Picture This!

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

There's been a great deal of chatter on some of my writers' groups lately about headshots and how often they should be replaced. Opinions vary widely, going from every time you change your hair style/color, to when it no longer looks like you.

I'm firmly in the latter camp. Considering I have been known to have my hair the color-of-the-week and (if I'm wearing a wig or hairpiece that day) go from long to short to mid-range with dizzying speed, as long as the face resembles mine I'm fine. Otherwise I would go both broke and crazy trying to keep up with photos of all my varied looks.

The fact that the picture looks like me is in itself a small miracle. While I admit I'm no beauty, children and dogs don't run screaming at my appearance. At least, not most of the time. I do, however, have the kind of face that does not take good photographs. My face is round, chubby and either paper-pale or blazing red, depending on the momentary state of my blood pressure. In most of my photographs I look like a gigantic sugar cookie with an idiotic grin - which might be why I took up photography years ago. If one is taking the photo, one cannot be in it!

When I came back to writing seriously after a ten-year hiatus - long story - I knew I had to have a good headshot, which meant needing a photographer who was at least part magician. Knowing I needed all the help I could get, I went to Glamour Shots at NorthPark Mall (are they even still in business?) which gives you an idea of how long ago this was. I booked a standard package and luckily had a late-ish afternoon appointment. Luckily, because I became a challenge to this place, which prided itself on delivering a good shot.

One hairstylist, two make-up artists, three photographers and three and a half hours later (most shoots ran no more than thirty to forty-five minutes) I finally had a decent likeness. In spite of all the challenges (problems?) of the shoot they charged me only the standard sitting fee, but of course I had to add extras - two additional 8x10s, both different, as presents for my mother and brand-new husband, and (what really drove up the price) I wanted to buy all rights to the shot I wanted as I was going to use it professionally. They did sell me the rights to that shot, but it was expensive! However, I guess the price has amortized out over the years I have used it. People still recognize me from it, so I am going to continue using it for a while longer at least.

During the interim years I have done at least two other shoots, both ending with images that either didn't look a thing like me or looked so much like me at my worst that, refusing to use them, I condemned them to pixel-heaven. According to impartial judges, the old shot still looks more like me than any of the newer attempts. So, like the man who came to dinner it just keeps hanging around.

The truly sad part of this tale is that my mother died unexpectedly just a few days after this shoot. She never saw the picture I had made especially for her.

To Self or Not To Self

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

As most of you know, I am a great proponent of self-publishing. Almost every book I do these days is self-published through my company Sefkhat-Awbi Books, though there are a couple of traditional publishers I am still happy to work with.

That doesn’t mean self-publishing is perfect. Or anywhere close to it.

I realize that self-publishing is not for everyone. You have to be tough, dedicated, and – because it is a heck of a lot of old-fashioned work – tireless. You have to be both sides of opposing forces – the author and the publisher. It’s your book, so as the author you have the power to keep it safe from the ‘writing by committee’ attitude of traditional publishing, where each step from agent to first reader to acquiring editor to content editor can require rewrites. Sometimes many rewrites, so many that you almost do not recognize your own book. Release is at your convenience, instead of having to wait an average of a year or more before your book comes out.

If you self-publish, you have to switch chairs and regard your brain-child, your magnum opus as a product instead of an automatic classic and best seller. You have to have it edited by a professional, for content and for mechanics – and pay for it. You have to lay out the book the way you want it to appear – table of contents, copyright page, dedication, other books by, about the author, whatever. Then, unless you are gifted in the computer arts, you will have to hire – and pay – a formatter. You will have to work with – and pay – a cover artist, hopefully choosing images that will sell your book easily. If doing a paperback, you will have to do all this in paperback format as well as electronic. Also, if doing a paperback, you really should order – and pay for – proofs to make sure everything looks the way it should. For electronic versions, you need to check on their viewers before uploading.

And all this takes time – but you do get 60% plus (depending on outlet) of cover price instead of 6-8% of whatever the traditional publishers decide is the current norm.

Whether you are self-publishing or traditionally publishing, publicity will be your responsibility. A traditional publisher will put your book in a catalogue and maybe send out a press release when release day finally rolls around. Pretty much everything else is on you however you are published.

I’ll admit I’m a control freak. I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to keep my vision, my book, the way I see it. Yes, I work with a wonderful editor and sometimes I have to ‘kill my darlings’ but my word is the final one. I make the decisions on cover art instead of just giving a few recommendations and having to accept whatever the publisher’s art department comes up with. Pricing and distribution are my choice. Format is my choice. This is my book, doggone it, and it’s all my choice. And my responsibility.

Like I said, self-publishing isn’t for everyone. I like it, though.

You Want Us To Do What?

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

I’m distressed. Not long ago I went to lunch with a well-known publicist. We all want lots of sales, and anything that helps sell books is all to the good, right?

Now I’m not sure. The more I listened to the publicist, the more distressed I became. With the energy of a televangelist she spoke of how in order to be noticed a writer had to Tweet several times a day, Facebook just as often, join and participate in several new social media groups (as one never knew which one would turn into the next Facebook), grow a mailing list for regular newsletters, attend at least one book club (but several were better) both in person and online in order to get to meet readers, do readings and signings and all manner of public appearances, have an interesting and up-to-date website… Oh, and you’re supposed to have a blog – or several – which you update regularly and often, as well as guest blog. Blog tours are also recommended.

Then she got really depressing and predicted that within a very few years we wouldn’t be selling books at all – that all content would be free, like movies and tv are free on the internet today. (I haven’t seen any actors, actresses or producers working for free lately, though, and I doubt if many professional writers want to either.) When asked how we would make our money, she gleefully announced, “Through marketing!” Yes, we’re supposed to sell mugs and tote bags and God-only-knows-what, each with a tie-in to our books and characters. Apparently some writers are already doing this, but there was no explanation of when they found time to write, let alone lead a life or be with their family.

That’s when I tuned out, totally overwhelmed. We’re supposed to do all that? And write, too? To say nothing of dealing with real life, such as emergencies, family obligations and even the constant necessities of the dishwasher and the laundry…

Most writers have families, and jobs, and obligations. And, yes, they have to write. Most writers I know are already stretched to the max. No writer of whom I am aware sits around on a chaise eating bon-bons and wondering how they will fill the empty hours since they finished their last opus. In fact, I venture to say most of us barely get done what is already necessary.

So where is all the extra time going to come from for us to tweet and FB and attend all those book club meetings and gather every reader we meet into the fold of personal friendship? My days are full, but I’m selfish – I like getting at least five hours sleep a night, and that’s just about the only time I’m not busy.

Another, equally vocal, camp says that we should all be self-publishing, that self-publishing is the best way to gain fame and fortune. Well, I’m self-published and if this is fame and fortune…! I know that there are authors making bazillions of dollars from self-pubbing, and I know there are other authors with equally good books who even after several months have not yet made back their expenses. Most of us fall somewhere in between. Whatever the financial rewards, self-pubbing just adds to the workload. Now you not only must deal with edits, you have to find and hire the editor. Same with the cover and the artist, as well as the translator if you decide to publish in foreign languages. A lot of authors do their own formatting for the various vendors – more time gone! Then, once the book is out, you must deal with any legal matters that crop up – copyright questions, piracy takedown notices, excerpts – and before you know it, an entire morning or even a day is gone and not a word written.

Everything I’ve mentioned, from formatting to laundry, can be hired out or, if you have helpful children or a supportive spouse, handed over to them. If you do hire someone that becomes self-defeating in a way and can backfire badly. You can pay a virtual assistant to tweet and FB and Instagram and whatever for you, but if part of your goal is to be a friend to your reader, how is that friend going to feel when they find out (and they will, believe me, they will) that the lovely personal notes and friendly posts you’ve been making to your fan friends have been done by a hireling?

If there was one thing this marketing guru harped on, it was personal contact between the author and the reader. “Make the reader your friend,” she crooned; “go to places where you can meet the readers.” Now instead of writing, we are supposed to join book clubs – both physical and on-line, where the readers can get to know us as a person and regard us as a friend. We are supposed to start street teams, where our fans publicize for us and we reward them with advance books, goodies and our attention. “Stay in contact with your readers – always answer any communication you receive from a reader/friend. Talk about your personal life instead of your working life when you blog. Be open. Be receptive. Keep them appraised of what you’re doing.”

Why? Why force or feign a friendship where one doesn’t spring naturally? We all know about some readers who want to have a personal relationship with their favorite authors – not just because they admire their work, but because being ‘friends’ with a real author somehow makes some of the glamour rub off on them. I don’t understand that particular line of reasoning, but I know it exists, sometimes to the point of dangerous stalking. Most people don’t need to be friends with someone in order to appreciate their talent or artistry. I have met readers and a few of them have become friends, but it is because of whatever magic that makes two people become friends no matter how they meet, not because I want to hang their scalp from my belt as a fan. To treat every fan you meet as a special friend is really doing them a disservice, for while everyone can be friendly, friendship is special. I do believe in friendliness and politeness to all readers, but not the cold-blooded stalking of them for fans.

And for that matter, where did this position of ‘you have to make friends of your readers’ start? As far as I am concerned, readers becoming friends isn’t part of the professional equation. Writers write books. Readers read books. That’s all either should expect, other than the common courtesies that are part of a civilized society.

So, I ask again, where is the time for all this involvement and friendliness supposed to come? I guess it would work well for someone who has written a single book, maybe two, and is doing nothing but trying to sell them. For the rest of us, we have to have time to write. It has never made sense that readers expect you to be their best friend and still have you write X number of books a year.

There are jokes about writers working in an empty room filled with imaginary people. They’re funny, yes, but they also underscore that writing is at heart a very solitary business. Some writers dream of a quiet room where they can be alone with their computer and their stories for hours and hours, but I also know many writers who write best in a crowded coffee shop, or who turn out scene after scene in the dentist’s waiting room or while at their daughter’s soccer practice or even sitting with the family in front of the TV at night. I applaud them for writing whatever their personal process is, but wherever they sit while putting down words, writing is still a solitary business. No matter how many people are around, writing still boils down to just the writer and the words and the people in that writer’s head.

Just the writer and words – and it take time and concentration to get those words, to make a story come alive and touch people. On my computer I have a little saying that I read every morning before starting work – “Write, don’t talk.” Originally it meant that a story should be written and not talked to death being shared with all and sundry, but it fits just as well to mean one should be writing instead of chatting with friends. Beside that phrase is another one, “Writing is easy – all you do is stare at a blank screen until drops of blood fall on your forehead.”

Good writing is work, and like all work, takes time. There has to be a balance between writing the books and publicizing them. I think the majority of a writer’s time should be spent writing the best book she can. And another. And another. Writers should write, and readers should read. That’s the equation.

Struggling with Time Choices

My first novel was published by Avalon Books in 1990, which means I’ve been a published author for twenty-five years now.  What a difference twenty-five years make!

In 1990, it was simple.  I wrote the book; I sent it to Avalon; they published it.  I did a few readings and signings for each book, mostly at a local bookstore or with various groups of authors. That was it.  I got to work on the next book.

The Internet did exist then, but the World Wide Web was in its infancy. My first real online experience was with the Prodigy bulletin board. I logged in via a dial-up modem and it slowly—very slowly—downloaded content to my computer. I found some shared interest groups, including groups of authors writing mystery and romance. It was wonderful, though the slow interface limited my interaction. It still felt like an amazing thing to connect with other authors online.

Today I connect via cable modem and it’s lightning fast and always available. I belong to tons of different writers’ groups and listserves. I’ve learned a huge amount from online interactions. It’s amazing.

It’s also a nightmare. It’s the amorphous blob that swallows all my time. And I’m not even talking about the hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of emails I get each day or the temptation of so much news and information available. I’m talking about the pressure to join more groups, interact with people on Twitter and Facebook. Learn Linked In. Figure out Goodreads. Join Google +, Tumblr, Tsu, Instagram, Hologram and Phooeygram.

I can’t do it. I have a day job and family. I barely squeeze in time to write in my crowded schedule and I resent having to take some of that time to join conversations on Twitter, mostly on topics I don’t care about, or try to make sense of all those other social media sites.

I like blogging, since I’m always willing to give my opinion on any particular subject, especially if it’s one I know something about, like writing and telling stories. I use Facebook mostly for family connections and occasionally get rewarded when one of my children posts pictures of the grandkids.  I connect with other author friends there, too, and I like keeping up with what they’re doing.  But I don’t like posting too much about my own writing stuff.  I’m really not much for self-promotion.

I do a few public appearances at science fiction conventions and writers’ groups events.  In fact, as you’re reading this I’m probably at Con-gregate, a local science fiction convention. I have a great time at science fiction conventions.  They’re so much less format than mystery and romance writer conventions and I always learn a few things as well.  (And frequently come home with dragon ear-rings or a unicorn pendant – I mean where else can you get those things?)

But I think I’m going to try to relax about promoting and just do what works for me – blogging, a few appearances, some other online writer events, but mostly just try to continue to write the best books I can!

 

Holiday? Huh?

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

By the time you read this, the Labor Day holiday will be over, and I say thank Goodness!

Whoever started the canard that Holidays were for a holiday, a respite from work? I work harder on a designated Holiday than just about any other day. Like this last weekend – THE EGYPTIAN FILE officially released on the 30^th, so there was all the attendant announcement publicity to do.

A digression - WHY does each book/readers site have different rules on publicity? Different days; different things accepted. Some will accept a post any day; some allow them only on certain days or on one specific day. Some will take only a simple announcement; some want everything – blurb, excerpt, links, cover, websites, everything but your blood type. Some take links, some don't. Some take cover shots, some don't. Some want blurbs, some don't. Some want excerpts, some don't. All seem to want something different in the subject line. Why don't they get together and make one set of rules for all that will be easier for writers and readers both?

Back to holidays. As I said, doing the basic release announcements takes a great deal of time and attention. Plus, The Husband is home, which at the least means more cooking. Plus, we're redoing the garage. The actual hammer-and-nails remodeling is done (thank Goodness, and before there was physical violence) but now we must clean out our various storage rooms and decide what to keep and what to give away. Worse yet, it seems that we each regard our own stuff as precious (mine is mostly antiques, by the way) and the other's as simply stuff, or worse, junk.

My head had barely lifted off the pillow on Saturday before The Husband began prattling about Let's Work On The Garage This Weekend. (When he asked me early in the summer what I wanted for my birthday, I told him two whole weeks in which he neither said nor wrote the word 'garage.' Instead I got a trip to Vegas and a huge kunzite ring. Sigh.) Of course, we were to start working right after I fixed breakfast. Normally cooked breakfasts are reserved for Sundays.

It's late summer in Texas, and ten minutes after dawn the sky is on 'Broil.' Needless to say, our garage is not air-conditioned. Neither are the storage rooms, and neither is our ancient but still (barely) running pickup. I keep telling myself I'd be paying money to use a sauna in some health club to be just as hot. It doesn't help.

The Husband doesn't seem to understand that when I am sitting in a reasonably cool room (who can afford to keep a room truly comfortable with today's abominably astronomical electric rates?) typing on a computer that I am truly working. Believe me, I am. I have blogs to write. I have release publicity to do. I have publicity on previous releases to do. I have future releases to get ready for my formatter and cover artist. And sometime – I don't know really when – I have to write on the next book, whose deadline is galloping steadily closer.

Thank Goodness tomorrow is Tuesday and his job will once more devour The Husband for the better part of the day. Don't get me wrong – I love him, he is the most wonderful man I have ever known and I love being with him, but he does have a fixation. Garage, garage, garage... I'm even coming to hate the sound of the word. I do love being with him. I will love it even more once the garage is finished.

We did work most of the weekend and got a fair amount done. At this rate we should have the job completed just when the weather finally gets cool enough to be outside without my becoming a fountain of perspiration. I do, though, have the dreadful premonition that when that day occurs his repetitive vocabulary will evolve from 'Garage' into 'Yard.' Help me...

Holiday? Phooey.

UPDATE

My publishing blitz is still going right on schedule, somewhat to my amazement. 

My August 15 release SHADOWED LEGACY marks the tipping point of my 30 June – 30 October publishing blitz. It’s a gothic romance set in Louisiana of the 1870s. The story is about an orphaned young woman who has survived by singing in the saloons of the Western silver camps only to be ordered by her unknown and autocratic grandfather to come to his plantation. She wants to be part of a family, he has other ideas and an unknown villain has more sinister plans. It was a fun book to write.

This fortnight's release is THE EGYPTIAN FILE, a contemporary romantic adventure which takes place in my beloved Egypt. Like THE JERUSALEM CONNECTION, my 30 July release, THE EGYPTIAN FILE is a brand new book, not a backlist rerelease.

I got the idea for THE EGYPTIAN FILE during my last visit to Egypt and it would not leave me alone until I wrote it. Luckily I was blessed with the research help of two good friends, Dr. Stephen Harvey (perhaps the world's most acknowledged authority on Ahmose I) and Dr. Dirk Huyge (Director of the Belgian Archaeological Mission to El Kab). They were both most generous with their time and information, and Dr. Huyge even allowed me to add a tomb to the El Kab site – mainly because things go on in that tomb that should never go on in a real one!

THE EGYPTIAN FILE tells the story of Melissa Warrender, who is sent by a telephone call - which may or may not have come from her dead father - to retrieve a mysterious file in Cairo. Others who are willing to kill for it want the file as well, and Melissa's only ally is a handsome Cairo cabby who may not be what he seems. As they flee across Egypt they know they must translate the cryptic message in the file if they are to survive. An unimaginable treasure is at stake if they can live to find it.