The Uncommon Word: Surprising Our Readers with Extraordinary Language

In the library the other day, I came across a copy of Michael Wolff’s tell-all book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House and, even though I’m pressed for time to read lately, I decided to check it out. The book turns out to be a great dish on the chaotic and cringe-worthy first year of the current administration, but what surprised me most about it is was the language Wolff uses. Scattered across the pages are words I am embarrassed to admit I don’t know: words like samizdat, revanchism, myrmidons, quant, and hortatory.

To be truthful, I wasn’t expecting this level of vocabulary in what I thought would be a People type of read. To be clear, the book is quite good; it provides a fascinating first-hand look at the temperament of the current president and the political machinations of the people he chooses to work for him. But I have had to keep my phone handy while reading this book, just so I can look up some of the unfamiliar words I’m encountering as I go along.

This process of looking up new vocabulary words brings back some of the best memories of my childhood. I was one of those kids who loved to read and enjoyed diving into books above my recommended reading level. I delighted in learning new words, and discovered, as an interesting by-product, that doing so taught me to be a better writer, as well as a reader. But at some point in my life, I lost this drive to discover new vocabulary words. I replaced it with a desire to acquire more content in what I was reading. Now I’m wondering if it was a good idea to lose interest in growing my vocabulary.

While many of us enjoy discovering new words in the books we’re reading, most of us who write don’t have the same feeling about pushing the vocabulary envelope. It’s a tough job just to get the words on the page on some days and forcing ourselves to write with more complex language is sometimes not a priority. But I have to admit that when I read books that are written with an elevated vocabulary, I find that I’m more likely to remember them as the books I love the most.

My appreciation for heightened language is ironic considering that in the college business classes I teach, I urge students to write with short, simple words. Some of the rationale behind this pedagogy is that when writing for business, the primary goal is to be clear. But when it comes to writing fiction and nonfiction books, the goal is a little different. In those cases, we are telling stories. Our purpose, for the most part, is to inform and entertain. And I would argue that in those cases, the type of words we use matter more.

Finding just the right word to describe a character or situation might take the writer a little more time, but the end result can be captivating and memorable, and can make our stories soar. I know some will argue that forcing readers to stop and look up words might take them out of the stories we write. There is some truth to that. But reading Wolff’s work has reminded me that in addition to developing a good storyline and creating memorable characters,  I also need to up my game when it comes to the language I use in my writing. I believe I owe it to my characters, my stories, and most of all, to my readers, especially if I want them to remember my books as the ones they love the most.

Walking the Tightrope: Where Do Authors Draw the Line in Expressing Political Views?

 I’ve always recommended that authors refrain from discussing religion and politics in their social media and branding. It has been my strong belief that in today’s fiercely competitive book market, aligning ourselves one way or another on political or religious issues can lead to lower sales, mainly because if a percentage of the reading population disagrees with our views, they most likely won’t follow us on social media and may decline to purchase our products.

But the election of President Trump last November has changed the political landscape in drastic ways. Where before, stating political views could have consequences on sales, we now find ourselves with a growing majority who are outraged at the current administration’s policies and its handling of diplomacy. That outrage has sparked ongoing protests worldwide, where millions of people have risen up to declare their dissent and willingness to resist the current political climate in Washington.

Also new is the growing power the resistance movement has found in ignoring Trump’s brand. When major retail leaders dropped Ivanka Trump’s clothing and shoe lines from their stores this week, those who do not support Trump stepped up their support of the retailers, and sales soared.

Where before the Trump presidency it was judicious to maintain distance and equanimity with regard to politics, the climate has changed to such a degree that we’re now finding that taking actions some view as political (as was the case with the retailers who dumped Ivanka's brand) can actually be beneficial to sales. Those retailers who dropped the line claimed they did so because the line wasn't selling. It was risky to drop a contentious and outspoken president’s daughter’s brand – these retailers must have known that the president, who seems to have little control over his responses to adverse situations, would react publicly (which he did by tweeting his dismay at what he considered to be unfair treatment of his daughter). But the stance by these retailers paid off in ways that many did not expect – sales lowered initially and then skyrocketed when anti-Trump Americans decided to show the retailers support for their decision by buying at those stores.

So, given that being political can now influence sales, what does this mean for authors? And how do we in the publicity business advise our clients now that there’s a new normal for how consumers react when sellers share their views? How do those who feel strongly about the current administration express their views without driving off potential customers? And is it even a problem any more to lose those customers who don’t agree with our politics?

These questions have surfaced strongly on social media, where friends, family, colleagues, and customers converge and the new politics have created increasing divides among them. Many of us have watched as followers on social media threaten to unfollow us if we state our views, whatever they may be, too loudly or frequently. Many have drawn hard lines to followers regarding opinions – agree or be gone, they seem to say.

As authors, when we lose followers, we lose business. Those who chose to follow our blogs and support our brand do so because we offer them something – information, entertainment, connectedness, or all three. If readers no longer follow us on social media, will they still buy our books? My sense is no – as this administration continues to divide America’s with its policies, I believe that we’ll see a corresponding division in sales. Those who agree with us and our views will support us and buy our books; those that don’t will boycott our offers and/or ignore future releases.

For some authors, this trade-off is worth it. Those that feel strongly about expressing their political views may feel that protecting our country and its democracy from what they see as an attempt to upend our basic freedoms is more important than offending those potential or current readers who don’t agree that the new administration is a threat to those rights.

For me, it’s a difficult situation – wanting to support others who share my views is strong, but so is maintaining distance from political rhetoric. There a professionalism component to all of this – if I indulge myself in rants about my political leanings, how am I serving those who read my blog posts and buy my books? Do they come there to hear my politics? Yes and no. For some, finding out that we’re on the same page politically is a good thing – my sense is that they will become stronger supporters of me and my work because we think alike. For others, the insertion of politics (and this goes for religion, too) into my branding as an author and publicist could be seen as self-serving or offensive – and those who disagree with me will not follow or buy.

Given this new political paradigm where politics have become such an overwhelming factor in our lives, I would suggest that it’s up to individual authors now as to whether they decide to be political in their branding. As retailers like Nordstrom and TJ Maxx discovered, political action can have benefits. But there is also the reality that once you’ve identified your brand as leaning one way or another, you can never go back – existing and new customers can see which way you lean, and they will subsequently decide whether to support or shun you and your products based on those leanings.

In the end, we are in a strange new world where politics and consumerism are colliding more than ever. As an author, being political may serve your social activism, but it most likely will also have an effect on your book sales. Still, many authors maintain that their brand is a reflection of who they are as individuals and being true to that sense of self is crucial given what’s at stake in our country’s politics. In today’s political climate, being true to ourselves and our political beliefs may be worth more to us than growing our book sales and, for now, that just might be okay.

What’s New in Book Promotion? 5 Innovative Ideas from Successful Authors

Note: This article first appeared in Write! Publish! Sell! Volume 1, Issue11, August 2016 - A Free Newsletter/E-zine for Writers

When Write!Publish!Sell! publisher Joan West asked me to write an article on new ideas for book promotion, I figured she was looking for more than the typical book tours and media interviews that we publicists usually put together for our clients. While traditional publicity is important and necessary, there is always room for creativity and invention as authors look for new ways to reach their readers.

Here are a few ideas I’ve come across in recent months from authors who are successfully discovering new methods to help promote their books:

1) Thunderclap campaigns
Thunderclap is a free online social media tool (sometimes referred to as a “crowdspeaking platform”) that allows individuals to share the same message at the same time, in one timed blast, spreading an idea through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Many authors are using Thunderclap as a way to announce new releases, asking their friends and followers to help spread the word by creating a social media message that Thunderclap will then announce through access to the participants’ social media sites on a chosen date.

Does it work? One of my clients, Pamela Fagan Hutchins recently used Thunderclap to announce the release of her newest book, Hell to Pay, in her What Doesn’t’ Kill You romantic mystery series. Pamela asked 250 supporters to participate in her Thunderclap promotion and ended up surpassing that goal by enlisting 357 participants (thus, she achieved 143% participation). Her social media reach on announcement day was 472, 533 people. That’s a lot of potential readers who have now heard about her book!

You can learn more about Thunderclap here: https://www.thunderclap.it/?locale=en and more about Pamela Fagan Hutchins and her books here: http://pamelafaganhutchins.com/

2) Book resumes 
Author Michele Giacomini recently described how she was creating a one-sheet book resume as a sales tool for use in promoting her book Looking for B.O.B. to managers at local shops and Big Box stores. Her book resume includes general information on the book, 5-starred reviews, and other content that helps position the book as an item that might interest the stores’ customers.

You can read more about Michele and her book here: https://omgmissomg.blogspot.com/ and her book resume idea here: http://booksbywomen.org/five-unique-ways-to-market-your-first-book/#comments

3) YouTube video series
One of the best ways to market books is to develop relationships with readers. Author Teymour Shahabi did that by developing a series of YouTube videos on a channel that he calls PageWing (www.youtube.com/PageWing). What makes PageWing remarkable is that Teymour started the series simply as a way of examining his own writing process. He sent his first link to family and friends, and then watched as subsequent video postings began to go viral. The nice thing about this series is that it gives Teymour a platform, where readers get to know him and learn more about him and his upcoming book, while they also learn about writing from the content that he shares on the videos.

If you’re the kind of author who prefers speaking to writing when it comes to book promotion, a YouTube video series like Teymour’s may be a great option.

You can learn more about Teymour and his video series here: http://publishingperspectives.com/2015/08/ready-for-your-close-up-what-youtube-can-do-for-writers/#.V3Gnx6KMn

4) Specialty and/or themed events
Author Allison Gilbert recently posted online about how she’s created a unique type of event she

calls The Passed and Present Memory Bash Book Tour. Her tour is actually a series of parties she’s throwing for her readers across the country, with stops in cities like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix, Minneapolis, and Atlanta. At these interactive events, readers participate in meaningful activities from Passed and Present, even lifting their glasses in memory of their loved ones (Allison provides glasses and wine for the toast, too!). Since Gilbert is a nonfiction author who writes about loss and creative ways to keep the memory of loved ones alive, these events are a perfect tie-in with her books and their content.
 
You can learn more about Allison and her Memory Bash Book Tour here: http://allisongilbert.com

5) Easy author access
Ever finish a great book and think to yourself, I would love to send a note to the author, only to find there isn’t any way to do so? In a recent SheWrites post, author Maria Murnane points out that by not including contact information at the end of their books, authors are missing out on a wonderful opportunity to connect with readers. Maria suggests including the first chapter of your next book (or a brief note about something you have in the works), some personalized info in your acknowledgements (rather than just a list of names), and a website or email address, so that readers who’d like to reach you can easily do so.

You can read more about Maria and her books here: www.mariamurnane.com

Book Promotion – How to Make It a Labor of Love

When I told my husband I wanted to put a butterfly garden in our backyard last summer, he looked at me with his typical patient expression and said, “Sure, why not?”

Please realize that, at the time, neither of us knew jack about butterflies or what to plant in this type of garden. But when we finally removed a large strip of over-grown mock orange shrubs from our yard last year, we knew it was time to do our part for the planet and provide a safe space where threatened insects like monarch butterflies and bees could roam free of pesticides and predators.

We tilled the soil, read up on nectaring and host plants that butterflies like, listened to the experts at a local butterfly farm, planted, and then waited and watched as our first group of caterpillars emerged.

We learned a few things during that first summer: that monarch caterpillars will eat our milkweed plants to the ground, that most caterpillars don’t make it to the chrysalis stage, that even those that do make it are sometimes attached by predators like tachinid flies, wasps, and lizards, and that when a single caterpillar makes it to the chrysalis stage, it’s something of a miracle.

Our first summer, we had a few butterflies visit our garden. None of our caterpillars survived.

But we didn’t give up. Instead we lovingly tended our garden through the winter, nurturing the existing plants, replacing those that were too damaged or thinned out, getting additional advice from the experts at the butterfly farm, and adding new plants to make the garden more inviting to butterflies.

This summer, in our second year of butterfly gardening, we’ve had multiple butterflies visit the garden daily. Caterpillars have appeared on a regular basis, eating their way through our milkweed and fennel plants, and a few of them have already successfully transformed into beautiful butterflies.

If I’ve learned anything while putting this garden together, it’s that it doesn’t take a lot of initial knowledge to try something new. And with a little research, effort, patience, guidance, and love, we can be successful in our endeavors.

I like to remind my publicity clients, especially those who lament that they know nothing about promotion, that these same gardening values – research, effort, patience, guidance,  and, yes, love – can help them to be successful in their book marketing efforts. Initially, the first attempt at promoting may include a learning curve, where the response may not be great, readers may not come in droves, reviews may be thin or grudging, and sales may be slow to non-existent. 

But the next time you promote a book, you’ve learned some things about yourself, your writing, and what works and what doesn’t when you promote. You make adjustments, adding new material, asking experts (like publicists!) for advice, considering new avenues for marketing, and learning more about the process.

And then, the next time you do it, everything changes – that first group of readers and reviewers remembers you and buys your new book, reviews start to come in a little quicker, speaking appearances are easier to book, bloggers offer you spots on their pages, opportunities for marketing begin to broaden, and promotion and publicity gets easier. If you are dedicated and take what you’ve learned to heart, the results can be astonishing.

Like creating a butterfly garden, promoting a book is a labor of love. The first time around may be disappointing. But when authors are willing to put in the hard work and be open to learning, to making adjustments, and to loving the process, the groundwork set during the first effort pays off.  With research, energy, patience, good guidance and a whole lot of love, your book publicity efforts will thrive.

The Tao of Book Publicity: A Beginner's Guide to Book Promotion

I've been busy the past few months putting together a book for authors called The Tao of Book Publicity: A Beginner's Guide to Book Promotion.  

In The Tao of Book Publicity, I outline the basics of book promotion and explain how the business of publicizing a book works. Designed for beginning authors but also useful for those with some experience in book publishing, The Tao of Book Publicity provides information on the importance of writing a good book and the need for developing a platform, as well as how-to explanations for developing publicity material, including front and back cover text, press releases, Q&As, media and blog tour queries, and newsletter and media lists. 

The Tao of Book Publicity also covers social media, book pricing and sales, book tours and media interviews, and author websites. In addition to explaining how book publicity works, this valuable handbook explores practical topics such as publicity costs, timing, and considerations when hiring a publicist. 

Simple, straightforward, and informative, The Tao of Book Publicity includes expert advice on all aspects of book promotion and is a go-to reference guide for beginning and experienced authors alike.

You can purchase a copy by clicking on the title here: The Tao of Book Publicity.

I hope you find it useful, and will share your thoughts about it on Goodreads and Amazon.com. Happy reading!

The Pros and Cons of Hiring One-Stop Shops vs. Multiple Specialists for Book Publicity

There are many different services that publicity firms and individual publicity consultants offer to authors looking to promote their books. These services can include any combination of the following:

• Helping you identify your personal brand, your target audience, and your potential reach as an author

• Creating media kits (press releases, fact sheets, Q&As, etc.), distributing press releases on the newswire services, and creating sales pitches targeted to specific markets

• Working with you to fine-tune your website and create the best possible web promotion for your book

• Scheduling book signing and reading events

• Contacting local and national television and radio station producers to set up interviews

• Working with local and national print and online editors to obtain feature coverage

• Setting up speaking engagements at targeted venues

• Placing articles you’ve written in targeted print and online publications

• Helping you identify your strengths as a blogger, so you can capitalize on the blogging community

• Working with you to develop an integrated social media brand image on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and other social media sites

• Setting up blog tours and online author interview opportunities

• Providing guidance on the creation of promotional items (bookstore posters, bookmarks, postcards, tear sheets, business cards, etc.)

• Acting as a sounding board for ideas, helping to answer general questions, and providing guidance on promotional issues

Most publicists feel comfortable doing the majority of the items listed here. Some, however, may specialize in one or more these tasks – there are those, for example, who work only with authors and books in specific content areas; others specialize in scheduling feature interviews with national media; some mainly offer blog tours or set up social media pages, while others specialize in magazine article placement. 

What any publicist does specifically for a client will vary depending on the book’s subject matter, whether the book is fiction or nonfiction, the amount and types of publicity the author is looking for, the author’s platform, and the author’s budget.

So, what should authors consider before hiring a publicist? I suggest thinking about 1) the scope of promotional work you’re looking for, 2) the budget and timeframe for the work, and 3) whether or not you want to hire one publicist to handle everything, or use a number of specialists to handle different aspects of your publicity.

Which brings me to the main question: Which is better, the one-stop shop (hiring one publicist to handle all of the work), or farming out different parts of the publicity work to multiple consultants?

Here are the pros and cons (from a publicist’s point of view) for each option:

The Pros of the One-Stop Shop

-       You get one unified, focused perspective and source of guidance to work with (rather than possibly having to deal with conflicting information and points of view from numerous consultants)

-       You have one contact point for your publicity, which makes it easier for media, speaking venues, readers, etc., to reach you or your publicity contact

-       The person handling your publicity will be able to easily integrate all the aspects of the book’s promotion because s/he is the only one doing so

-       Your branding and all of the publicity information put out about you is consistent, because it comes from one place

-       You may be able to save time on your projects because just one person is handling all of them (rather than having to wait for different people to coordinate/adjust their schedules)

-       You may be able to save on costs by hiring one person whose rates, style, and availability fit your budget and needs

The Cons of the One-Stop Shop

-       The publicist you choose may not handle all of the types of publicity you want to use in your promotional campaign

-       The publicist may not be able to accommodate the timing you want for some of your promotional projects

-       You might want more perspective than just one person’s on your promotional campaign

The Pros of Hiring Multiple/Specialized Publicity Consultants or Firms

-       You can spread out the expertise you need depending on what each publicist/promotional expert offers

-       You can bounce ideas off of multiple experts to see what fits/suites you best

-       If all of your consultants are on the same page, you can use them as a kind of marketing team that works together to help you promote your book

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The Cons of Hiring Multiple/Specialized Publicity Consultants or Firms

-       You can get conflicting information and/or opinions from different PR consultants, which can result in confusion, misunderstandings, and/or discord in your working relationships

-       You can have problems establishing boundaries, especially if some or all of the consultants are used to doing the same thing

-       People looking to contact you or your publicist may have a hard time deciding how to best reach you if there are multiple individuals promoting your work at the same time

-       Your brand may be difficult to manage as a unified image if multiple people are presenting you to the public, or if your consultants aren’t all on the same page

-       You may find it time-consuming to juggle the intricacies of having all the consultants work together efficiently

-       You may be tempted to play one expert off another in the hopes of finding a champion when you don’t agree with one of your consultants, which can result in a breach of trust

-       Your projects may take more time if there are any scheduling conflicts or miscommunication/confusion/misunderstandings among the consultants.

-       It may cost more to hire multiple consultants or firms

There is no right or wrong answer as to whether you should hire just one person for all your publicity needs, or consider using a number of different people with expertise in certain areas. Personally, I prefer to handle all of my client’s publicity – doing so makes it easier to be responsive, provide guidance, and maintain a consistent promotional and brand image. But, I have, on many occasions, worked with other consultants on client projects, and I’ve enjoyed those interactions.

Whichever way you decide to go, it’s crucial to be up-front from the beginning about what you want the individuals you’re hiring to do (rather than spring it on the publicist or team after the work gets going). If more than one consultant or firm will be involved, it’s especially important to be clear on individual assignments, so that each consultant knows what his boundaries are and how his work fits in with that of the other consultants you’re using.