Marketing for Authors

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop for writers interested in how to market their work. It was done through one of my local writing groups via Skype and was led by Jacksonville based author, Valerie Bowman.

Valerie writes Regency Historical Romance novels but also knows a lot about marketing due to her recent obsession for the topic. Her lecture covered most of the points that can be found in her e-book, “Painless Marketing for Busy Authors”. I also ordered this 99 cent book to gain even more background and insight.

In the beginning of this year, I was seriously considering getting a second Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing so I was pretty amped to attend this workshop. I’ve also become slightly inquisitive about it and Valerie hit on many points that I’d already read about. However, her insight into the details and specifics is what made her presentation invaluable to me.

In her e-book especially, you can find a long list of exact things to do to increase your discoverability as an emerging author, some of which I seriously plan on implementing in the future. Plus, her humor was worth it alone.

And I fully agree: Purple pens with your book’s title on them may never get you an added sale, but come on, how awesome is that to see on your desk every day? Very awesome indeed :)

You can check out more on Valerie Bowman on her website: http://www.valeriebowmanbooks.com

-M.McKnight

Where Do I Belong?

So it’s been a loooong time since I last posted, but I just returned home from my first ever writing critique group sesh (YA focused) and I can’t help but feel a little discouraged. Not entirely about my writing itself, but if I really belong in the group.

For the longest time I considered myself a YA writer which I still kinda do, but my latest manuscript I was told, was New Adult instead just based on the character’s age ranges. This was an eye-opener and I started reading all about this new genre; however when I read what other people were saying about the genre, I didn’t feel like my story should necessarily be grouped in with that label. Most people consider New Adult to mean sexed-up YA, but in my novel, while there are sexual situations, I don’t go into any graphic details AT ALL. So this leaves me again with where do I fit in? (Ironic since that’s a recurrent theme in the YA world).

Then I was told I might benefit from a romance writers’ group. Well, I always had this notion of “Romance” as a genre of being explicit erotica with Fabio on the cover. Apparently this isn’t the case, I was pleased to find out. In fact, there are groups that focus specifically on YA Romances.

This came as a relief since the group I just met with didn’t focus on romance that much. So I definitely want to take advantage of the Romance groups out there now and I want to thank Daniel from the group for the encouragement to do so.

I did enjoy reading other people’s work and hopefully next time I will get to know the members better and feel more open sharing my words with them. (I was terrified the first time because I’ve never shared my work before). However, I realize that romance groups may be the better direction for me and I plan on taking that path at least in addition to the group I currently belong to now. (Thanks again Daniel!)

-M. McKnight

A Great Quote for Writers

“When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters”-Ernest Hemingway

Some Love for “Warm Bodies”

I wanted to take a moment and share my thoughts on this wonderful debut novel. As a whole, zombies never held that much of an interest to me. However, Warm Bodies explores the concept so much more than your typical horror story. While grotesque at first, the novel’s protagonist, “R”,  takes us on a tour of what his daily life is like. Lots of brain eating, and even more groaning. But then we slowly start to discover that R is different than the rest of his undead race. He can mutter chains of up to four syllables and he longs to know anything about the life he once had as one of the Living. During one of his hunts to feed on human lives, he devours the brain of a young man, which allows him a view into that man’s past- his hopes, his memories, his pain, his love. In short, R witnesses a brief look at what humanity is.

The girl this young man loved becomes a hostage of R’s, but he promises never to hurt her, instead studying her intently. She teaches him that he doesn’t have to allow the plague to control him and that he’s more than just a zombie, at least on the inside. As he grows closer to this girl, fueled partly by glimpses of her boyfriend’s memories of her, R slowly understands the true meaning of what it is to care for somebody else.

The novel dwells on the theme that humanity in its simplest form is something to be cherished, which is then threaded around the meaning of life itself. When we lose our concept of humanity, the plague takes over inside of us, creating something ugly at our core, which in Marion’s novel is symbolized by using zombies. This was a fantastic novel, one that I read within two days because I literally could not put it down. The writing reads in such a well-written poetic way and my eyes devoured each and every word of it. Truly a masterpiece of its own merit, Warm Bodies is a standard by which other novels should be compared to. Simply beautiful and breathtaking, it will be a long time before I stop thinking about this wonderful book.

Getting Serious

Since this month starts a brand new year, I’ve decided that I need to stop simply dreaming and make things happen. My first step is becoming a member of a local community of fellow writers, The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group. By joining, for the first time ever I will be surrounded by people who actually comprehend that euphoric feeling of cracking open a new book (or even an oldie, but goodie) and the excitement that churns in our chests when we’re on a creative roll, sitting in front of our laptops. In short, I’ll be able to talk to people who just get it.

This group of writers meets one a month to discuss common writing pitfalls, share inspiration, and offer critiques on works in progress. Moreover, at the end of each months are workshops dedicated to improving your writing and sharing a wealth of knowledge on the world of publishing. I’m greatly anticipating this month’s upcoming workshop on self-publishing. This is my Plan B if I struggle in the traditional route so I’m excited to learn more.

Lastly, but certainly not least, the group holds an annual writer’s conference which last two full days and consists of multiple workshops for writers of all levels. Between a well-known key note speaker from a distinguished publishing company, to opportunities to network with other authors and meet potential literary agents, this will be an experience I know will kick-start my ambition to become a serious author and possibly, for the first time in my life, make those distant dreams something to actually strive toward. After all, you can do anything in this world, if only you believe that you can.

M. McKnight

A Platform is Born

Every story needs a beginning and here’s mine as of now: I’m an aspiring novelist with an avid passion for all things adventure, hope, love, self-discovery and believing in yourself. For most of my life I’ve been writing actively. I’m only 26, but when you start writing short stories at the age of 7 that’s what’ll happen.

Most recently, I am in the process of editing my novel for the umpteenth time so that I can start submitting query letters to potential agents. At first, I considered myself purely YA (Young Adult) since it’s the genre I primarily end up reading. However, now I’ve been setting my sights on the genre of contemporary romance. And let me just point out right away, I do not nor will I ever write “bodice-ripper” romance. My stories are passionate and romantic as the genre should be, but simply put, not erotica.

I enjoy writing stories that are coming-of-age; that tell of ‘finding oneself’ by overcoming great struggles in life. In my novel, I write about not fitting in, trying to figure out what to do with your adult life, striving for acceptance and love, but most of all, discovering different aspects of yourself in someone else. This is truly the heart of what my novel is about.

My hope for this blog is to put myself out there for the first time, letting the world see that I’m serious about becoming an author and my craft. It will be the birth of my platform, so to speak, as an author, and hopefully in the near future, become a place where my readers can come to ask me questions, find new information about my future pursuits, and share with me a love of books.