W. C. Fields Was Right

by Shari Randall

Last weekend, I attended my first writers’ festival – the Local Authors Fair at the New London (CT) Public Library. To clarify, I attended for the first time as an author. I met lots of great folks, fellow authors, and dedicated librarians. And I learned the secret to sales at writers’ events:

Adorable dogs and cookies.

It’s been a month of firsts – my first novel, my first book signing, my first blog interviews. In each, I’ve had fun, but I know I’ve made rookie mistakes. For example, at the authors’ festival appearance I showed up with books. Just books. No cookies. No candy. No dog.

Bottom line? I sold two books. The author with the adorable dog? She had a constant line of buyers!

Don’t let this happen to you.

If you haven’t written an uplifting story of a dog that beats the odds, or don’t have an adorable dog to accompany you to events, here are some out of the box ideas for selling books at signings and fairs from my favorite writers, the Sisters in Crime of the Chesapeake Chapter.

Sherry Harris swears by a basket of chocolates to “lure people in. Even though that sounds creepy.”

Barb Goffman suggested that authors offer to take off an article of clothing for every book sold.

Maya Corrigan warned that this might work best only during the warmer months. Libby Klein disagreed, saying that this strategy might work better if the author offered to put on an article of clothing for every book sold.

Donna Andrews suggested that you have stuffed animals do the talking. During one Barnes and Noble group book signing, where customers either avoided making eye contact or asked the authors where to find the bathroom, Donna liberated some stuffed reptiles from the children’s department and used them to entice, er sorry, entisssse, customers to visit the authorssss. The result? The rest of the signing was a resounding successssss.

Other advice? Grace Topping said don’t sit down – remaining standing is more welcoming.

Alan Orloff said something about offering to wrestle an alligator, but then, that’s Alan Orloff.

Do you have any advice for author events?

Shari Randall is the author of CURSES, BOILED AGAIN, the first of the new Lobster Shack Mystery series from St. Martin’s Press. At her next signing, she’ll be the one standing at the signing table with a basket of chocolates, fully clothed, thank you very much.

Chapter by Chapter

by Bethany Maines

I recently read a review on Goodreads of my book GlossedCause. 

“I love this series from Bethany Maines! Such a funny and interesting read throughout and makes you want to keep reading! This series is definitely best read in order, short stories included! A few nitpicky things that I didnt like were titled Chapters that was a theme for the chapter. (I like a simple number or location & number) and I'd love another book where Carrie Mae played a bigger role.”

The reviewer gave me a good number of stars and overall that’s a pretty dang good review.  So, thanks!  But I find myself flummoxed by the comment on chapter numbers.  I just… I mean… Chapter numbers?

First of all she’s completely blowing my theory that no one reads my chapter titles.  The truth is, and this is a deep dark secret regarding the chapter titles in the Carrie Mae series.  They’re really just for me.  I mean, I hope the rest of you who bother to read them enjoy them too.  But really they’re a secret code while I’m writing that means I can glance at the table of contents and remember what’s going on in each chapter. Also, they’re usually song titles which means at the end of the book I have a pretty nifty playlist.  (Check out this one from Bulletproof Mascara chapter titles on the Carrie Mae YouTube channel.)

I’m not sure what lesson is to be learned from this, other than I should stop reading reviews, but I’m sure I’ve definitely learned it.  Maybe.  Or maybe next time I’ll do chapter titles with latitude and longitude and possibly three character names and a unicorn.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also view the Carrie Mae YouTube video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Great Books Stand the Test of Time

Last month I invited 8 authors to dinner. Fun, exciting, and exasperating.

Exasperating because my guests reminded me of how little I read these days. In years past, I read at least a book a week. Somewhere, I’ve lost the time to do that. I now read—most frequently—in bed. Too often I fall asleep. Not because of the writing. Because I am … tired from writing my latest work or from marketing or from keeping up with the latest in the self- publishing world. Or, let’s be honest: because of poor time management.

Reading is still one of my favorite activities. I love nothing more—including marathon walking, aerobic dancing, political ranting—than reading. On my TO DO LIST in 2018 is to read—re-read a few of my favorite books:

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. She was, in case you missed it, one of the authors I invited to dinner last month. I love the “feminist” twist to this novel.

The Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport. I read this saga in high school knowing nothing about robber barons or the United States on the brink of a world war. consider it close to the top of my favorite books of all times because of the characters, settings, themes, and writing.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He is one of my favorite authors. His novels and short stories always peer into the darkness of the human heart. I now want to revisit this specific novel from the standpoint of an author also fascinated by dark hearts.

Dennis Lehane kept me turning pages through his Angie Gennaro-Patrick Kenzie thrillers. But Shutter Island grabbed me in a way few modern novels have. I believe—honestly, that I “got” the twist early on in the novel. Rereading, I hope, will convince me I was right (and give me a deeper insight into the whole story).

Dead Famous by Carol O’Connell left me puzzled reading it the first time and kept me asking questions about the story afterward. Mallory, as I recall, is neither the main focus nor the character who pushes the plot forward. She is unlikeable (like my psychopathic main character, Michael Romanov) and she is—perhaps—unlovable. This is one of the basic questions I asked in The MisFit Series: Is a child ever unlovable? It’s a question I asked my eight dinner guests.

If I finish this list in 2018, I have dozens more novels I intend to reread.

Have you read any of the above books? What’s your take? Would you reread any of them?

Here’s my latest addition to The MisFit Series:  

The Broken-Hearted Many. Influenced by Kathy Mallory, this sixth novel in the series takes the reader into a wounded family’s struggle to cope with the old lies and secrets which refuse to stay in the past.  

*** When AB Plum isn’t delving into darkness, she enjoys aerobic dancing, marathon walking, and occasionally cooking. She lives off the fast lane in Silicon Valley with her husband.

Writing - A Walk in the Park

At the end of January, I quit my day-job to write full-time. A dream come true. 

 My last day of official employment was on a Friday. I gave myself the weekend to relax and on Monday I plunked my hiney in a chair, stretched my fingers above the keyboard, and wrote.

250 words.

Not good words.

Not terribly alarmed, I grabbed a legal pad and wrote long-hand.

Not good words.

What was wrong with me? This was the DREAM. I had a plan. And that plan included 3,000 words a day.

My brain had other plans.

Dratted brain.

The plan: I would be one of those SUPER-prolific authors.

“No, no,” said my brain. “No super for you.”

Good thing I know a way to get around my brain.

There’s all kinds of research about physical activities and brain waves and what stimulates creativity.

For me, walking and creative ideas have always gone together.

Closely.

Now I’m clocking 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day and the book is half-finished (still not according to plan, but so much better than 250 not good words or a blank page).

The other bonus of writing in my head while walking is that my aforementioned hiney is shrinking rather than growing to meet the edges of my chair.

The scenery isn't bad either!

 Look for a new book in a new series soon!

Are you following me on Bookbub? In addition to telling you about fabulous sales, Bookbub will let you know whenever I have a release!

Julie Mulhern is the USA Today bestselling author of The Country Club Murders. 

She is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean--and she's got an active imagination. Truth is--she's an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.