?

RT: My protagonist, Enid Blackwell, has become a close friend. We talk all the time, and she helps me when I get stuck—usually in the dreaded “middle.” I sometimes ask her questions before I fall asleep at night, and she usually gives me an answer. Aside from Enid, there are many “favorite” characters in my books. In addition to Enid, my readers love Jack Johnson, the newspaper editor, and Josh Hart, Enid’s love interest. Some of my favorites include Sheriff Boogie Waters (Secrets Never Told) and Drake Harrow the police investigator and Cassandra the fortune teller, in my latest novel Murder Vision. Harrow, aka Big D, is part Jamaican and I enjoyed learning a bit of Patois, a form of Jamaican creole, for his character. My readers love the series’ characters and often comment on them. I’m fortunate to have both male and female loyal readers, and I’m always surprised and delighted when they tell me who their favorite characters are and what they like about them.

Q: Did you always know you would write a series?

RT: Heck no! I wrote Murder in Madden as a way to honor a real-life, forgotten victim. But I fell in love with my characters and knew they had more stories to tell. So I declared at my first book launch that I would have four books in the series—a number I just pulled out of the air. But after four books, I kept going. The seventh novel in the series, Murder Vision, was published in September 2024 and will be the last in that series—at least for a while. But I already miss talking with Enid.

Q: You also write short stories. What challenges do they present?

RT: I love the challenge of developing a character and telling a story in a few words. My sweet spot is around 2000 words, but I enjoy flash fiction also. Short stories are fun to write, and they keep me writing between novels. I love to write stories from image prompts. There’s a picture on the bulletin board in my office of a lone grave in the middle of a field in Lexington that I took not long ago. I can’t wait to write a story about it.

Q: How do you like organizing Noir at the Bar events? What do writers learn from reading their stories out loud?

RT: I absolutely love Noir at the Bar! I host these at a local bar several times a year and invite other authors to participate. Humans are storytellers by nature, and sharing stories with others is very primal for me. Writing for an audience, like at Noir events, is different than writing for print readers. For one thing, you have to use more dialogue tags because the audience can’t see where the characters change as they would on a page, so they can get confused if the writer isn’t clear on who’s speaking. I read all my novels and stories aloud during the editing process, and it’s a great way to spot areas that may be confusing. Also, writing for a live audience is not the place to be “literary.” Stories that might be appropriate for a literary magazine typically don’t play well to an audience because they are often abstract. Reading for a live audience works best when you stick to writing an entertaining story that has a clear beginning, middle, and end—like a story you’d tell around a campfire.

Q: What advice would you give to writers?

RT: Two things. The first is to keep writing. It’s easy to get distracted and lose focus. There are many reasons you can give yourself for not writing but only one reason to keep going: you must write because your heart compels it. The second piece of advice is to be clear to yourself about your writing goals. There’s nothing wrong with writing as a hobby with no inclination to get published. But if you do decide to publish, be clear about what you want from it—recognition or fame, money, self-satisfaction, or something else. And whatever your goal is, be certain you’re willing to invest your time, money, and other resources into achieving that goal. Self-publishing has made it somewhat easy to publish a book, but then many writers despair because their sales are low. And many traditionally published authors are having to do most of the promoting themselves because of budget cuts. Many writers I’ve talked with have admitted they have no marketing plan, run no ads, and have no goals other than to “sell more books.” Then I have to ask, “Why are you writing? What do you hope to achieve? And if that goal is important, what are you willing to do to make it happen?”

Q: How has your family influenced your writing?

RT: My own family has been very supportive, and my husband in particular is my rock. Without him, I couldn’t do what I do. My sister is always talking about and selling my books. While I’m fortunate to have a wonderful, loving family, I know that not everyone is as blessed. Relationships in general are complex. My books often explore the complexities within both blood and chosen families, which often include betrayal, heartache, and worse.

Q: What are you writing now?

RT: I recently started writing a new series set in Raven’s Rest, NC, a small, fictitious town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I prefer to read and write about small towns rather than large cities because I love the interplay of everybody-knows-everybody and everybody-has-a-secret. I’m also working on what I think will be a stand-alone novella titled Burning Memories. I can write short and I can write long, so I want to challenge myself to write a mid-length 30K to 40K story. It will be a departure from murder mysteries—more in the style of Nicholas Sparks. Recently, I’ve been reading Stephen King’s novellas because he’s a master of the novella, as is Jo Nesbo.

For more information, visit Raegan Teller.com or the Enid Blackwell Mystery Series on Amazon.

Marketing for Authors

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Can an Author Really Do Marketing Too?

Example of a common marketing graphics.

For traditionally published authors the marketing happens without much input.  Whatever ads are placed are done by the publisher who can adjust the price point at their discretion. This can be frustrating or blissful for an author depending on their viewpoint.  I swing between the two. I love not doing the work, but I hate it when I don’t think enough marketing is being done.

However, for independent author things are a bit different. While can we run ads and control the price point (yay!) I must also keep track of ad vendors, types of ads, marketing copy, all the things that a traditional publisher pays another human being to do. It can be overwhelming and impossible if an author doesn’t have the skillset to do these tasks.

What’s New from Amazon Marketing?

So recently, when I got a message from Amazon saying they wouldn’t be showing several of my ads due to policy changes, I groaned. What did the ‘Zon want now?  Well, it turns out that they want custom graphics on series ads.  But–and here’s the challenge–there is no text allowed and the images can’t be too sexy or too violent.

The problem is that for most other marketing vehicles—social media, newsletters, BookBub—text is always paired with a graphic. So when looking at my collection of already created marketing images, finding one with no text is impossible.  So now we’re making compelling custom graphics that tell the story—without words—and oh, yeah, it has to also crop to a square.

What did I do?

I figured for a few hours of work I could create some images and see if the ads really did make an impact.

For my San Juan Islands Mystery series I tried to pull imagery to match my heading: Deceit, deception, death… and a dog. The series is about Tish Yearly, her grandfather Tobias Yearly, and his Chocolate Lab Coats solving mysteries in the San Juan Islands. So I tried to select images that support the premise.

Interested? Buy at any online book retailer: https://books2read.com/AnUnseenCurrent

For my Shark Santoyo Crime Series with the heading, “An anything but typical new adult thriller” I used imagery that had already been created for Facebook.  The series features an unusual mobster who is faced with finding the bosses money or ending up in cement. His solution is creative and relies on a mysterious teenager who is fast with her mouth and even faster with a knife.

Interested? Buy or read on Kindle Unlimited: https://amzn.to/3NgCX2h

What were the results?

Surprisingly, I’ve seen a sharp uptick in people reading the Shark Santoyo series.  This delights me because I love the series. It was written during a phase that I wasn’t particularly interested in writing “to market” (crafting a book to meet specific genre expectations).  I wanted to write something gritty, action-packed, violent, AND funny.  All of those vibes combine to make something that’s a little hard to place genre-wise, so I love that people are enjoying it.

While I’m fortunate in that I do have the skillset to create graphics I’m not sure how Amazon expects most indie authors to fulfill these requirements.  Or perhaps, as per usual with the Zon, they don’t care—they have selected the course that’s best for them.  However, it does make me wonder what the future of indie publishing looks like.  As more indie writers become outclassed by the marketing environment, what will we need to do to adapt?

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

 

Can a Book Effect Change?

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Good Monday morning. The Stiletto Gang is a group of authors that touch mostly on marketing, the craft of writing, the concept behind our books and/or the genre of what we’re writing. Last week, two of our authors didn’t just touch on a topic, they challenged it and downright addressed the world’s most serious problems.

I respect Linda Rodriguez and TK Thorne immensely. If you haven’t read their two recent blogs, I urge you to do so:

https://www.thestilettogang.com/2024/07/05/how-can-writers-help-creat-a-safer-society-for-all/

https://www.thestilettogang.com/2024/06/27/we-are-perplexing-by-t-k-thorne/

In these blogs, T.K. addresses our relatively young existence in the grand scheme of existence, then writes about humankind’s struggle to fight tribalism and inhumanity. Linda addresses violent massacres against innocents brought on by hatred and racism.

Linda closes out her blog with:

“As writers and readers, we have the power to change this terrible racist rot at the heart of our society. We simply have to muster the courage to insist on truthful, varied portrayals of real human beings, the courage to reach outside of segregated suburbs to learn about people who are not just like us, the courage to call out false, bigoted remarks and portrayals when we encounter them. Let us be part of the solution and no longer part of the problem, actively or passively. Let us bring our society closer to the ideals we claim for it.

Writers shape the way our nation sees the world. Let us shape that perspective with truth and empathy.”

The blog unfortunately didn’t allow for comments, and I had a few.  I also was reading a novel at that time that if Linda’s blog had been an assignment to discover such a panacea, I would recommend David Baldacci’s A Calamity of Souls.

Before I give my thoughts on A Calamity of Souls, I’ll point to what I consider a significant problem(s) in Linda’s thoughtful prose.

  • Would an inherent racist ever read and/or recognize themselves in an author’s pages? And if they do, would they simply rebel and slam the book down?
  • Even though I’m associated with many talented and remarkable writers, the second issue I find with Linda’s plea is the problem of “discoverability.” A few–maybe many–might read and be empathetic and leave positive feedback, but would they have the power to effect change?

Occasionally, an author pens a book that does just what Linda is encouraging us to do. Moreover, that same author has name recognition and a following that may in effect, educate and allow people who may not even consider themselves racist to take the proverbial good look in the mirror.

I believe David Baldacci’s A Calamity of Souls is such a book. I believe this novel may be fated to become a classic in its own right and his most successful of his already thriving career.

Though brilliant A Calamity of Souls is not a fun read. It’s also incredibly hard to put down.

Here’s the back cover blurb:    

Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 in southern Virginia, a racially-charged murder case sets a duo of white and Black lawyers against a deeply unfair system as they work to defend their wrongfully-accused Black defendants in this courtroom drama from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci.

Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.

Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in the Commonwealth. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.

Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.

Over a decade in the writing, A Calamity of Souls breathes richly imagined and detailed life into a bygone era, taking the reader through a world that will seem both foreign and familiar.

(I pulled the following quotes off Amazon.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~~

I could leave my own review, but I guess I just did.  A #1 Bestseller with already 16,671 ratings on Amazon, I recommend A Calamity of Souls to everyone to understand what ignorance is and what hate can become.

Thank you, Linda. Your words impacted me at a time I was already being deeply impacted. I can only pray your vision and dreams come true.

Can a book effect change?  In a word, Yes.

 

 

 

 

 

With a Little Help from my Friends

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artwork from Pixabay and Depositphotos

By Lois Winston

As authors, we spend much of our days in our writer caves. Sometimes, we rarely leave the house for days as we peck away at the keyboard, increasing our word count. Living life in a vacuum is hard, though. Sometimes we need to bounce ideas off someone, and let’s face it, kids and spouses are rarely helpful when it comes to figuring out the perfect murder or choosing whodunit from several possibly suspects. That’s why critique partners, as well as writing communities, are so important. Often, they’re the only people who truly “get” us.

My latest book, Sorry, Knot Sorry, the thirteenth in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, released earlier this month. In-between a month-long virtual book tour, I’ve been mulling over possible plots for the next book in the series.

I’ve always had a weird fascination with unusual personalities and often put them in my books. Anastasia’s communist mother-in-law is a perfect example. She’s based on my own communist mother-in-law, minus the French bulldog.

Years ago, we had some very strange neighbors living across the street from us. They’ve been parked in a recess of my brain for two-and-a-half decades, waiting to spring forth as characters in a book. I wondered, though, were they too over-the-top?

I decided this was a question, not for my critique partner nor my fellow writers. I needed to hear from my readers. So, in my May newsletter, I introduced them to the couple I had dubbed The Stoop Sitters. After relating the story, I asked if they thought The Stoop Sitters should become characters in my next book.

Everyone who responded loved the idea. I don’t know yet who these characters will be, but based on the overwhelmingly favorable responses I received, they will show up in some way in the next book.

I had already set up the possibility of The Stoop Sitters back in A Stitch to Die For, the fifth book in the series. Circumstances which occurred in that book resulted in the house across the street from Anastasia being torn down and replaced with a McMansion. Since Anastasia has yet to meet her new neighbors, they could be The Stoop Sitters.

Have I piqued your curiosity? Are you dying to know more about The Stoop Sitters?

When my husband and I purchased a home in an upscale New Jersey suburb, the house across the street stood out for all the wrong reasons. It was a dilapidated mess in need of major repairs. We suspected the resident or residents were elderly with a limited income. Much to our surprise, we discovered the owners were a couple in their late thirties or early forties. They had two school-aged kids.

The parents didn’t seem to have jobs. They’d camp out on the top step of their small concrete landing for hours at a time, either together or individually. Just sitting and smoking and often drinking beer, but never conversing with each other. Often the husband would remove his shirt and lie back on the landing, his massive stomach pointing heavenward. He’d remain that way for hours, apparently napping.

When Mr. Stoop Sitter wasn’t sprawled bare-chested on the landing, he’d spend hours mowing his lawn, an extremely small barren patch of packed dirt and weeds. For hours, he’d walk behind his mower, trimming the nonexistent grass, until the mower ran out of gas. The next day, after refilling the mower, the scene would repeat. It continued each day throughout the year, except during rain and snowstorms.

I need to stop here to mention that I’m not a voyeur. My home office was situated at the front of the house with my desk positioned under the front window. It was impossible not to notice The Stoop Sitters.

One day, my concentration was broken by a cat fight between two women. I glanced up from my computer screen to find Mrs. Stoop Sitter standing on the sidewalk, accusing another woman of trying to steal her husband. The scene was right out of Real Housewives of New Jersey, minus the camera crew. Eventually, Mrs. Stoop Sitter hurled one last warning, stormed up the steps, and entered her house, slamming the door behind her. The other woman turned and walked down the street. I never saw her again.

Now, Mr. Stoop Sitter was no one’s idea of a catch, but the scene I’d witnessed proved otherwise. Obviously, there’s someone for everyone. At least in Mrs. Stoop Sitter’s mind.

Eventually, the Stoop Sitters sold their house to a developer who tore it down and built a McMansion. There’s a story to be told about the people who moved into the McMansion, but I’ll save that for another time.

So what do you think? If my readers can suspend their disbelief enough to accept a communist mother-in-law and a Shakespeare-quoting parrot (not to mention a reluctant amateur sleuth who stumbles across more dead bodies than the average big city homicide cop in an entire career,) will they buy into the Stoop Sitters?

Would you? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of any of the currently available Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website where can also sign up for her newsletter and find links to her other social media: www.loiswinston.com

What Influences a Book?

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In many of my books, something from my past has influenced the story. The Past Came Hunting came from a police ridealong. Deadly Recall resulted from my memory of a piano lesson I greatly exaggerated and fictionalized.

On June 16 through June 30, my fourth single title romantic suspense goes on sale. I was actually living the idea behind Buried Agendas at the time and I’d like to share the story behind it.

Although my husband is happily retired these days, in his work life he was a chemical engineer who specialized in industrial water treatment. Over the years, I met his customers and clients. As a storyteller, I’d listen with rapt attention to the goings on of their businesses. Naturally, when I learned his company had been awarded a contract to help with the cleanup of the Rocky Flats Nuclear weapons plant rocky-flats-site-colorado-fact-sheet (energy.gov) I was intrigued but also concerned.

That project started me thinking about the dangers of environmental contamination, not only nuclear but chemical. I’d read and listened to broadcasts about states rightfully objecting to where nuclear waste should be stored. About drums of illegal chemicals buried in the desert.

Conversely, I learned about the stiff fines and penalties the Environmental Protection Agency inflicted on corporations should they not adhere to these regulations.

Such was my idea behind Buried Agendas and the book would not have been written without a wonderful resource of an EPA staffer in Denver. Not only did we have a long informative phone conversation, afterward, she sent me reams of information on superfund sites (by snail mail no less).

Neither would the book have been written without the help of chemists, plant managers, and an underground tank expert. And by the time I completed interviews and consumed an enormous amount of research material, I came up with what I thought might be a believable inciting incident.

What if a chemical was created that should never have been created?

All right. That seemed to work. But how to develop a romantic suspense plot around such a complicated subject? Here’s what I came up with.

A devastating secret drove her from her lover’s arms; will a secret equally as deadly lead her back to him?

Diana Reid is an investigative reporter skilled at uncovering other people’s secrets. It’s her own she works to keep buried. Eight years earlier, she promised to leave her fiancé and hometown of Diamond, Texas forever. That pledge vanishes when she receives a letter stating people are going to die, implicating her hometown’s largest employer, and making a veiled threat against her mother. With no other choice, Diana will return to Diamond, albeit in disguise, to discover the anonymous author.

Brad Jordan moved on with his life after Diana left him. Preferring to practice law rather than assume his birthright, Jordan Industries, he turns the chemical processing plant over to his brother. Later, Brad runs for office and is elected mayor on his promise to rebuild his struggling hometown. Those plans are jeopardized when he’s notified that the company is suspected of wrongdoing and may be sacrificing the public’s health.

Diana Reid is the last person Brad Jordan wants to see, personally or professionally. But, when he discovers her presence in Diamond, he’s forced to accept that a woman he vowed to forget may be his only avenue to get to the truth.

 

What readers have said:

“Buried Agendas is a well-written, well-plotted romantic suspense. It kept me reading late into the night to find out what happens to the star-crossed lovers. The story had enough technical detail to be realistic without coming across as a chemistry lesson–well done! I felt the heat of the Texas setting and enjoyed getting to know the characters. I’m looking forward to Ms. Bell’s next one.”

~~~

BURIED AGENDAS follows the romantic suspense plots that Bell is known for. A fast compelling read with hot topics in the news today– Chemical waste and the hazards of border crossing. The characters are well developed and carry the reader through an exciting pace to the finish. If you haven’t read her previous books, you’re missing out on great storytelling.

~~~

“This is a well written, suspenseful thriller with fully drawn characters and a fast paced plot. Diana, forced to return to her hometown, confronts the fact that she still has feelings for the man she betrayed eight years ago. And now she’s in town to investigate his family’s business and possibly destroy all that he holds dear. Donnell Bell’s character emotions ring true and her plot is all too believable.”

 

If you enjoy romantic suspense, I hope you’ll check out Buried Agendas, particularly when it goes on sale June 16-30 for $.99.

How about you? Has something in your past influenced you? For authors, did said influence inspire you to incorporate it in a book or to write an entire novel?

About the Author:  Donnell Ann Bell writes both romantic suspense and multi-jurisdictional task force plots, keeping close tabs on her theme SUSPENSE TOO CLOSE TO HOME. Her single-title romantic suspense novels, The Past Came Hunting, Deadly Recall, Betrayed, and Buried Agendas, have all been Amazon e-book best sellers.

Traditionally published with Belle Books/Bell Bridge Books, Black Pearl, a Cold Case Suspense was her first mainstream suspense and book one of a series, and a Colorado Book Award finalist. Her second book in the series, Until Dead, A Cold Case Suspense, released in May of 2022 was voted best thriller in 2023 at the Imaginarium Celebration Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.  Sign up for her newsletter or follow her blog at https://www.donnellannbell.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Times They Are a’Changing

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By Lois Winston

I don’t like change. I much prefer the security and comfort of habit. I’m not the kind of person who climbs a mountain just because it’s there. I need a reason to step out of my comfort zone, lace up my hiking boots, and ascend into the unknown. When I’m confronted with the need to change, I first spend time soul-searching and deliberating.

Unfortunately, the publishing industry has been fraught with change for quite some time now. Gone are the days when an author had a home for life, and the people she worked with at the publishing house became like a second family to her. These days there’s a lot of divorce going on in publishing. More and more authors are being dropped because their sales aren’t strong enough. Or authors decide for various reasons that they need to leave their publishers. Both situations are very scary for the author. No matter which party institutes the divorce proceedings, fear of the unknown can overwhelm an author.

Twelve years ago, I realized I needed to institute a change in my life. I didn’t want to, but after several long months of soul-searching, I knew it was time to climb the mountain. I laced up those hiking boots and walked away from two new publishing contracts—one for additional books in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series and one for a new series, the Empty Nest Mysteries.

Was I terrified? You bet! Being published by a traditional publishing house is the Holy Grail to all aspiring authors. Or it used to be. Times have changed. Self-publishing, now often referred to as indie publishing, no longer has the stigma it once did because authors are in control, not questionable vanity presses.

Rather than sign with one of the small publishers interested in continuing my series, I went indie. I continued writing the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, adding a series of three connected mini-mysteries. I also published the Empty Nest Mysteries and several standalone mystery novellas. I reissued my backlist and published some unsold romances and romantic suspense novels.

Would I regret my decision? After all, not only had I given up the “legitimacy” of traditional publishing, but I’d also given up some decent advance money. There were nights I tossed and turned, wondering if I’d made the biggest mistake of my life by going indie, especially when I didn’t see the huge numbers of sales that other indie authors claimed to have.

Was it because I didn’t write super-sexy books with shirtless studs? Or was there some other reason? My traditionally published books had received stellar reviews, including starred reviews from Publishers Weeklyand Booklist for my mystery series. I’d also won quite a few awards for my fiction. Why weren’t my indie books selling better?

One mantra I kept repeating was something I’d heard from other authors: It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon. It was hard to convince myself since I seemed to be limping along, not sprinting. But eventually I saw that they were right. It took some time, but since publishing my first indie book, I’ve seen steady growth in sales. Can I support myself on what I’m making? Heck, no! But then again, I couldn’t support myself on what I made from traditional publishing.

However, as time has passed, I’ve become more comfortable with my decision. There’s much to be said about having total control over your writing career. What I’ve also discovered is that readers don’t really care who publishes you. Authors might constantly ask other authors, “Who’s your publisher?” but readers are only interested in good books. They don’t know PRH from Level Best. Mention “the Big Five,” and they’ll most likely think you’re talking about a college basketball conference.

Meanwhile, Sorry, Knot Sorry, the thirteenth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, is currently on preorder and releases June 4th. For those of you familiar with Anastasia, I hope you enjoy her latest adventure. For those of you who haven’t gotten to know her yet, I hope you will.

Sorry, Knot Sorry

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 13

Magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack may finally be able to pay off the remaining debt she found herself saddled with when her duplicitous first husband dropped dead in a Las Vegas casino. But as Anastasia has discovered, nothing in her life is ever straightforward. Strings are always attached. Thanks to the success of an unauthorized true crime podcast, a television production company wants to option her life—warts and all—as a reluctant amateur sleuth.

Is such exposure worth a clean financial slate? Anastasia isn’t sure, but at the same time, rumors are flying about layoffs at the office. Whether she wants national exposure or not, Anastasia may be forced to sign on the dotted line to keep from standing in the unemployment line. But the dead bodies keep coming, and they’re not in the script.

Craft tips included.

Buy Links (preorder now. Available June 4th)

Amazon

Kobo

Nook

Apple Books

Paperback and Hardcover editions available after June 4th.

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website where can also sign up for her newsletter and find links to her other social media: www.loiswinston.com

NEVER GET DISCOURAGED

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Great to be a new member of the Stiletto Gang, the most talented writers I’ve come across in a group, probably ever. As an introduction, I’ll lay out the highlights of my literary journey below.

 

In 1962, my mother registered me for a writing class that was offered in summer school after the eighth grade. Only one other girl signed up, so the class was cancelled.

 

Once in high school, we were assigned a short story. I wasn’t present the day the teacher handed them back—I’d gone to the orthodontist—but when I returned to school, kids congratulated me on my story, saying the teacher read it to the class. The next day when she returned my story, I found she’d give it a B-.

 

My parents told me I couldn’t be a writer because I wouldn’t be able to make a living. I don’t know whether that is what would have happened. You never know what the future holds. But, I was an obedient child, at least for a while, so I said ok.

 

I didn’t know what else I might want to do. Dad wanted my sister and me to be teachers, so if our husbands died or abandoned us, we’d be able to support ourselves. My sister did and ended up as an administrator in a small public school district. Me? I dropped in and out of five colleges/universities until I was finally awarded a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice.

 

I once signed up, as an adult, for a writing class at the community college in our town, excited to finally get something going. When I received my first story back, the instructor had written that I had no talent—give it up.

 

After I began practicing law, I was lying around my living room once night and told my husband that if a writer could make $5,000 a pop for genre romance novels as it stated in the TV Guide article I read, I should try that. I read everything, including romances. I didn’t think it looked that hard. So, I bought some books on writing romances and sent for tip sheets and finally wrote one. I sent it off and waited for a response. The editor said no, she wouldn’t publish my novel, her rejection including some choice insults, and never to send her anything again.

 

I began writing suspense/mysteries in the 80s. My father was a criminal defense lawyer, (and later a judge), so I’d been around the law since I was little. I had been a probation officer and was at that time a criminal and family lawyer. Crime, I knew about. By the way, I heard that not long after the aforementioned editor rejected my novel, she died. Just so you know, I didn’t kill her.

 

When my editor at St. Martin’s Press, Inc. called me about MY FIRST MURDER, (my first published novel) he excitedly asked where I learned to write like that. He loved the book and said my manuscript was one of the best submissions he’d ever seen in terms of preparation, punctuation, etc. He loved it so much, a year later he rejected the sequel.

 

Enough of that. My point is, never give up. I had that first novel sale in 1988. I used the book as a political tool when I was running for office, donating copies across the county. What a great gimmick! I received free publicity and extra attention at every event, in addition to speaking engagements.

 

I was elected to the bench and took office on 1/1/91. My focus turned to being a sitting judge, modernizing practices and procedures in that court, including starting programs to help families and children. I continued to write whenever I could, though I didn’t have any other books published until after I left the bench at the end of 2002. In 2004, Eakin Press (a Texas publisher) released my nonfiction books: Heart of Divorce (which I wrote to help pro se litigants who couldn’t afford lawyers to prosecute their own divorces) and Murdered Judges of the 20th Century, which I researched and wrote over the previous six years, (and which began as evidence for the county commissioners that we needed courthouse security).

 

After that, I started submitting works I’d written while on the bench. I wanted to change my focus from the law to liberal arts. In 2015, I made the decision to self-publish. Though by then I had several mystery/suspense novels under my belt, I had grown tired of the traditional publishing process. I was aging out. The last straw was when an agent told me to cut my manuscript 20,000 words and submit it to her. I did, and never heard from her. That was it.

 

At sixty-five years of age, I was sick of the abuse most authors suffer at the hands of agents and editors. I was writing because I have to, not because I needed to. Or, as I often phrase it, I can’t not write. There was no joy, no pleasure in experiencing what they were dishing out. Where I had hoped for years to have the guidance and support of an agent and/or editor, I realized that would never happen. I have stories to tell. I’m constantly learning craft. I don’t care if I ever have huge sales. I’m having fun doing what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl with no pressure, no insults, no rejection. I love it.

 

Now, at 74, I spend a lot of my days writing or reading. I’m having fun living life my way. I never gave up. I suggest if you love to write, don’t let anyone discourage you either.

Susan has published 14 books in the last 30 or so years. Not all of them are mystery/suspense, but all of them have something to do with the law.

Have You Read These Books?

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As a lifelong book lover, I read newsletters and articles by literary critics on what they think is important to read. So in January, I usually check the various “Best” book lists for the past year.

I’ve long been skeptical of how the books are chosen. When a thriller I helped write earned a spot on The New York Times “Notables” list, it was disappointing to learn why—after five printings in both hardback and paperback and translated into two foreign language editions—it didn’t quite become a NYT “bestseller.” It had more to do with a bookselling logarithm and a publisher’s reluctance to support it than it did with the quality of the book itself.

But to learn what’s happening in the popular culture, I still read the lists. The NYT says the five best novels of 2023 are The Bee Sting, Chain-Gang All-Stars, Eastbound, North Woods, and The Fraud (written by Zadie Smith, an author I’ve read and enjoyed).

The Wall Street Journal chose an entirely different five: The Lost Wife, The Sun Walks Down, Good Girls, Red Memory, and A Dictator Calls (winner of a Man Booker prize).

Reader’s Digest doesn’t stop at mere books of the year. It also publishes “The 100 Best Books of All Time.” What they do when new books are published is a mystery. They could easily drop Hamlet from the current list. It’s a remarkable piece of literature, but it isn’t a book. But what about the other 99?

In a sign of the times, there’s also a Top 50 Banned Books list. I enjoyed many of those as a child and in high school English class. I’m sure you have, too. Now I’m curious about the rest of them, especially one called Captain Underpants.

When I choose a new book, I often rely on recommendations from friends. I love being introduced to books I wouldn’t necessarily pick up on my own.

So, have you read any good books lately? Tell us about it in the comments below.

And speaking of books, I’m giving away free copies of The Body Business ebook for 24 hours beginning at midnight tonight through midnight tomorrow (Jan. 10th) on Amazon. Tell your friends!

Gay Yellen is the author of the award-winning SamanthaNewman Mysteries include The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and The Body in the News!

Contact her at GayYellen.com 

Deep in the Promo Weeds

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By Lois Winston

My post last month talked about the five-letter word that sends a shudder through most authors. I’ve been in the promotion weeds ever since, due to the recent launch of  A Crafty Collage of Crime, the 12th book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. Between my own blog, Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, and the two group blogs I belong to, this one and Booklover’s Bench, I also signed up for a blog tour with Great Escapes Book Tours and booked a few guest blogs on my own. The grand total came to—drumroll, please—26 blog posts through the middle of August!

And here lies the conundrum: How many ways can I talk about my series and the newest book in it without sounding like a broken record? Or worse yet, a carnival barker? Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. Be the first to experience the latest murder and mayhem author Lois Winston has dumped on her poor reluctant amateur sleuth!

No one likes being bombarded with “buy my book” pleas on social media. Hard sell often works against an author. Years ago, when I was still writing romance, I attended a conference where a well-known, bestselling author kept pleading with the audience to buy her books because her teenage son was growing so fast that she was spending a fortune every month at Foot Locker. From the sideways glances those of us in the audience were giving each other, I had the sense that this author’s attempt at a cute marketing ploy was backfiring badly. Especially since we’d all seen her latest advance recently posted on Publishers Marketplace. I’ve been published since 2006, and to this day, if you added up all my advances and royalties from the past seventeen years, the total would still be less than what that author had received in one advance.

At any rate, Anastasia and I (some bloggers requested posts written by my sleuth or interviews with her instead of me) have tried—desperately—to keep each of the posts fresh and different. My Great Escapes blog tour began June 19th and runs through July 2nd. You can find the schedule here. Visit each site to enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win one of three copies I’m giving away of A Crafty Collage of Crime. Because the drawing won’t be held until after the last guest post goes live on July 2nd, you can also go back and enter at the blogs that have already posted.

I promise I won’t implore you to add to my sons’ or grandsons’ sneaker funds!

Instead, if you post a comment here, I’ll enter you in a random drawing for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of A Stitch to Die For, the fifth book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series.

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.