Linda Chamberlain: In a stream of consciousness…

We welcome Linda Chamberlain to the blog to tell us about her first visit to the London Book Fair,   what she saw and the (RNA) people she met.

 

Olympia is a cathedral. High ceilings, masses of people and for three days it is full of books. The old fashioned kind, with covers, some of them hard, glossy and expensive. People, smartly dressed, selling books. Not to readers, though. The London Book Fair is a giant sale of rights - film rights, foreign rights, audio - and it feels a million miles from my lap top, lying idle today. It’s not Ideal Home crowded, but it’s busy and I remember my instructions. A programme. I spot someone giving out maps at the entrance. I’ll need one of those, not that they help me on the M25.

No programme to be found. Clueless, never been before, I throw myself straight in, wandering the aisles. The metaphor changes – Olympia is a giant oak and writers are the acorns. Some have sprouted; others might be waiting to spill their insides to the world. Plenty are here. Some of them I know. A hug from Elizabeth Jennings who runs the Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy. I must go there again, she says. There’s Freida Lightfoot with Alison Moreton, RNA members both.

There are books on the Accent Press stand from some of our clan. Stop for a chat, it’s going well. Exhausting. Exciting. Lots of interest. Show my indie-published book, leave my card; take the submission guidelines since you never know. Searching for the press office but find Author HQ with its chance to sit down and listen to speakers. The digital age is more apparent here. Giving advice are a poet and a novelist who strut their stuff on Twitter. The poem that was spread over a few Tweets makes me smile. Brevity is expected from the novelist. A murder, surely, in the first 140 characters but no, this sounds like a book with a slow build.

Not waiting to find out how many readers he gains, I’m drawn to the Amazon stand nearby. More chat; good advice. So strange to see smiling faces behind this publishing giant.

Back at Author HQ a crowd forms for a talk on marketing and PR by Tory Lyne-Pirkis from Midas PR and Bethan Ferguson of Quercus. Out comes the notebook.  The advice is strongly pitched to indie publishers – get the cover right, get busy on social media, connecting to other people rather than trying to sell books. Join NetGalley, the cost is small and people there will review your book.

The trade stands that are full of children’s books seem a world far removed from such thoughts. The impression is an illusion since all books need a push in the right direction. The beautiful pictures, the colourful covers are a feast. The digital device in my bag is a useful but monochrome poor relation.

Another sit down; another talk. Diego Marano, UK manager of Kobo Writing Life, has some startling information. Research has shown that about 60 per cent of readers get to the end of a book they’ve downloaded. He proudly introduces Casey Kelleher whose grit-lit books on Kobo achieve an 82 per cent finish rate. She had no agent or publisher when she started out and writes crime in a stream of consciousness. Unusual and inspiring, think I’ll do my own version for this blog…

Making my way out of the building at the end of play I bump into Sue Moorcroft with Pia Tapper Fenton who both seem more enlivened than me. They’d had a good day, good talks – one of them at English PEN which campaigns internationally for the freedom to write without censorship.

I pick up a programme before I leave. They weren’t hidden. Next time I’ll get it right…!

I spoke to NWS member, Catherine Miller about her day at the London Book Fair and the The Write Stuff event:

The Write Stuff event was the London Book Fair equivalent of Dragon’s Den and when I entered my novel Baby Number Two, I never thought I would end up being one of the ten finalists. After my warm-up gigs having only been to the delight of my twin toddlers, facing four judges (Mark Lucas, Toby Mundy, Lorella Belli and Alison Jones) and a large audience thanks to the open stage was a tad daunting. Fortunately the practice paid off and my pitch went as well as can be expected given the immense amount of pressure. The feedback from the judges was both encouraging and helpful, not just for me, but for all the finalists involved. And afterwards it was lovely and surprising to have strangers come up to me and ask where they could buy my book. Would I do it again? Undoubtedly. Would I encourage others to enter? Definitely. Would I do anything differently? As Tony Mulliken, Chairman of Midas PR, who presented the event pointed out, I should have taken the twins. 

Thank you, Linda and Catherine.
 

The RNA Blog is brought to you by, 
 

Elaine Evererest & Natalie Kleinman 

If you would like to cover an event for the RNA blog please get in touch:

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RNA TALK: Eloisa James

Our thanks to Linda Chamberlain who reports on the talk given by Eloisa James at the recent RNA General Meeting.

New York Times best-selling author Eloisa James is a great supporter of literature.

It’s something she does in her day job as Professor of English literature specialising in Shakespeare at Fordham University in New York – a job she would never give up.

And it’s something she does by osmosis as a prolific writer of historical romantic fiction. We all know that it’s the ‘role’ of hugely successful authors to effectively bolster those further down the earnings ladder. With a smile, she reminds us that the entire literary department is included in this scenario.

She is disappointed that so little nurturing of careers goes on in the industry, saddened that so many mid-list authors are thrown out through a perpetually revolving door if their sales don’t improve.  As the writer of, she thinks, 23 books, which have sold in their millions she says a thick skin is essential. Eloisa had some brilliant advice for her RNA audience in London.

Be Machiavellian – know your strengths, your weaknesses and read books that are selling. Stop reading and you lose sight of what is at the heart of the market. Study those ‘reader pleasure moments’ that make a book special and keep the pages turning.

Get in the Zen – she admits to a strong ego. She’s left a publishing house that wasn’t serving her well and she won’t suffer an editor who’s not up to the job. She has sufficient clout to say NO but sometimes she has to accept that she might be wrong and re-write. Remember, she says, ‘Your editor doesn’t own you; your agent is there to serve you.’

Have a thick skin – she describes herself as the queen of such scenes as near-death and outside sex but ‘not everyone will like what you are writing’. High sales increase your chances of nasty reviews and vicious blogs. Never respond. She keeps a book at hand featuring bad reviews for good writers as an antidote.

Be a businesswoman – you have to understand royalty statements and contracts.

Writing can be high risk and humiliating – there were murmurings of understanding from her audience at this point. Writing about relationships and sex bring the inevitable questions of what does your husband think? Have you done all those things? Remember that romance is a fantastic genre; its triumphs may be small but it helps people through the bad times.

Beware of critique groups – they can iron out ‘that voice’, the thing that makes your book original. Better to have one critique buddy.

She finished her talk with a reminder that will resonate throughout the RNA with its remarkable New Writers' Scheme.

‘You have to nurture the bottom if there’s to be a top,’ she said. ‘Readers need great books to read.’

Eloisa is prolific but she can’t write all of them.

Report by Linda Chamberlain

Thank you, Linda

The RNA Blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman.

If you would like to appear on the Blog please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com

Linda Chamberlain: Press releases for authors

A big welcome to author and journalist, Linda Chamberlain who has written a very handy article on writing press releases to promote our books.

We are writers so therefore we can write a press release.

But can we all write one to accompany the launch of our latest book? Will it help make the headlines? And will it help sales? Or should we let our publisher do the job for us?

I knew my debut novel – The First Vet – which was published on Amazon last month was a press release waiting to happen. I’ve been a journalist most of my working life and can smell a story when it’s near, especially if I’m working on it every single day. Mine was simple. My book was a blend of fact and fiction about one of this country’s first ever vets. He was a man ahead of his time, an animal’s rights campaigner before the term was coined. But his work was condemned and then forgotten for 200 years.

The aim of my novel was two-fold, to tell a page-turning story about love and corruption and to make Bracy Clark’s name known again. It was already starting to happen without my contribution as he is mentioned on web sites from New Zealand to New York as being the godfather of a growing movement to enable domestic horses to live more natural lives. Once the book was published, I got out a press release with a list of bullet points.

FORGOTTEN RESEARCH UNCOVERED AFTER 200 YEARS

THE FIRST VET’S BATTLE AGAINST ‘HARMFUL’ SHOEING

ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION IN EARLY YEARS OF VET COLLEGE

ANIMAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER SHUNNED BY HIS OWN PROFESSION

I was giving journalists and bloggers a choice of headlines.

I started sending it out slowly. First to equine web sites and on line magazines that I knew would have an interest. Reports have started and my press release has gone on line thanks to writers in Brighton and as far afield as Vancouver.

According to Tony Mulliken, chairman of Midas PR, every book should have an accompanying press release. ‘It’s an aid and should give an instant impression of what the book is about,’ he said.

Publishers will notify magazines about a new publication months in advance because they have such long lead-in times. Newspapers will be told nearer to publication date.  The aim is to get coverage and reviews.

Let’s face it; any book has at least one headline in it even if it’s only Writer Publishes Book. The Guardian may not care but an author’s local paper will. So will local magazines. If there is a professional angle – it should be exploited.

Jean Fullerton, who has just stood down as chair of the London RNA chapter, has a successful series of books set post war and steeped in nursing. She’s a former nurse and now lectures in nursing. What a great story. Did her publisher make use of it? Of course. So did Jean.  She altered the publisher’s press release and sent it out to her local media.

‘It saved me the hard work of writing it. I changed it a bit and emphasised the locality; personalised it. I got a lot of publicity from it,’ she said.

There’s a useful technique to writing a press release and that is to get all the important information near to the top - nothing vital to be saved for the end, apart from your contact details. Journalists write under huge pressure. Novelists do too but rarely with a news editor standing at their elbow and screaming in their right ear while the chief sub pulls his hair in frustration. Nerve wracking. Journalists will thank you if you’ve kept the good stuff at the top. Summarise your story for them, make sure it has a good intro and make sure you include some quotes. Yes, even from yourself. If you are the author who won an award last year, remind them.

Don’t forget there are lots of publications that run on a very tight budget. Small free newspapers and magazines that are pushed through your door will appreciate if you let your press release run at length. You might fill up a page or two for them at no cost to themselves and in return they may sell you some books.

Remember – a book’s best marketing asset is its author.

About Linda: 

Linda Chamberlain has been a journalist most of her working life but a horse rider for quite a bit longer. When she’s not typing away at her latest manuscript she’s usually off on that horse again! The First Vet is her debut novel. She lives in Sussex with her family and a couple of four-legged friends.

Thank you, Linda for a most informative article.

This blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to write a piece for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

A Report From The Matera Women's Fiction Festival

RNA New Writers' Scheme member, Linda Chamberlain, writes:

I’ve set my goal. I’m going to find out which writers’ conferences are worth attending. It’s a tough assignment but I’m inspired and up for the task having just returned from the Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy.

Putting aside the issue of its fabulous location, the WFF is a good one. It’s small and intimate, ideal for new writers looking for that first break into publishing and with enough informative sessions to be of interest to more seasoned scribes. About 60 people came this year, mainly from Italy, also from France, Germany, Austria, USA and Britain. It’s an international conference, there is a team of interpreters for the multi-lingual talks and there are plenty of agents and editors giving talks and looking for new talent.

This is the crux. The one-to-one appointments. The dragon’s den. You have 15 minutes to pitch your book, your idea or simply ask for advice from a galaxy of publishing experts. They give it generously, without soft frills, whether they like your work or not. You may not like their opinion, you may feel knocked back or turned down; but, there again, you may ignite a new relationship. In other words, you may find your future agent or publisher.

At the WFF you can get a lot of appointments. I had six, others had more. That’s an hour and a half devoted to me and my work. That’s a lot. By the time I reached the final appointment with an editor on day three, my pitch was gaining in confidence and I was coming out with a smile on my face. Chatting to new friends and acquaintances it was clear that others were going through the same process. Many were being asked to send samples of their work. Ah, the joy of email.

Being new to this industry (I’m unpublished), one thing surprised me. Publishing is very international. US agents are looking for British writers and Germany in particular has a massive appetite for foreign books. The economy may be suffering but the need for books is healthier than ever.

The conference is in its youth, this is its sixth year, and was set up by American-born writer Elizabeth Jennings. She was an interpreter who, like many, longed to be a novelist. Love, marriage and motherhood had their first claim on her life and took her to Matera, Italy’s best-kept secret, and her husband’s home town. What a place for a writer to be based! It’s a town with a 7,000 year history, perched above a rocky gorge and blending almost seamlessly with thousands of caves. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site, has a Biblical flavour and is probably one of the few places you can enjoy breakfast in a cave.

Elizabeth, not surprisingly, wanted to bring other writers to this troglodyte haven. She considered setting up a retreat but the idea gave birth to this conference. As in writing, these things have a life of their own. She proudly says that Matera has featured in more than one novel on the bookshelves and many new writers have found their publishing break here.

The downside? Matera is hard to get to. The WFF will never be a massive conference, a zoo, as Elizabeth describes them. It won’t attract thousands of wannabes, just a neat handful. Perfect, really.