Three Reasons to Pack Your Bags and Get Thee to a Writers Conference

by Sophie Perinot

I am a big advocate of attending writers’ conferences.  Being a stay-at-home book mama can make the world shrink to an unbearably small size—with all the depression and obsessing over minutia which that entails.  Packing away the yoga pants, packing up your professional duds and heading out to a conference plunks you right down in the big picture again—reminding you that you are not the only crazy nut writing a book and why you really do love what you do.  Need a little more persuading?  Here are three reasons you should be registered for a writing conference in the next 12 months: 

Conferences have more than pretty locations to recommend them

1) Conferences put the big-C in “C” Community.  It is a massive battery-recharge to realize that you are part of something bigger than yourself.  If you've selected your conference with care it’s like jumping into a pool of warm-fuzzies.  I am recently back from the 5^th North American Historical Novel Society Conference.  That means I spent 3 days in the company of 300+ people who love reading and writing historical fiction as much as I do.  Um, I am simply not going to run into that many history-nuts at my local Safeway, or pretty much anywhere else.  Everywhere you turn at a writer’s conference you will find people discussing things that interest you and don’t interest 99% of the people who sit at your dinner table or otherwise know you in “real life.”  You will also find support—for your dreams and your work.  Think getting an email from a reader saying how they connected with your book or a good review from a blogger is great?  Well meeting that blogger and exchanging hugs in the lobby, or having dinner next to someone who tells you they just loved your book takes it to a totally different level.   Oh, and when you go (note, I say when not if), don’t forget to give as good as you get.  Be supportive of others—that’s what community means.

2) Even in a world increasingly dominated by virtual gatherings and social media there is no substitute for in person contact when it comes to networking.  We make a different kind of connection when we look people in the eye and shake their hand; a different kind of investment in them.  Much of what we do as authors on facebook, twitter, etc. is sound-bite driven.  Meeting in person allows long-form discussions and the building of relationships rooted in more than quips.  It can put a special sort of seal on relationships begun in the virtual realm.  Think this doesn't matter?  Think again.  When it is time to look for authors to blurb your next book, or when you receive a blurb request personal contact can make the difference between a yes and a no.  When I get a promotional opportunity (e.g. I am asked to present somewhere) I know that the more authors the bigger the audience draw, and who do I reach out to for those additional panelists—people I consider as friends as well as colleagues.  When you need a critique partner, folks you've met at writers conferences often fill the bill.  Three of my critique partners are authors I met at past HNS Conferences, and at the 2013 Conference I met a flourishing writers group formed at the 2011 event.

3) A good conference packs an educational punch.  The best writers conferences have content appropriate to all ages and stages of the book parent, from those looking to find a midwife (agent) to those juggling the demands of toddler books while gestating the next book baby.  I am not saying you can’t learn about the publishing business, craft, or industry trends in other ways.   I am asserting that you can get more information—often from top industry professionals and household-name authors in your genre—in a shorter period of time.  That’s because a good writers’ conference is focused on bringing attendees the information most useful to them and cramming it into two or three days of panels and speeches.  The conference planners have done a lot of your work for you—vetting panel topics, selecting speakers, filtering out the noise and nonsense and presenting you with the most up-to-date information possible.

Finally, a word about cost.  I know a lot of writers who have yet to attend a conference because conferences represent an expense (often a significant one).  If I were going to add a fourth point to my list it would be this—you are worth it.   A few years ago I heard an industry speaker (yes, at a writers’ conference) say that writers—and female writers in particular oh book-mamas out there—often hesitate to invest in themselves before they are actually earning money with their writing.  His point—writing is a small business and all small businesses have start-up costs.  You have to invest in your professional development to give yourself the best chance of making it in this tough business.

So get thee to a writers’ conference.  It’s going to be a transformative experience.  I promise.

Sophie Perinot (right) networking at a conference with book-bloggers
and fellow Book Pregnant author Nancy Bilyeau (2nd from left)

Sophie Perinot is the author of The Sister Queens(NAL/Penguin, March 2012) a novel of sisterhood set in the 13th century. Her debut was widely well-reviewed and made a number of “best of 2012” lists.  When Sophie is not chauffeuring one of her three kids or lint rolling the hair of one of her three cats she is hard at work on a new novel novel set in 16^th century France. 

Bragging About Your Child—Real or Book—Is No Way to Win Friends or Influence People

by Sophie Perinot

You see them in every playgroup—parents who aren’t really interested in the give and take of meaningful conversation. Instead, while Johnny eats dirt in the sandbox, they want to monologue about just how great he is. No matter the topic under discussion, they turn it in the same direction: “MY son. . .” (fill in the blank with a brag of your choice, often only very tangentially related to the subject at hand). Nobody likes these people. Nobody enjoys talking to them. Why then, I wonder, do so many authors model their social media interactions on these bores?

I’ve noticed quite a bit of this sort of blind self-centeredness lately, particularly in writing and reading related facebook groups. When I join a group devoted to say “Lovers of Mysteries with Dogs as Their Main Character” (okay I made that one up, but I don’t want to point fingers at actual groups or communities), I expect folks therein to share information on good books with doggy detectives, or links to websites to help me in researching or writing such tomes. Instead, what I am getting these days are nearly naked brag-ver-tisements—“My book ‘It’s a Dog Eat Dog World’ just got a super-duper review at ‘Dog books R us!’ Read it here. Or better still buy my book here, or here, or here.”

Come on fellow book-parents, if I want advertisements there are plenty running along the top or side of every darn website I visit. You’ve got a personal facebook page, probably an author FB page, and doubtless an author website where you can share good reviews and “buy it now” links. You can even directly and unabashedly promote your book at those locations (though the jury is out on how effective that will be for you). But the essence of communities/groups (even in the virtual world) is dialogue.

A hybrid of “boast posters” are the folks who share EVERY blog post they’ve ever written or will ever write to a facebook group, irrespective of whether it’s on topic. Sure, if you (or if I) have written a post that is germane to the topic of a group or comment thread (or touches on one of the subjects that you assume people follow you on twitter to hear about) then posting your link is a worthy public service. But if you are turning every conversation in the direction of yourself or your book-baby then spare us and save yourself the time (because pretty soon I for one am going to stop even looking at your posts because I already KNOW what they will say—some version of “my baby is so great.”)

As writers today there is a great deal of pressure on us to market our own work, and very specifically to have a presence in the virtual world. But I presume that an annoying presence seldom sells a book. If you join a community of like-minded people as part of your “building an internet presence” campaign, please try to interact with fellow members in a genuine, non-agenda-driven, manner. And for the record an interaction is neither effective nor genuine when it amounts to commenting on topics started by others about their book-babies PURELY for the purpose of turning attention to yours (“Oh Missy looks great in her tutu, but did I ever tell you about the time Mary did a guest appearance with the Rockettes?  Here’s the video link!”).

People can smell a pushy mama a mile away—whether in a school auditorium or on twitter.  If you are only talking and not listening in your on-line relationships you are wasting your time. People are going to start moving their chairs away. Want to get something out of your on-line-community participation?  Put something in.  How?  I can suggest two concrete ways:

Be a friend, make a friend. When another mom asks a favor of me in real life (e.g. can you pick up my kid tomorrow I have to go to the dentist) I am WAY more likely to go out of my way if I genuinely like that her and have a sense that she’d have my back if I was in pinch.  So in your author interactions build meaningful connections.  Listen to what other virtual community members have to say and comment intelligently.  Make friends rather than trying to score sales.  You may just get the sales to boot, because I buy books written by friends (folks I’ve gotten to know through writers conferences, through on-line communities and through their blogs), don’t you?

Gain influence by offering information and expertise.  I write historical fiction.  That means I know what other history nuts like.  When I read an article that makes me say “oh wow” (most recently an article having do with research on Roman toilets—to each her own eh?) I think, “who else would like to see this,” then I share it accordingly in the correct facebook group or using the appropriate twitter hash tag.  In addition, I take the time to comment, share experiences, or answer questions where my personal knowledge might assist someone else. A question about the difference between a Spanish and a French Farthingale?—I’ve got that.  A fellow writer wondering whether writers conferences are worth attending—I’ve got an opinion on that as well.  Be useful and before you know it you’ve built a “value niche” in the virtual world.  Can that help your book-baby?  I think so.  After all if I know that author X consistently exhibits an impressive knowledge of 18th century Italy, I am more likely to buy her historical thriller set in 18th century Rome.

And hey, think of it this way. . .even if being a full-fledged contributing member of an author playgroup doesn’t demonstratively increase your sales, at least people won’t wince when you pull up your lawn chair next to the monkey bars.

Sophie Perinot is the author of The Sister Queens(NAL/Penguin, March 2012) a novel of sisterhood set in the 13th century. Her debut was widely well-reviewed and made a number of “best of 2012” lists.

When Sophie is not chauffeuring one of her three kids or lint rolling the hair of one of her three cats she is hard at work on a new novel novel set in 16^th century France. 

Older and Wiser--Reflections of a Birthday Girl

by Sophie Perinot

You are only young once.  And you are only a debut novelist once. Time passes—you can’t stop it. But if you are going to get older than you might as well work on the getting wiser thing. I mean wisdom is a MAJOR perk of experience.

I am just one day shy of another birthday and one week shy of my book-baby’s first birthday. So I am working hard to focus on wisdom—especially because it keeps me distracted from the appearance of new gray hairs.

Here are some of my new, wiser, attitudes towards being a published author—a state-of-being that I believe that I understand better today than I did one year ago:

It is NOT about the 2%.  When your book is published there will be some minority of people who just don’t get it. More than that, who just don’t like it. My sense, from scanning the goodreads ratings and reviews of my own book and the books of others, is that your anti-fans will be about 2% of your readers. Are you really going to let 2% make you feel bad about your book, your craft or yourself?  If you are, I can’t help you. Nobody can help you. Remember that old saying “you can’t please all of the people all of the time?” Well TRUE THAT! So focus on the 99% who think your work is solid, or better still on the sub-set at the top of the spectrum who give you great reviews and write you nice notes saying they can’t wait to read your next book. You will be saner.  You will be more productive.

It IS about the moment.  The older you get the more you realize moments are fleeting. The same is true for your book. In its first weeks everybody notices a debut novel. It’s a review here and interview there the attention is dizzying. Were you enjoying it, or were you worrying about your next appearance or deadline?  Don’t feel bad—me too. After nearly 12 months on the market, however, I’ve learned to savor a nice blog review when it comes in, ditto that hour with a book club on a Thursday evening. I’ve also learn to stop anticipating problems. The one’s you worry about in advance never seem to happen and the crises that do arise are going to gut kick you when they happen so why worry in advance?

Everybody feels competent to judge, but ONLY your judgment matters.  Everybody has an opinion on this writer-gig you’ve taken on. They feel entitled to judge whether it was a good idea, how you are handling it, and whether you are succeeding.  This is true in very few other professions. When I practiced law other lawyers might have an opinion on my professional competence, but the grocery checkout lady—not so much. The only thing I’ve ever done that has attracted more unsolicited opinions is parenting. But, like parenting, the bottom line here is that only YOU can know why you make the writing-related decisions you do. Every writer wants the good opinion of somebody, but not the same somebody. Every writer wants to sell books, but the number that feels like “enough” and the auspices under which we’d like those sales to be made (e.g. Tradtional, Indie etc.) vary. Based on what we want out of our book babies we will make different parenting decisions than other writers.  So what?  There is no “one right way.”  Let other’s “tsk tsk” you. You are the book parent here and you will be the one living with the results of your decisions.

Do not covet you neighbor’s ox—or your fellow author’s book tour.  Envy will eat the heart of out you. And to what purpose? Jealousy of a fellow author’s cover will not change the art on yours if you don’t like it. Hating on someone because his publisher sprang for six weeks of coop and yours only paid for two will not improve where your book is shelved. If you are busy thinking about the inequities of life and publishing you will miss the good stuff(see point two on enjoying the moment). It also has a tendency to seep out—leaving you looking bitter and unpleasant. Bitter and unpleasant never made a friend or sold a book.  Of course we are all human. If (or rather when) you must indulge in a moment of envy do it privately—that is what good friends are for. And speaking of friends. . .

You don’t have to have lunch with people you don’t like.  I stopped having lunch with people I didn’t like about a decade ago. I thought, “I am likely half-way through my life why the heck am I wasting time and calories in situations I don’t enjoy?” Book promotion is like that too. If you make yourself engage in promotional activities that you don’t enjoy it will only end in heartburn and disappointment, because if you don’t like to do something chances are it will show in the results. Don’t’ like blogging?  Don’t’ blog. Concentrate on doing those author-ly things you actually enjoy, and you will be making the most efficient use of your promotional time and money—at least that’s my opinion. Oh and ditto with the actual lunch thing. Networking is important in this profession but you don’t have to sit on every panel you are asked to sit on, or have coffee with every fellow writer who asks. You are looking to develop a support group of fellow writers and it is perfectly acceptable to have liking those writers as one of your criteria. Tomorrow on my birthday I will be lunching with two fellow historical fiction writers whose work I respect and who I adore and that is as it should be.

Never stop learning.  Learning is like breathing—if you stop, you die (or at least part of you does).  You can always be a better person and a better writer. Read with your “writer glasses” on. Keep up with the industry. Beg, steal or borrow promotional and motivational ideas from other writers you respect. Listen. Not only to other writing professionals but to readers. I ask every book club I visit where they think I fell down on the job. You don’t have to react to every bit of feedback you receive, it is within each author’s purview to access whether a critique resonates, but if you never entertain the possibility that there is room for improvement you will not improve.

Your whole goal is be wiser next birthday and next book-baby isn’t it?  That sure is my goal, and possibly an appropriate wish as I blow out this year’s candles. 

Sophie Perinot is the author of The Sister Queens (NAL/Penguin, March 2012) a novel of sisterhood set in the 13th century. Her debut was widely well-reviewed and made a number of “best of 2012” lists.

When Sophie is not chauffeuring one of her three kids or lint rolling the hair of one of her three cats she is currently working on a novel set in 16^thcentury France.

Yes, tomorrow really is her birthday but DO NOT ask her how old she is because she is not telling.

Almost Live From the Baltimore Book Festival—Finding the Courage to Write

by Sophie Perinot

Sophie Perinot (right) with Kate Quinn
(another woman who found the courage
to pursue her writing seriously).

This past weekend I had the pleasure of being a presenting author at the Baltimore Book Festival.  Among the panels I sat on was one entitled “Finding the Courage to Write.”  Finding their courage is certainly something every book pregnant author has done—otherwise we wouldn’t be in a family way would we?  But I’d never really reflected on that fact, or what precisely it meant in my own experience until I received my list of panel assignments. What follows are the conclusions I came to while preparing my remarks for the Festival. 

When I heard title “Finding the Courage to Write” I immediately thought about how so many women writers—including myself—transition to writing from other careers or from being stay-at-home Moms.  I mean I wasn’t always a writer (were you?).  In fact, I am not even one of those people who always knew she wanted to be a writer.  I do nothave stacks of journals under my bed dating to my adolescent days. I’ve always made up stories, sure (mostly for my sister’s entertainment) but when I was a little girl I dreamed of being the junior senator from Ohio, not a novelist.  Then I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer and in due course I went off to college and law school and became one. And that is when I discovered that being good at something doesn’t mean you enjoy it.  Which brings me to the courage thing. 

When people like me—those who come to writing somewhere down the line in life—talk about “Finding the Courage to Write” what we are really talking about is something bigger.  We are talking about finding the courage to REINVENT ourselves and commit, fully to that reinvention.

In my own case my sister helped me find my initial courage.  As I mentioned I was my in my dream job but it was turning out to be not-so-dreamy.  I knew I wanted to do something new, but deciding what to be when you grow up when you are already grown up is an angst filled business.  I don’t do angst without my sister (much as she doubtless wishes I would).  So I was on the phone using her as an unpaid career counselor/therapist when she said, “I know you are making up a story right now in your head.  Whatever that story is pick up your dictaphone and start saying it out loud.”  I was leaving on a family beach vacation, but I took my dictaphone along and followed my sister’s orders.  The result was my first completed manuscript.  But putting words on paper was only the first step down the road to being reincarnated as a writer—and for me it was NOT the most difficult or courageous.

What took the most guts was getting up the gumption to admit that I wanted my writing to be more than a hobby.  That it was a serious, professional endeavor.  And here is why I think that was so difficult:

1)      When you write as a hobby you don’t really have to put yourself on the line.  You can begin writing part-time, in your spare time and entirely as a hobby.  Nobody has to know you are writing.  Other than my family and a few very close friends, nobody knew I was working on that first book.  And the GLORIOUS THING ABOUT BEING AN “IN THE CLOSET” WRITER is that you cannot fail at something nobody knows you are doing.  Even if you choose to share your stories with friends or family, as I did, there isn’t much risk—if your mother or your friend doesn’t like your book she is going to be too polite to say so.  Besides chances are they will love what you’ve written because when we evaluate something created by a person we care about we are likely to see it with kind and enthusiastic eyes.

But while you can be a writer as a hobby you cannot remain a hobbyist and become a published author. So unless I wanted to just tie every manuscript up with a ribbon and put it in my linen closet I had find the courage to say out loud—first to myself, then to writers in a writing community, and finally to agents in the form of a query letter—“I want to be a professional writer and I am seeking publication for my work.”

2)     Going public with your dream opens the door to a whole lot of hurt. The big fear of course is public failure.  If you proclaim that you intend to write and publish a book and then fail . . . ouch.  Or you can have a book published and it can belly flop into oblivion. But even before you get to the edge of that cliff, the road to publication involves finding an agent and a publisher—steps that require you to show your manuscript to industry professionals.  Handing over your manuscript to strangers brings with it the inevitable sting of rejection when someone (and doubtless more than one someone too) tells you your baby isn’t good enough or isn’t marketable.

It’s a true “no guts no glory” situation.  But plucking up your courage has more to recommend it than just the long term dream of publication.  If you admit that you want to write professionally a lot of doors open.  For example, once I’d owned up to my desire for a career in writing all sorts of new opportunities for learning about the publishing industry and growing my craft presented themselves.  I attended my first writing conference, and in three days learned more about my genre and the industry than I had learned in all my blog and article reading at home.  I also joined an on-line writing community to which I still belong and where I am now a moderator.

So by gathering your courage and acknowledging your dream you not only open the door to ultimate professional achievement—a book pregnancy and many happy returns—but at the same time you improve your chances of realizing that ultimate success.

If you are out in the BP audience quietly working on manuscripts and just storing them on your hard drive I am here to tell you (with my seven-month-old book baby on my lap) that if you can find the courage to own your dream of being a writer you can reach that dream.  And I think that a reinvention worth finding the courage to take a chance on.

So You Want to Get Book Pregnant

by Sophie Perinot

If you want to get book pregnant—there is no delicate way to put this—you have to DO IT.  You know . . . query agents (what did you think I meant?).

Not a romantic task, granted.  Query letter composition is unlikely to leave one creatively satiated in the way that writing an 80,000 word novel will.  To torture the sexual innuendo a little further—writing a query is a highly technical and clinical business, like the type of fertility-driven sex that has people taking their temperatures, or leaving specimens in cups.
It’s enough to put a would-be-pregnant author out of the writing mood.

As a result, many writers bog down at the query letter composition stage.  I know someone who has been thinking about querying and working on a query letter for more than a year.  I am NOT making that up.  Yes a query letter is a vital sales document and a badly written one may leave you without the requests for partials and fulls that are necessary preludes to a positive pregnancy test.  And yes writing a good query is not easy (if it were there wouldn’t be hundreds if not thousands of articles and blog posts offering advice on how to compose one). BUT should it really take months and drafts in the double-digits?

No.  To be a little more adamant, NO, NO, NO.

Do NOT let writing your query becomes a Sisyphean struggle (you remember, the guy who had to push the big rock up the hill over and over), because a perfect query letter is NOT an end in itself.  It’s a tool. And tools need to be USED to get a job done.  At some point the incremental improvements you are making as you revise your letter for the umpteenth time are NOT worth the time or the agony. More than this, an over-edited letter can lose voice.

Picking through the query critique forum at Agent Query Connect (my favorite on-line community for the aspiring writer) it’s pretty easy to find threads with ten, twenty, even thirty versions of a single query.  Such treads make me want to scream “GET ON WITH IT! SEND THE DARN THING.” But that kind of verbiage in a critique threads would hardly be appropriate.

So I am saying it here. Just DO it. Stop painting the nursery and query.

I am not saying send your first draft. I am not saying don’t seek critique. I am saying all things in moderation. How many drafts of my letter did I do—maybe four. How many people did I show it to before it went out? Five (and two of them weren’t even writers). Did it work? More than uncommonly well (I had a very high request rate, snagged an agent I adore and now have a published novel). Could my letter have been better? Sure. But if I were still working on polishing it, then my book baby wouldn’t be nearly six months old!

Live Author Appearances – They are not the marketing mainstay they once were, but if you are going to do them, do them right!

by Sophie Perinot

Once upon a time when a writer sold a book author appearances of some sort were pretty much a given. Writers, from newbie to veteran, gamely piled into their cars (or got on planes if their publishers would spring for airfare) and traveled through a wide swath of  bookstore-land, giving readings and signing novels. Nobody questioned the wisdom of the live author appearance as a way to sell books and generate buzz.

But the times, they are a-changing.  It is increasingly unlikely, oh-book-pregnant-one, that your publicist will be planning live events for you.  The question then becomes--if you must plan them and bear the costs of them, how important is it for you to make live author appearances?

There are probably as many opinions on this as there are authors but here is mine--not very.  In a world of “virtual bookstores” and lively, on-line reader communities the internet provides authors with many new and efficient ways to connect with potential readers.  Ways that don’t involve spending a fortune on gas, shirking your day jobs or suffering from jet lag. For example, in conjunction with the launch of The Sister Queens I did a blog tour that took me to more than 45 blogs, most catering specifically to readers looking for new and notable historical novels. My name and my novel were brought to the attention of thousands of book fans while I remained comfortably ensconced in my home-office.  So, If your budget or your "real life" don't lend themselves to a fifty-store swing through your home state, no sweat.

If, however, you do want to do a handful of live appearances (and, squee, even I couldn't resist): 1) keep your expectations realistic; and 2) arrange and execute your author appearances in the manner most likely to maximize their sales impact.

About those expectations . . . If you are a newbie author and you expect a reading or signing to draw an audience full of book-buyers, you are likely to be disappointed. Oh you may have a super turn out—particularly if the event is close to home. Your Aunt Tilly and the cousins will pile into the front row, the book club from your church will wave to you from the “cheap seats.” Folks from the office might even drop by. Everyone will be there to celebrate your success. That’s a gratifying feeling—pretty damn gratifying. Enjoy it. But recognize those full seats probably won’t increase your over-all sales numbers by much. Why? Because these attendees are folks you should be able to count on to buy your book even without an event. I mean, does Aunt Tilly want to stay on your Christmas card list for next year or not? Your friends, your relatives, your colleagues, are BUILT IN sales. You don’t need an event to woo them.

This does NOT mean an event can’t sell books. But you have to PLAN IT CAREFULLY, AND you need to THINK BEYOND THOSE ACTUALLY IN ATTENDANCE.

“What’s your advice Sophie?” So glad you asked!



The banner I created for my novel displayed by B&N
in their front window ringed with copies of the book

Plan a “value added” event to get the biggest interest and attendance from potential buyers. A signing is easy. You show up, sit at a table surrounded by piles of your books, talk to anyone who approaches, and sign books they purchase. Not much prep on your part. But not too exciting for readers either. Give potential buyers of your book original content—something they can’t get from your book itself or your website. That will make them turn out.

My favorite author event thus far was the panel discussion (billed as a historical fiction triple-treat) I did with a pair of fellow historical fiction authors. We prepared a discussion called “Sex, Lies and History: A Literary Threesome.” Those who turned out had something more to see (and hear) than authors sitting quietly at a table, or reading text they could just as easily read themselves (which, after all is what a traditional reading is). They witnessed a lively debate on, among other things, common misconceptions about women in history and the trend towards more sexual content in mainstream historical fiction. The audience was also able to participated during the Q&A—and believe me they did, enthusiastically. Every seat was filled, and many of those bodies were people none of us had met before. These were people turning out to be entertained and educated, not just to support a friend or family member.

Promote your event—tweet it, blog about it, put announcements in your local paper and in on-line sources for local events and entertainment. Consider having a banner or foam-core poster made that you can use to promote a variety of events (you can see the one I created in the picture above). Often you can get the venue hosting your event to display this for you and that can really pay off (see below). Even if the people who see your announcements or poster don’t show up for your actually appearance, this type of publicity increases name recognition for you and for your book. The more often potential readers run into your work the more likely they will start to have the feeling your book is “hot.” That’s a sale waiting to happen.

If you are lucky, the bookstore hosting your event will promote it as well. This, in my opinion, is what really distinguishes the super-worth-while event from the average appearance. The Barnes & Noble that hosted the triple-event mentioned above gave each of our work a prominent window display—dozens of copies of our books right in the front window with huge banners showing our covers super-sized. You can’t pay for that type of exposure if you are a debut author—literally. Your publisher may buy coop placement on those coveted front tables (“New Releases” anyone?!) but the chances of you being in a front window of a major chain bookstore—let alone for a full week—are pretty slim. Now THAT’S the type of exposure that sells books because it makes you look like one of the big dogs.

Be gracious and friendly to the bookstore staff, whether in you are stopping by the store to discuss details of your upcoming event or during your appearance. I recently did a signing at a nearby bookstore. Unlike my panel event, there were no chairs sent out for an audience and I gave no presentation of any sort. The entire event was just me, chit-chatting with shoppers and hoping some of them would buy a signed copy of my book. And some did—but probably not enough to warrant two hours of my time.

When I wasn’t talking to customers, however, I was chatting with the staff.  I made sure to meet every person on duty.  I answered their questions about my book.  In the case of those who were also writers—lots bookstore staff members are also writers—I made sure to ask about their work and recommended my favorite on-line writing communities and resources.  Now I am a very outgoing person and would likely have done all this anyway.  But even if you are the hermit type I still strongly recommend this level of cordiality, because these are the people who recommend books to buyers.  If they connect with you they will make an effort to hand-sell your book.  Before I left I signed all the remaining copies of my novel (more copies than I’d sold) and the store manager helped me create a little display with them (on my own separate table) right at the front of the store.  Again, priceless exposure.  I whistled on my way back to my car because I knew the manager and his staff are going to see that those signed copies find good homes.

When Your Book-Baby Isn’t The New Kid On the Block Anymore

by Sophie Perinot

When you have a brand new baby everyone wants to see it.  Relatives travel  to admire the latest addition to the family.  Neighbors cross the street to peek in your stroller and declare how cute junior is—even if he looks like a little bald, red-faced monkey.  More than this, everyone wants in on the parenting action.  Your sister-in-law has naptime tips.  Strangers at grocery stores ask incredibly personal questions and offer unsolicited advice.

Bleary-eyes, sleep-deprived and feeling far from glamorous, you are not in any sort of shape to enjoy all this attention.  You swear—usually under your breath on the way to your car lugging that ridiculously heavy infant car seat—that you wish everyone would just fade away and stop calling at the precise moment the baby is napping and you are trying to squeeze in a shower.  Yes, you are delighted that everyone admires the baby but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

It’s pretty much the same thing for a debut author during the immediate post-launch period.  Minus the poopy diapers of course.

Your family and friends call or email in a continuous stream congratulating you and asking “how are sales?”  Book bloggers want guest posts—now, now, now!  You can’t walk into a bookstore without seeing your book on the tables and God that’s a rush.

For the first few weeks you are okay—after all you didn’t need an epidural or stitches to deliver this baby.  But somewhere around the 30^th stop on your world-domination blog tour, you begin to run out of steam.  You aren’t sleeping like you used to because, um, you have this other book you are supposed to be writing.  You’ve run out of ideas for guest posts that might go viral.  And, like new parents the world over, no matter how confident you seem you are not entirely sure you are doing this right.  You want things to JUST CALM DOWN ALREADY!

And then they do.  Right around the three month mark.

Your book is no longer “what’s new” or “what’s next.”  It’s just like hundreds of other cute little toddlers out there, standing next to their new baby brother while everyone “ooos” and “ahs” over him.  And far from being happy about this shift in attention, your book is thinking (well, it is inanimate so you are thinking) “what the hell’s so special about him?”  OUCH. I know.  I’ve been there (actually I AM there right now).

This can be a demoralizing time.  You may find yourself unable to focus on your latest manuscript even as deadlines grow closer.  You may find yourself thinking, “Why did I think I wanted to be published?”  I mean all that work—the writing; the looking for an agent; the checking your email every hour while your agent pitched to publishers; the edits, copy edits, page proofs, etc—yet in less than 1/4 of the 12-18 months it took from signing your publishing contract until your launch some stores aren’t even carrying your novel anymore.  Is it any wonder you have an author’s version of post-partum depression?

So what can you do?

First, remember none of this sudden dearth of attention is a reflection on your book-baby.  Your novel is still compelling.  Your cover is still eye-catching.  It’s just not brand new anymore.  Honeymoons end.  You don’t look at your husband of 10 years the same way you did when he was your husband of ten days (and if you do, I’ll have what you’re drinking).  The great cultural eye has shifted on to new targets.  Somebody else’s book baby is the hot young thing.  That doesn’t mean that thousands of people aren’t out there reading your book right now and enjoying the heck out of it.

Second, understand that you are not alone.  It’s easy to feel that way because authors—like others whose jobs include putting on a public face—are conditioned to project an aura of confidence and success.  Next time you see a tweet by a fellow author exclaiming over her wonderful book signing, remember that behind the “rainbows and unicorns” prose there may have been fifty chairs with ten bodies in them.  Most authors don’t become overnight sensations and New York Times best-sellers with their debuts, yet they go on to have productive and fulfilling authorial careers.  You are in the majority here kiddo.  Focus on what brought you into this business in the first place—the writing.  You love that right?  So do it.  Go back to a work day that is more about the next book and less about the one that has already launched.

Third, reach out to other writers for support.  Book parenting is just like regular parenting, when you are most worried and in need of advice you are least likely to ask for it.  Why?  Because asking for advice means admitting you need it—that you have doubts and that maybe, gulp, you or your book aren’t doing as well as you expected to be.  You might be wondering, “what if I admit I am feeling down, or disappointed, or worried and everyone else just looks at me with pity because their lives are perfect?”  Yeah, you may get some of that.  And you will find a certain portion of people—usually those behind you in the launch timeline—who are very willing to believe it’s you.  Time will cure that.  But I can guarantee you will also find veteran writers (or debut writers who are just a little further along the trail than you are) willing to say, “yeah, I’ve been there,” and who are willing to offer you tried and true tips for dealing with “middle child” syndrome and all the attendant insecurities.

Finally, own your feelings and don’t be embarrassed of them.  It’s okay to miss being the center of attention.  It’s okay to find that the reality of parenting (either a baby or a book) doesn’t always meet the glowing hype that precedes it.  Problems not owned don’t get solved.  You’ll be glad you broke the code of silence.  I am.

Author Interviews: Staple of the Blog Tour and Terror of the New-book Mother

by Sophie Perinot

Book blogs are the new “village square” as far as word-of-mouth for books goes. With Amazon and Goodreads reviews anonymous (in many cases) and (sadly) for sale, and with newspaper reviews often non-existent for books debuting in paperback, readers looking for quality fiction are relying more and more on the on-line book community. That makes book bloggers valuable “taste makers.”

As a result, the blog tour is fast becoming a staple of the book launch. What does this mean to the “new mother” of a book—a lot of running and a lot of writing that is not adding word count to your WIP.

There are three basic types of blog-appearances: guest posts, reviews, and interviews. Reviews are low workload but high stress. I suspect that needs no explanation. Guest posts aren’t much different than posting at your personal blog (although a tour host may suggest a topic or at least be looking for a post that fits with the themes and aims of their blog). So today I want to talk about the “Author Interview,” because chances are—unless you were a spokesperson or celebrity at your day-job—you haven’t been interviewed frequently or at length before.
In conjunction with the release of my book-baby, The Sister Queens, I have (to date) been interviewed nearly twenty times. That’s a lot of Q & A mes amis. Here are some lessons and reflections from my blogosphere journey that may help those still awaiting their due-date.

1. Start answering questions early. As a new book parent you are going to be sleep/sanity deprived and pinched for time. You are also likely—at least in the first week or two—to have the attention span of a gnat (“look! Amazon rankings!). So, whether you are lining up your own blog tour or working with a professional tour organizer try to get as many sets of interview questions before the tour even begins. Every interview you complete pre-delivery is a gift to your future new-parent self. True, some interviewers won’t write their questions until they’ve read you’re your book, and yes book bloggers have their own lives, but at the very least arrange to have each set of interview questions one full week in advance of the date they are scheduled to post. You’ll be glad you planned and worked ahead. Trust me.

2. Take a cue from your interviewer and her/his blog. You are an author, you know ALL about voice. Well, blogs and bloggers have voice too. If you are being interviewed for a blog with the voice of Stephen Colbert a certain touch of humor (wry, irreverent humor) might be appropriate in your answers. If you are being interviewed by a blogger with the voice of the Pope . . . not so much. There are lots of ways to convey the same information, so calibrate your tone to your platform—at least a little. OBVIOUSLY you want to be yourself when talking about yourself. Just be yourself tailored to your audience.

3. Be a good guest (or best efforts and professional demeanor). Bloggers don’t have to host you, so make it a good experience for them. Remember, your interviewer took the time to think up questions and is opening a public forum for your use. Courtesy and gratitude demand that you do a thorough job of answering your host’s interview questions. Expound, expand, and entertain. “Yes” or “No” may start your answer but they shouldn’t be your answer. Yes, after a dozen interviews the sight of the question, “what was your inspiration for the novel,” may cause you to break out in hives and bang your head against the nearest wall. But just because you’ve answered a question before DOESN’T mean the blogger addressing it to you has read or heard your answer. Ditto her readers. EVERY interview is a chance to reach new readers and inspire them to pick up your book. Don’t toss an opportunity away by giving an answer that telegraphs “I am bored.”

4. It is okay to make suggestions. If you have something you are dying to share with readers there is NOTHING wrong with suggesting a question on that topic to your interviewer. For example, I really (really) wanted to address some common misconceptions about 13th century women, and one of my blog-hosts was delighted to include a question and answer on that topic at my suggestion. Similarly, you may read a question and think a follow up to one is needed. Or you may feel that two questions are overly similar. As long as you are diplomatic you can certainly suggests cutting, adding or rephrasing material.

5. There is more than one way to skin a cat (answer a question). I owe my husband (BIG) for this little insight. I was wrestling with a question that—by my reading--required a huge information dump. My husband said, “what if you give the question a more surface reading and response?” Bingo. The more interviews I did the more I realized that I could craft answers to highlight information, ideas and themes I wanted to convey to readers—information and themes that portrayed my book as I want it positioned in the market. Answer the interview questions you are given in the manner most likely to attract readers to your book. This does not mean lying or telling readers that your book is something it is not (e.g. The Sister Queens is not literary fiction) it simply means clear, clean branding.

6. You do not have to answer every question. You did not surrender all your personal privacy in the delivery room when your book-baby was born. In “real life” people sometimes ask us questions we decline to answer (is that your real hair color? how much money do you make?). If a blogger asks you a question you are uncomfortable answering, don’t answer. Again, just be polite.

7. Hesitant to talk about yourself? Conquer your scruples. There will come a moment during “blog tour mania” when you may have the following thought: “Oh my god, I am a narcissistic b*tch.” This is a good sign—it likely means you are not (or so I tell myself). Try to remain calm, and remember you are NOT that person at a cocktail party who suddenly starts telling someone about their latest achievement in great detail, without provocation. The information you are providing was solicited. Someone (the interviewer) believes there are readers interested in knowing what you drink while writing or whether or not you wear socks (actually the latter was one of my all-time favorite questions—but then again, I like funny).

Just don’t get addicted to all the attention because, like all exhausting but exhilarating things, your blog tour will come to an end. Pretty soon there will be another author in your place at “book-blogs-are-us blog” answering questions about the view from her writing lair and the inspiration for her novel. Hey, doesn’t anybody want to ask ME something?

Don't Be a Helicopter Parent -- Letting Go to Help Your Book-Baby Grow

by Sophie Perinot

Our books are our babies. They’ve kept us up nights, and acted badly in front of company (like those agents we queried too early), but we love them to death and we are very, very possessive of them. And, like most parents, we have high hopes for them. We want them to go on to big things – big sales, good reviews, dates with all the best book clubs.

Sometimes the “possessive” author part of us and the part that wants what’s best for our books are in direct conflict. What do I mean? Have you heard of the “helicopter parent?” I would argue the “helicopter author” also exists—she’s in all of us (guys, you can read “he’s” if it makes you feel better) and if we don’t keep her under control our book will suffer.
Repeat after me – “I am a wordsmith, I write, I write really well. But it takes a lot more than writing to make a book a success—it takes a village (it’s okay, you can steal that phrase from Hillary Clinton, everyone else has). Once I have a publisher I will let the professionals who work there do their jobs.”
That’s precisely what I told myself immediately after I signed the contract for my debut novel (The Sister Queens). Despite being type-A, I decided to make a conscious effort right from the first trimester not to micromanage every step on the publication trail, and not to freak out when I discovered that I didn’t have the political capital to do so anyway. Only a few days before my due date (launch), I am pretty proud of myself. I think I lived up to my pledge not to helicopter parent, and I am going to share the secrets to my tongue-biting success.
Keep your eye on the BIG picture – book sales. I want to sell books. My publisher wants to sell books. We all want to sell my book to people who are not ourselves (and not our friends and family for that matter). So what we like—in terms of a cover, or a title or blog-ad copy, etc—runs a distant second to what a majority of book-buying, cash-carrying potential readers will like.
And the truth is, authors (especially debut authors) may not be in a position to predict what will catch the eye of the average book buyer. I am not trained to do that (nor have I conducted studies or otherwise made it my business to keep my fingers on the pulse of such things) and you probably aren't either. Which leads to my next point.

Remind yourself as often as necessary, that years of experience and professional training DO count for something. Publishing is a competitive industry. The folks our publishers hired didn’t just walk off the street and say “this looks better than working at McDonalds.” They are professionals. The marketing and art department folks are trained to know what gets a book picked up off a “new releases” table. They have been designing covers and brainstorming titles for years. With this in mind, I decided, even as I was offering my own cover ideas (as my editor asked me to) I would stop well short of trying to “direct the brush” of the cover artists and I would accept that they might know best.

Similarly, my editor has been polishing manuscripts since well before I thought of writing them. So, when I received my editorial suggestions back in the second trimester, instead of growling “my baby is perfect as I wrote it,” I consciously adopted a listening frame of mind, and seriously considered every suggestion. My editor gave me the gift of “outside eyes” and not just any old eyes, veteran eyes.

Was ceding some portion of control over a novel I’d lived with and loved easy – not all the time. Did I take every suggestion my editor made – no (ultimately it’s my name on the cover). But neither did I assume I knew best (or if I did assume that for some, giddy, amount of time – I made sure not to email my editor until the feeling passed).

Bottom line: I wanted a deal with a major publisher precisely so that I could tap into the resources and experience of “the best.” Disregarding the type of accumulated expertise my publisher had to offer would have been stupid and stubborn. It would be like going to the hospital and insisting on doing your own c-section.

My book is now four days away from its publication date. I have seen an advanced copy. Am I happy with the results of my “campaign of collaboration?” Yes. My novel is still my baby, but she has my editor’s eyes. She looks spiffy in the cover designer’s custom creation. She’s all grown up and ready to hit the shelves. In case your wondering, I’ll be the woman in Barnes & Noble on March 6th snapping pictures of her on display like she’s a kindergartner getting on the school bus for the first time. “Say Cheese.”

The Last Gasp – That Ninth Month’s a Killer

by Sophie Perinot

Any woman who’s had a baby will tell you pregnancy is one month too long. Book pregnancy is no different. A month before your debut release (a milestone I marked last week) the suspense is killing you and your mood swings have close family members cowering in corners.

"You must be so excited!" People keeping saying that. Nice people. Well-meaning people. And YES I am excited. Nobody wants this book baby more than I do. It was harder to conceive than all three of my human children combined. But there are several other, less positive, emotions kicking around inside me as well. And I am ready to own up to them.

Fear. What if something goes wrong? What if my book falls on its face and drowns in a puddle of bad-reviews? What if nobody notices it was born at all—my due date arrives and there are no flowers, no congratulations. What if I show up at a Barnes & Noble to sign stock, the book isn’t there and some clueless, teen clerk asks me if I want to put one on order? The painful truth is hundreds of books come out every year (and that’s just counting those produced by the big six). They are all special and precious to their author mommies but many of them will sell less than a thousand copies and live and die unheralded.

Exhaustion. Forgive me if I am not my book’s biggest cheerleader at the moment. My ankles are swollen. My legs ache. I have been preparing for the “blessed event” for months now—starting way back in January 2011. Nobody tells you this when you start writing a novel, but book pregnancy (and I am considering signing your deal the moment of conception) is longer than human-baby pregnancy. In some cases it’s even longer than elephant pregnancy (does this book make me look big?).

There is plenty to do in the early months (edits, copy edits, page reviews, setting up your website, etc). But nothing compares, imho, to the madness of the last month. Lately I’ve been marching around the social media world banging a drum and making sure everyone knows I am book-pregnant and when my big day is. I’ve selected birth announcements in the form of colorful postcards for my friends to send to their friends trumpeting the arrival of The Sister Queens. I’ve emailed my publicist (lovely, lovely publicist) to make certain that the advance review copies are mailed to all the bloggers who will be hosting me on my blog tour. And (in addition to answering interview questions and writing blog posts until I can’t feel my wrists) I have been trying to “work ahead” on real-life tasks, because we all know what it’s like to have a new baby—absolutely nothing gets done around the house. Let’s face it my real kids are still going to want to eat even once the book baby gets here.

These stressors, mental and physical, have left me pretty darn crabby. Woe betides the husband who comes home while I am working away in my office and innocently asks “what’s for dinner?” I am also rather distractible. The ping of an email arriving on my smart phone can stop an event or conversation dead. Confession: I recently excused myself to go to the ladies room while at a restaurant NOT to answer the call of nature but because my publisher forwarded a review of my book. I simply could not imagine sitting through dinner in any sort of responsive manner while the review sat in my inbox unread.

Like a truly pregnant-lady, reminding me how lucky I am and how there are lots of other people who would love to have my problems does not help. I may give you a forced smile and agree but believe me honey, what I really want to do it kick you in the shins.

What gets you through the last month, whether you are book-pregnant or baby-pregnant, is the fact that an end is in sight. This book baby can’t say in here forever. It’s coming out. That IS nothing short of miraculous. And when the big day arrives, for a few blessed hours at least, all the work and the worry will be forgotten—subsumed in the pure joy of holding and caressing my beautiful creation. Then I can start worry about the next set of challenges (is it gaining enough weight/readership? Does it look funny to you?). Ah, the joys of parenthood!