How can an author avoid turning into a greasy self-promoter?

By Candy Gourlay

Hello!

I say that meaningfully. I have been absent from Notes from the Slushpile for some time.

Hello.

I missed you! But my failure to blog is good news because it means I have managed to resist a constant compulsion to blog. I've had a tough few months of deadlines, and not blogging means that I have been writing.

My first picture book! Can you tell that I'm pleased?

The final edits and tweaks to my very first picture book (with illustrator Francesca Chessa),  Is it a Mermaid?, were finished before Christmas. An advance copy landed in England last month. The rest are on their way in a boat from China, and should be here in time for the 5 April publication date.

I spent the Christmas holidays and the first week of the New Year working on copy-edits to my new novel Bone Talk, the uncorrected proofs of which are this minute bouncing through the letterboxes of reviewers. It will be published in August 2018. Thrilled and terrified at the prospect!

Here I am signing uncorrected proofs (advance copies) to be sent to reviewers.

At David Fickling Books: left, Jasmine Denholm, PR and Rights Assistant and right, Carolyn McGlone, PR Manager

DFB Editor Anthony Hinton going over Bone Talk proofs with a fine tooth comb. 

I also wrote a short story for a small Christmas anthology (I'll tell you about it later this year).

And once I finished with the proofs of Bone Talk, I spent the rest of January and the whole of February writing another book (but I can't talk about it just yet).

After all that ...  I was done. No more writing books for me! (At least until I start working on my next novel in a few weeks time.)

It has been bewildering waking up in the morning and having no book to write. Though I have no shortage of things to do,  the absence of a book project makes me feel like a jigsaw puzzle that is missing a piece.

With two books coming out this year, though, my work is cut out for me. 2018 will be all about promoting my two new books.

I'm not the only one. My Facebook feed is a constant stream of book launch party invitations. All my friends seem to be in book-launching mode! I was about to blog about a Launch To Do list when I spotted that  Natascha Biebow (whose wonderful The Crayon Man, about the invention of the crayon, will be published soon) had already blogged about hers.

Natascha says she is tempted to crawl under a rock rather than promote her new book.

I don't blame her – sometimes, looking at my Facebook feed, it feels like the whole world is out promoting themselves. Promoting is a megaphone and a tinny bellowing in one's ear. All those tweets of 'Buy my book', all those sly posts casually linking to a purchase page. The last thing anybody wants to do is add to the cacophony.

Writing about self promotion many years ago, as publishers began to wake up to the power of the internet and self promotion, I begged readers, be human, be human!

But how does one raise awareness of one's book without coming across as obnoxious?

With my own Year of Promotion looming, it's an issue that nags at me. The trust people used to have in social media is fast declining as we hear stories of fake news and stolen data. In this divisive, embattled climate, coming across as a greasy salesman will not sell any books.

In this divisive, embattled climate, coming across as a greasy salesman will not sell any books.



Perhaps I ought to stop pondering social media tools for a moment. Perhaps it would help if I stepped away from Twitter and Instagram and Facebook and remind myself about what really matters ... the book.

It is easy, in the desperate rush to help your book sell more, to forget what your book is all about. To forget the years you spent writing it, the daily struggle to lay down words, to know your characters, to live their journey on the page.

Remember these things because they are part of your book's story – the story you are going to tell the world. It is story that the world wants, you see. And every tiny element of your campaign – whether it be the biography you post on Amazon, the presentation you craft for your school visits, the pitches you write to get to appear in festivals, the myriad emails you compose to beg the help of friends and influencers, the content you post on Facebook – should be telling that story.

My publisher, David Fickling Books, tries to create a sense of the special by wrapping uncorrected proofs in a paper wrapper printed with the words 'where good stories begin'. The proof becomes more precious somehow. A collector's item. A row of uncorrected proofs (advance copies) on the shelf of my publisher, David Fickling Books. Note that they are numbered with Bone Talk at No. 26

If you can capture that first, honest impulse that led to the creation of your book, if you can convey the powerful drive that sent you on your journey to publication, then your audience will see you as a storyteller, not a self-promoter.

And there's nothing more compelling than a good story.

It was a lovely surprise to find Bone Talk listed in The Bookseller's
100 of the most exciting books published between April 2018 and March 2019. Eek!

---

On 24 March, Candy Gourlay will be speaking at SCBWI's Picture Books: Discover and Be Discovered seminar where she will be discussing the challenges that confront picture book authors and illustrators in marketing and promoting their work. Her first picture book, with illustrator Francesca Chessa Is it a Mermaid? (Otter-Barry Books), is out in April. Her third novel, Bone Talk (David Fickling Books), will be out in August.

Buy My Book - But Only If You Really Want To.

by Em Lynas

I am so lucky. My first book You Can't Make Me Go To Witch School came out in August 2017, my next book Get Me Out Witch School is out in April 2018 and the third in the series Help! I Am Trapped At Witch School! is out in September 2018. But that's not why I am lucky.

Prior to the launch in August I prepared a Notes From the Slushpile post for You Can't Make Me Go To Witch School but it didn't go live because Jo Wyton wrote a surprise post, a big squishy hug of a post about me and my book baby. 

Then the amazing hat extravaganza began on facebook and twitter thanks to the fabulous George Kirk, Candy Gourlay and many others. I think Paul Morton put them all together.

I really can't thank them and all the other hatted folk enough, you really did get the message out there that the Witch School books are- All About The Hat! 

But I didn't get to post my book launch post so I'm sharing it now because the launch date of book 2 Get Me Out Of Witch School is coming up fast. In light of the awesomeness and madness of the first launch I think it's quite funny. This is what I would have posted.

The Dreaded Book Promotion! by Em Lynas

A long time ago I was persuaded to have a Tupperware party. I was supposed to drum up business, drag friends in off the street and get them to spend money they could probably ill afford. My Tupperware Party pitch went something like this

Er, I'm having a Tupperware Party but you don't have to come if you don't want to.

Every home had one!

Then, for some odd reason, very few friends came. The woman running the party (my best friend's mother) was not pleased and she was not the sort to hide her displeasure well. However, she cheered up when a newly married neighbour ordered a whole pile of stuff. Phew. I ordered a Party Susan out of guilt. It was probably the most expensive item in the catalogue (It stayed at the back of the cupboard until it turned yellow.) So, best friend's mother was placated.

But then the neighbour returned, within minutes of leaving, to cancel most of the items at the behest (great word) of her husband. They couldn't afford them. I told her it was OK, that she didn't have to buy anything if she didn't want to. My best friend's mother was not best pleased, yet again. Honestly, there was no pleasing her at all. I think she went to counselling.

I tell you this to show how bad I am at asking people to part with their money. After all, they could have a cappuccino and a cupcake for the price of my book.

link to lovereading4kids

So, I have been dreading trying to market You Can't Make Me Go To Witch School in case my pitch ended up something like this – Er, I've published a book, but you really don't have to buy it if you don't want to.

I fear this is an attitude that will not generate many sales and is not listed as a recommended technique on any Marketing Degree. But as we've discussed on Notes from the Slushpile in the past it's really difficult to get the balance right between saying, 'Hey! I'm having my book birthday', and 'You MUST buy my book.'

The first, 'Hey! I'm having a book birthday' is exciting. But the second, 'Buy my book' is so bossy and rude and like poking people with a big pointy stick that's been sharpened to be extra pointy and painful.

Then there's the launch party. Everybody has a launch party. So I should have a launch party but – see above - what if it's a repetition of the Food Container Catastrophe? 

What if I create a fantastic flyer to hand out but say, 'Here's a flyer about my new book but you don't have to take it, it is quite heavy and your bag looks full.'

What if I post about the party online but say, 'Come to my book launch. There'll be free wine and nibbles and you really are not under any obligation to buy my book just because you've eaten all of the cupcakes.' 

What if I take copies of my book to the launch venue but hide them under the table at the back. Ready to hand out if anyone should ask what the point of the party is.

What if I have a table in a corner with the books and a notice, 'Please take one and make a donation to the starving author only if you can afford it.'

What if I talk about anything BUT my book to anyone who came.

  

Things I would be comfortable saying:

How's your mum?
Did the plumber come?
Yes, Jamie Littler's images are amazing! Look at the one of Twink and Jess hugging, they're so sweet.
How was Menorca/Cyprus/Cornwall?
Yes, it's been fabulous working with the Nosy Crow team. 
What did you think of (insert authors name) 's book?
You don't have to stay long, you know. 
Yes, Agent Amber is fabulous, she's been amazing. 
Don't bother buying my book now, you have a drink in one hand and a Toadspit Towers titbit in the other, how could you possibly buy my book now? You're not a juggler. 

Things I would not be comfortable saying:

Anything about my role in the creation of the book. I would mumble thanks if anyone said anything complimentary and change the subject.

So, I thought, 'Maybe I need a book friend. Someone who knows how hard I've worked, someone who knows how long I've taken, someone who understands the suffering, the emotional turmoil, that is the roller coaster journey to becoming a writer.

What an excellent idea! If only I felt comfortable asking – 'Would you like to help promote my book?' I know I would have added the caveat, 'You don't have to.'

Ah well.

The End.

So that was it - my You Can't Make Me Go To Witch School book launch post, but it turns out I didn't have to ask for help to promote my book baby. My friends, my agent, my editor, the team of Nosy Crows were amazing at 'doing it for me'.

Big hugs to all and an enormous THANK YOU!

And, just in case you're interested and have a bit of spare cash that isn't required for cake and coffee, here's a link to the next book.

You can Pre-order from Amazon if you want to.

Or you could get it from a library.

Libraries are good.

Should you go on a writing retreat? YES

by Teri Terry

Have you ever wanted to go on a writing retreat but weren't sure what you might get out of it? I love writing retreats! Especially the SCBWI variety. But the reasons why have changed over the years.

Back when I was unpublished and unagented, I wasn't sure I could justify the time or expense of a writing retreat...

It took me a year of thinking about it before I finally took the plunge and went to my first SCBWI retreat.

I didn't write at them very much the first few times - in fact, the first one I went to, way back in 2010, I spent all the scheduled writing time reading Jon Mayhew's Mortlock, which I'd brought along for him to sign, and having unscheduled naps and weird Mortlock-related-dreams. This was my very first retreat, and the last one in the midlands; one of the last few ably-organised by the very much missed Sue Hyams.

It still stands out in my mind all these years later: 

1. the sheer joy of being around other creative types for a whole weekend. I started to feel less alone. If other people out there talk to the characters in their heads all the time too, maybe I'm not completely bonkers?

2. a one to one with Lee Weatherly with a ghost story I still may go back to one day: she said my voice was just right for YA!

Lee's latest

3. a talk Lee gave also, where I still remember one of the things she said: that if you've had a full manuscript request somewhere - even if it's a no - it shows you can write; keep going, you'll get there. I'd been in just this position around that time and was feeling down about it, and she made me turn it around and see it for the encouragement that it  was.

4. a picture book talk with Pippa Goodhart! 
I wasn't sure why I was even going - I didn't want to write picture books - but I went along, and I still remember something that she said: that animals are often used in picture books because it makes it less scary than if it were a child. This is something I came back to in other contexts when I was thinking about the appeal of dystopian novels: put something in another world or in the future, and you can look at scary issues in a way that might feel too confronting in our world.

Retreats then moved to Dunford House in West Sussex:

I've been to every one, and even volunteered to organise it myself a few years. The reasons I went changed over time and the years merge together a bit in my brain:

my Dunford Houe library writing buddies in 2011:
Christian Colossi, Jo Wyton, Tina Lemon

1. writing time: more and more I was using the retreat to focus on my work in an intense way that can be hard to do at home with family & work commitments.

2. friends! Writing friends! No one else wants to listen to us agonise over a word or point of view choice or plot point like they will; no one understands the agony of rejection and dusting yourself off again like they do; no one else is quite the same cheer leading section.

3. it made me feel like a writer! Which can be elusive sometimes in those pre-published stages.

Then in 2011 I got a publishing deal, hurrah! Slated was published in 2012. Things were changing ...

Once I was agented and published, I wasn't sure I could justify the time or expense of a writing retreat...

Why go if I don't need one to ones, I'm less interested in going to workshops and talks, and now that I'm writing full time I don't really need the dedicated writing time away?

I kept going. I couldn't not go, somehow.

1. writing time! I still loved having this weekend to focus, away from home/family.

Writing buddies in Dunford House library, 2018

Dunford House

2. writing friends! I think I said it all above: they're the best.

3. Dunford House! more and more it was becoming a place I loved going to every year; an annual ritual; my favourite weekend of the year

Dunford House Conservatory one May

What about solo retreats?

Another point about retreats: I know authors who go away on their own for a week or two to write. This doesn't work for me; I've tried it. I get too morose being on my own 24 hours a day. The SCBWI retreats - also Charlie's residential retreats in beautiful Devon - work for me because I can write all day but have lovely chat with friends at meals and in the evening.

I almost didn't go to the SCBWI retreat this year: 

I've been travelling too much. I've got 

Scooby, the World's Cutest Puppy.
I did miss her dreadfully

some intense deadlines. We have a puppy. Lots of things were falling through the cracks and I didn't register for the retreat: it was sold out. I also didn't plan a book launch for Deception, the second book of my Dark Matter trilogy.

But Dunford House is closing soon so it was the last one there, and I found I couldn't stay away. Someone sadly had to cancel and I got their spot! And then I remembered my very first retreat, and Jon Mayhew bringing along bottles of bubbles after Mortlock was published ...

blurry Jon Mayhew pouring bubbles - back in 2010?
I think it was 2010

... and I had a cunning plan:

A book launch! Prosecco! a writing retreat!! What's not to like?

Prosecco! a glass! no free hands for the book,
but Susan Bain snuck in to help out

Thanks so much to everyone for being there! And thank you to Mel Rogerson and Alexandra English for organising everything so wonderfully. 
Thank you to editor Rosie McIntosh for coming along, and to Dom and Hachette Children's Books for the Prosecco, and to everyone at Dunford House for making this retreat - and my book launch - as memorable as all the others.

And thanks also to Candy Gourlay and Kathy Evans for making the trek, and for the photos!

Books! bookmarks!

from left: Kathy Evans, Nina Wadcock, me, and Candy Gourlay's selfie magic

Editor Rosie McIntosh saying lovely things

So cheers to SCBWI, Dunford House, writing retreats, and writing friends everywhere! 

Thanks to Sue Hyams, for talking me in to going on my first retreat.

the dedication page in Contagion

Please share: writing retreat happenings? things learned? writing retreat successes? haunted rooms? things forgotten/lost? hangovers?

How to Organize a Book Launch Party

By Candy Gourlay

If you follow me on Facebook, you'll know that I attend a LOT of launch parties.

At the spring launch of my pal Joe Friedman's warmhearted book The Secret Dog

I try to accept invites when I can. I know the agony and ecstasy of writing a book. I also know that without a launch party, the publication of a book feels like a great big non-event. It was in your head and then suddenly, it's out in the world. There is no fanfare, no applause, no big moment of passing from one state into the next.

At 17, I knew the truth...

by Teri Terry

Almost celebration time!!

Slated launches in the UK on the 3rd of May with Orchard Books! Getting to this place – published author – has been a bumpy road. I've seen Dear Me and Dear Teen Me, where contributors write a letter to their teenage selves with advice. I think my younger self could tell me a thing or two. My 17 year old self has kindly offered to interview me about what took so long...

Princess Paula to The Rescue! Paula Harrison on launching books, writing for younger readers and how to get that lucrative publishing deal...

by Maureen Lynas

Hi Maureen, thanks for having me on 
Notes from the Slushpile. 
I’m very excited to be here!