Celebration of Rochester-Area Authors

I am honored to be included in the 2nd Annual Celebration of Rochester-Area Authors sponsored by the Friends of the Rochester Public Library. On July 18th from 5 to 8, I will be surrounded by individuals that share my passion for writing. It's not every day that you meet others in this profession. Most days, it is a very lonely existence, besides hanging out with the characters in your book. Fortunately, authors tend to like their fictional friends so spending time with them is hardly punishment.

As part of this glorious event, I have been asked to answer some interview questions for various publications. The answers to the questions should just roll right off my tongue, but I'm kind of struggling with what to write as part of the preliminary conversation. What is my background? How and why did I decide to start writing? Do I consider myself an area author? This last question is the toughest. When someone asks me what I "do," I still immediately say I stay home with the kids even though the kids are all school-age now. When the kids are in school, my job is to write. I want to entertain people with my stories. I want to earn a living doing what I love. To keep that dream alive, I best get busy!

Rewriting - wait and ponder

While the rest of my reviewers for book #3 are finishing up their comments, I wait and ponder. I do this because I need to compare their comments to the rest so that I get a clear picture of what I really want to do in the end. When I first receive feedback, I oftentimes want to immediately start making changes. That's bad. What one person doesn't like might possibly be another person's favorite part. Most of the time, however, the review comments are aligned. They are asking similar questions. They all want to know more about a specific character. So here's what I'm forcing myself to do: wait and ponder. I won't make any changes until all voices are heard. The ideas are floating around in my head or written down on paper, but they must stay there--at least for now. Patience is a virtue. I have no reason to hurry, no reason to rush this out to readers. This book just might be the best one yet!

Notification of change

I created a whole page of items to change to notify readers that Sincerely, sad dad is now Justice for Julia. Like everything else in life, it will take time. I'm quickly realizing that I need the print version of the book to show up on Amazon before making most of my changes - it makes the most sense to go to each site only once. As for really promoting the title, I can't think of how I'll do that before the Celebration of Rochester-Area Authors on July 18th. That event is the perfect occasion to display the updated copy, and to promote the upcoming third book in the series. In order to promote the new book though, I'll have to select a cover and a title. That is sooooo hard! I'll need to really put some thought into this next one. Third time's a charm, right?!

Retiring a title: "Sincerely, sad dad"

It's a done deal. Sincerely, sad dad is no more. Well, not exactly. It will still be out there in the world of the forgotten. Which brings me to a very good question. Who cleans up all that old stuff that nobody goes looking for anymore? Is there like an Internet maid service that shoves everything into boxes and puts them into storage? Anyway, I'll be proudly displaying the new cover and title for my second book within the next week. I'm waiting to receive a proof copy of the paperback from Amazon to make sure it looks perfect. Once I okay the proof, the paperback and Kindle will go live, and then I'll work on getting it onto barnesandnoble.com and other sites. Not to be misunderstood, the content, the actual story, is the same. My hope is that the new cover and title will entice more readers. I'll be the first to admit that I pick up a book based on the cover, unless it is by a favorite author. How can I expect anything different from other readers?

Justice for Julia will be available very soon!

KDP is not for me

For the last 90 days, Sincerely, sad dad has been enrolled in the exclusive KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program from Amazon. This means that only readers with a Kindle or a Kindle app can download this book. Well, they can still order a paper copy I guess, which is also an Amazon program. The KDP program allows you to promote your book for five days whenever you want. I chose five random days to offer it for free. The first weekend, I had over 200 downloads. The last single day I used, I had under 50 downloads. Sales did not improve at all during these 90 days. I gave away a lot of free books, but I'm not sure I gained any loyal readers.

Here's my thinking. The people who want free books will download everything that they find remotely interesting, knowing that they can delete it from their device after reading the first five pages if it isn't a complete masterpiece. They have nothing invested in the book so they aren't going to push themselves too hard to get through it, even if page six is a real gem. I don't like this way of thinking. I need readers to give me more of a chance. I need readers to push themselves to page seven.

Tomorrow is the last day Sincerely, sad dad is enrolled in the KDP program, and it is probably the last day to purchase a copy of Sincerely, sad dad altogether. Instead, my new and improved title, Justice for Julia, will be available in about a week. Look for a bright, beautiful cover that tells the story of a father loving his daughter and then struggling to cope with her unexpected death. Julia didn't do anything wrong, but will her father?

Changing the title and cover might be a long shot, but here goes nothing!

A facelift for "Sincerely, sad dad"

I've been debating the issue for months. Do I let "Sincerely, sad dad" continue in its downward spiral to nonexistence, or do I make some drastic changes (physically) to reel in some new readers? I'm on the path to choosing the second option. With a new photo from one of my favorite photographers, a new title, and a new pitch on the back cover, the book is all but ready to order. This morning I plan to complete the process by ordering a proof copy of the paperback so that I can verify my changes are accurate. With book in hand, I'll be able to see if the font is correct and make the final decision that this is truly the way I want to go. I feel pretty confident with my choice, but there is something tugging at me questioning whether or not this will actually "fix" the problem. I only want to do this once. Since book #3 (I just thought of a title option for it this morning!) will be coming out some time this fall, I want to be sure the other books are aligned too, which means they'll be part of my subtitle, "A Kody Burkoff Mystery."

When I first started writing, I had no idea where it would go. I didn't plan to write a series. I didn't even plan to write a second book, much less a third. Now though, it just makes sense. Kody is a fun character who has the potential to meet some very interesting people. The possibilities are endless.

Young Authors, Young Artists Conference

I had the pleasure of spending my Tuesday with a few hundred aspiring authors and artists, one of which was my lovely ten-year-old daughter. I've been interested in going to the conference for a few years now so I jumped at the opportunity to chaperone. Who cares about the kids! I wanted to learn a few things.

The keynote speaker, Katie McKy, was eccentric and inspiring. She has led an incredibly adventurous life and I look forward to checking out her work. Her message to observe and listen to all that happens around you was well received. I mean, what better way to get great writing material? The environment and people nearest us are a story waiting to happen.

The first session I attended with my daughter was quite a disappointment though. The author spent most of the hour telling the students about his books and the family members that he used to create his characters. He distributed a handout that he didn't explain how to use and told the kids to start crafting a story. They were boggled, and so was I. To top it off, at the end of the class he asked the kids to help him finalize the plot of his latest book. Um, I don't think so.

Session two and three were MUCH better. The authors engaged the students and made being creative fun. Every idea was a good one and nothing was too crazy to be included in the discussion. That's the way to keep a child excited about writing!

I didn't leave empty handed either. If and when I teach another creative writing class, I have some new ideas to try. I'm already looking forward to going again next year.