just_a_girl: upcoming talks, bits ‘n’ bobs

Walter Mason will be appearing with me at the NSW Writers’ Centre seminar: Open Access – Selling Your Book in the Digital Age

Just a quickie.

Now all the excitement of Friday Night Fictions has died down (for a month or so), I’m doing some housekeeping and sorting out a few just_a_girl items. It seems that the life of the published writer is really geared these days to heading down the talking track and making public appearances (and you know how much I love that) — but the good news is it seems to be getting easier.

If you are in Sydney or Melbourne, come along. Would love to meet you.

Debut Mondays – Wheeler Centre, Melbourne

On Monday 23 September, I will be doing a reading from just_a_girl at the Wheeler Centre, in Debut Mondays, with Fiona McFarlane and Briohny Doyle. It’s at the Moat, a cosy little bar underneath the State Library. I met Kate Holden there once. Angela Savage and I first laid eyes on each other there. The bar and me, we’ve got a history, that’s all I’m saying.

Can Self-Promotion Be a Creative Act? – NSW Writers’ Centre, Sydney

Well, I do my best. It seems writers do have to be entrepreneurs these days. On Saturday 21 September, from 3 to 4pm, I’ll be talking at the Open Access: Selling Your Book in the Digital Age forum in a panel of authors who will discuss what they have found works and whether promoting yourself can be as creative as writing your book. I’m thrilled to be featured with Walter Mason (Destination Saigon), Andrew Nette (Ghost Money) and Jenn J McLeod (House for all Seasons). I’m looking forward to sitting in on the whole day and getting some tips from digital experts like Anna Maguire.

just_a_girl Goes Digital

It’s been news to me that sometimes getting your hands on an ebook can be more difficult than buying a paperback copy. For small publishers, getting ebooks onto Amazon and iBooks can be tricky and can take a loooonnnngggg time (for excitable people like me). The good news is that the just_a_girl ebook is now available on Kobo and is recommended  in the ‘Aussie Reads’ section.

Jenn J McLeod will be appearing with me at the NSW Writers’ Centre seminar: Open Access – Selling Your Book in the Digital Age

Ratings, ratings, ratings

I’ve never been too sure of the star system when it comes to rating books and music. On Goodreads, I agonise when I have to rate books. There seems to be such a gap between three stars and four. I’d rather read reviews without the stars, but maybe that’s just me. There’s no denying though that the wider publishing world likes stars and ratings. It really helps writers if you give them feedback. If you have read just_a_girl and if you love it (or hate it — I won’t track you down, I promise), it’s good to know people are reading it. It’s like a little security blanket. And if you review it on your blog, even better. Did you know that sales teams for publishers use blog posts to continue arguing to booksellers that the book should remain on the shelves (months after the book has been launched). You can review or rate the book at Goodreads, Amazon or Kobo.

Goodreads competition

One of the best ways to promote a debut novel is to have a giveaway on Goodreads. It’s a way to highlight your book, get people interested in what it’s about, without spamming them. Goodreads does all the organising; writers and publishers just have to mail out the copies. As an added incentive, I asked those who won (and those who entered — who missed out but still read it) to do a little review, and I promised I would include it here on my blog. So here goes:

Thanks to SOPHIE:

just_a_girl is a gritty Puberty Blues-esque novel for the modern age. It is referred to as an adult text however I would recommend it to teenagers as well. The novel is separated into three narratives, in which the interrelated characters develop. The first is Layla, a fourteen year old girl discovering her sexuality and self identity through interactions online. Layla is forced to deal with her fathers homosexuality at a young age, a factor which I believe influences her future relationships with her boyfriend, Davo, and her illicit relationship with an older man, Mr C. Ironically, Mr C is also linked to the second character, Layla’s mother. Margot, struggling to cope with losing her husband for another man and now her daughter to adolescence, turns to the Riverlay Church seeking solace. Here, she meets ‘Mr C,’ or Pastor Bevan, a leader of a new-age Christian Church. Margot finds comfort in Bevan, believing him to represent God in earth, an ironic twist to his actual role. The novel also focuses upon Tadashi, a young Japanese man who seeks affection in the form of a doll after the death of his mother. I was unsure of his overall contribution to the plot. He seemed to be a minor character yet the text kept referring to him. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It is honest and gritty, and I often found it confronting. It represents accurately what teenagers are forced to encounter in modern society, something authors often struggle to represent.

Andrew Nette will be appearing with me at the NSW Writers’ Centre seminar: Open Access – Selling Your Book in the Digital Age

And JESSICA:

This book took me a little while to get into at first, but then I was hooked. Highly recommended for young adults!

And OTHER READERS

Who have posted reviews at Goodreads including Annabel Smith, Ellie Marney, Anna, and Mandee.

AND SPECIAL MENTION

To my husband who rated it five stars. *awwwwwwwww*

NOW, YOUR TURN…

IF YOU’RE A WRITER, DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS ON HOW TO MARKET A BOOK ONLINE?

AND READERS, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CHOOSING A BOOK? A REVIEW IN A NEWSPAPER? ON A BLOG? A FRIEND MENTIONING IT? 

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Friday Night Fictions: for debut authors

Taylor Kitsch, Tim Riggins, Friday Night Lights

When you are releasing a first novel, the most unexpected things can happen. One is that you attract guardian angels — fellow readers and writers who decide to champion your work (even complete strangers).  This is especially important for debut novelists. If a writer with a following retweets you, invites you to guest blog or writes a review, it makes an enormous amount of difference to how your work is perceived, and whether it gets any attention. Two champions for me have been the authors and social media experts  Walter Mason and Angela Savage. Both have done everything in their power to help promote my book (without me even asking). I had never met Walter before the Sydney launch, and only recently met Angela for the first time in Melbourne (after conversing via blogs).

It started me thinking. What I am hearing via FB and blogs is that many debut authors are releasing books or stories into the current climate and the reaction is … NOTHING. Can you imagine spending many years on a project (12 years in my case) to get absolutely no reaction in the media? It can be heartbreaking. Especially as the books are often well-reviewed (if they finally do get reviews). On Twitter it can be like millions of writers all with their own little megaphone, and you can’t hear a thing.

So, I thought I’d take a hint from Walter and Angela, and start a new item on my blog called Friday Night Fictions, with the sole purpose of promoting debut authors’ fiction. I’m also keen on digital fiction, short stories, and Flash or micro-fiction. If you can link to it, even better. The idea is to start a club that promotes first-timers, and we can check out and comment on each other’s work too…

I also realise how important bloggers and reviewers have become in promoting first time writers’ work. If you review any of the works featured, or interview any writers, in Friday Night Fictions, I will link your reviews in the following edition so there is a developing dialogue around each writer’s work…Email me and let me know.

The scope of the internet means first-time works don’t have to come and go without a trace. Unlike printed book publishing, there is time online — to reflect, to debate. Works can stay current and relevant for as long as readers want to look at them, with ebooks available…that’s why I encourage writers who have published in 2013 and 2014 to contact me.

The title comes because I’ve become addicted to the TV show Friday Night Lights. I started watching it on Friday nights. I know, I always come to things a bit late. I’d get the kids to bed early, wrap myself in a doona, hold my husband’s hand and settle in for some good drama and great southern American hairstyles. Then it eked out to Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays. Then series one ended and now I’m wringing my hands each night as I wait for the next series to arrive in the post on DVD. Sometimes it’s good to wait for good things. You know, like we used to. I originally discovered the series when a friend sent me this article written by Lorrie Moore (you now need to subscribe to get it, but it’s worth it).

Back to Friday Night Fictions. If you would like to be included, I have a series of conditions.

1.If you submit work, you need to subscribe to my blog at Wild Colonial Girl (http://www.wildcolonialgirl.com).

2. You promise that when your work is published on the blog, you will help promote Friday Night Fictions on social media and to your mates. You also promise to read at least one OTHER writer’s work featured, and comment on it.

3. All work needs to be fiction and published in 2013 and 2014.

4. All books need to be debut novels (any genre, from anywhere on the planet). E-books and self-published books are fine.

5. Short stories and Flash/micro-fiction OK, as long as you can link to it.

6. You can only enter a particular work once.

7. Please email submissions to info(at)frecklefeatures(com)au with FRIDAY NIGHT FICTIONS in the subject line.

8. Email submissions need to include: Author’s name and title made clear, and up to 150 words on the work (I will not be editing down so if you include more words than this, it won’t go in); a small image, preferably of the cover, where applicable; a link to where readers can buy or access the work; a link to an extract already available online so readers can get a sense of the style, if possible. Please note: emails must come from authors. No publishers or publicists/agents please.

9. Friday Night Fictions will go up on the last Friday night – every three months. The next issue is May 2014…

10. Reviewers can only send links to reviews of works featured in Friday Night Fictions. These will be updated for the following edition, so featured writers can see responses…

11. Each month I will choose a writer/work from the submissions whose work EXCITES me – to feature for the following edition.

Please pass on to anyone who has had a debut novel published this year, or any emerging writers in fiction. I look forward to your comments and hope we can build a global community of first-timers in fiction…