Showing posts with label the ending. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the ending. Show all posts
Saturday, 26 May 2018
Monday, 21 May 2018
Getting The Buzz Going - The After Process
GETTING THE BUZZ GOING
Now with one of my releases behind me, and now having twelve books published along with a new one out in just over a month, I know a little something about getting the buzz going before release and keeping it there afterwards. I am talking as someone who doesn't have a huge fanbase, let's be upfront about that from the start. However, I am actively building my fanbase and reaching new readers. I'm also trying new things to try and engage with my audience and part of that is a bit of trial and error. So while I don't have the following of some indie authors, I'm not right down at the bottom of the pile either.
I've talked a bit about this on my youtube channel, but I thought I would talk some more about it here as they seem to reach different people. So what I'm going to do is give you five tips that I've found work for me to get the word out, and the hype and buzz started for a release. You may find that they don't work for you, or that you need to adapt them to your own situation, and that's completely fine.
#1. - THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS TOO SOON
One thing I picked up very early on (though not early enough) was that you need to start as soon as you have an idea. The moment you start writing your book, get the buzz started. There is no such thing as too soon. I know a lot of people worry that there will be problems if they don't finish the book, or if they decide to go a different way, or if it takes them years to finish it - which just an FYI is pretty normal - and my answer to that is that people are going to want to know your story. You won't wake up one morning famous, but you will draw attention and that will help spur you on to finish, go through betas and edits and all of that jazz. On top of that, it gives you support and a fanbase to build on even if you're not sure if you're going the traditional or indie route.
#2. - DO YOUR RESEARCH
This is a huge point. So many people will go into the publishing world and not know what's needed of them, or what to do and where to advertise, how to find an editor, how to start a social media presence and all of that jazz. Make sure you know ahead of time what you need to do and how to do it. Whether that's going the traditional or the self-publishing route. You need to know about beta readers, about critique partners, you need to know where to look for cover designers and what is expected of your cover for your chosen genre. You need to know how to choose your genre and all of that jazz. All of this will help you make sure you are hitting your target audience and getting the right buzz going for the work you're doing.
#3. - ADVERTS ARE FRIENDS
I don't just mean things like Facebook ads or Twitter ads. I mean combining all of them together to make sure you're hitting the right people. I mean finding out what works best as an advert, what keywords to use and why, what kind of graphics and all of that. This can help you spread the word. Part of this is making connections which you do by starting early. You find yourself author buddies who either write in a similar genre to you or have a similar target audience to you and then you work together co-promoting. You have to decide for yourself who and where and how, but getting the buzz going means spreading the word.
#4. - SOCIAL MEDIA HELPS
I recently did a vlog on social media (found here) and one thing I was very clear on was that social media is not really optional. You don't have to have a big presence, but you do need to have some presence. It's the way of the world and people wanting to reach out to you, whether they be authors or readers, are going to want to have some way to connect. Whether that's having a website and the bare minimum of socials, or whether you have as many as you can handle, you have to find what works for you, but creating a buzz around releases and other promotions means being able to connect with the world. And for that social media is the easiest way.
#5. - ENGAGE WITH YOUR READERS
The biggest tip of them all is that you need to engage with your readers. Whatever route you choose, a lot of the promotional stuff is going to be on you unless you're a big name and generally speaking most people don't start off as big names. You need to be actually talking with people. It's all well and good to only talk about your book and release, but the majority of people want to have something more than just buy links. They want to get to know you, they want to get to see a part of you outside of the fact that you're a writer. So talk to people, engage with them, make friends and with that, spread the word. Not every tweet and message has to be completed with a buy link!
So those are my five tips of getting the buzz going when it comes to a release. As always, these are what works for me and they might be something that works for you, or you can add your own spin on it. Do you have any ways you like to get the buzz going before a release? Lemme know in the comments!
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Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: The Ending - The Creative Process
If you've ever had writer's block or gotten frustrated with your work, be it a short story or a long novel, you've probably had the feeling of wanting to hurry up and get to the ending. My friends will tell you that when I get frustrated I say "Rocks fall, everyone dies, the end!" I've never actually ended a book with that, but the temptation to do so can be very strong. Usually when faced with this kind of block (piece here), I have to use all the tricks of my trade to resist the urge and not actually kill everyone and end the book there.
That does raise a good point though... when does it end? When does the end happen? What happens at the end? And when do you know you've given it a good enough ending? I can't speak for every writer, but as a detailed planner (piece here) who has organised notes down to which colour note cards I use for which information, I usually have some idea *how* I want the book to end and when. I have, however, had some issues with when it's time to stop typing and say that it's the best you can do and that's that. I can only think of two times when I've been really sure that the ending I've given is the best one I could have done. One was with BLACKOUT and the other was with my ninth book, which has yet to be released. Both of those times, I wrote in a fury and then finally, it came to a natural close. I read back through them and thought, "hey, this is good... this is really good... this is the right ending!" The other books I've written? Well, the ending for those didn't always come as easily as I would have liked.
I always have a plan, I always generally stick to the plan, and sometimes I even have some idea of what I want the last line to say. But, life doesn't always work that way and even though these characters are of my own creation, it's not always as simple as writing the ending the way I planned to. As most writers will tell you, characters sometimes take the story a different way than was first planned. Inspiration strikes at opportune moments (piece here) and you may find yourself suddenly knee deep in something that you never planned for. So, putting that aside, let's get back to the questions.
When does it end? When does the end happen? Well, usually for me, there is a point where I can start wrapping things up and bring the story to a close. If it's a stand alone book, like BLACKOUT or LYNNE & HOPE, I know when to start switching off the lights, and closing the curtains because once the main plot has been solved (usually crime for me) I can bring everything together and leave it there. I do like to have some semblance of life after the "big" event, whatever that event may be. However, when you're writing a series like the DYING THOUGHTS series, then you have to decide if you want it to lead into the next story, or if you want to finish it completely. I usually go for a mixture of both. FIRST TOUCH leaves it open for SECOND SIGHT, the fourth book leads into the fifth and so on. So, for me, the rule of thumb is usually that when things have been solved, the criminal caught and everyone is safe and happy to carry on with their lives, *that's* when it ends.
What happens at the end? This is really something that only the writer can answer. For me, like I said, I want to pull all those strings together, tie them in a neat enough bow (a little messy is okay) and go from there. In BLACKOUT, I had a chapter that showed where the characters were a few weeks after the big reveal. In LYNNE & HOPE, I had a chapters that did something similar and in some of the DYING THOUGHTS books, I usually just have Tara move onto the next case, whether I'm setting it up for the next book or not. The difference between a stand alone and a series (or even a book with just one sequel) is that you need to make sure the reader is going to be satisfied with the way you have left it. You want them to be happy when they say goodbye to the characters and not wonder if they were ever going to be okay again. With a series, you want them to be interested enough to want to carry on reading. The ending is your way of getting the reader to close the book. It doesn't have to be happily ever after, some of the best books don't have a "happy" ending, but it does need to be somewhat final. Your mileage may, of course, vary.
So, onto the final question, when do you know you've given it a good enough ending? Now, I don't know about other writer's, we are a weird and wonderful bunch and we all have our own ways of doing things. When I finish a book, I close the document and then I go away and work on something else or something new. I don't go back to it until it's time to start the after process. At which time, I am finally able to see if I have given it the ending it deserves. Some writers don't wait, straight away they start the after process and the long, and difficult journey of editing. I find that if I do that, I'm still too caught up in the universe to be objective. If I can't be objective, then I can't edit and take out what does not belong whilst adding what does. So, I don't find out whether the end is good enough until I've been away from that plot for a while. Even now, whilst working on the sixth DYING THOUGHTS book, I know that I have to rewrite some of the ending for the fourth because of the way things have turned out in the books since. That kind of objectivity wouldn't have happened if I had dived right in. Again, your mileage may vary and I can only say that for me, it doesn't work like that. I am sure there are other writers who find that jumping back in is the best way for them to work. We are all wonderfully different and unique in the way we work.
Now, you've come to the end and it's time to close the book, type the last sentence and say goodbye to the characters that have been in your daily life for how ever long it's been. It's hard to do that, but the ending is, in my opinion, one of the best parts of writing. You've come along the arduous path of starting, writing, living and now you're at the part where you can give your characters what they need to carry on their lives outside of the pages of this particular story. Well done, and remember, that unless they are living in a mountain cave, rocks never fall and kill everyone.
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