THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS, with author Tod Goldberg

By his own account, Tod Goldberg wasn’t the most likely candidate to write a tie-in book for the hit television show Burn Notice. He’d already published two literary novels— LIVING DEAD GIRL, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and FAKE LIAR CHEAT—as well as a collection of short stories (SIMPLIFY) when he received the offer. Although he had turned down similar assignments, this one intrigued him. Why? “I am a huge fan of Burn Notice, ” he wrote in a Los Angeles Times essay published Aug. 24. “It's smart, funny, visually arresting and has the tone and style of my favorite Elmore Leonard novels.”

Goldberg’s love of the show and his respect for show creator Matt Nix’s vision ultimately trumped his concern that penning tie-in novels might diminish his literary credits. He signed a three-book deal with Signet, and the first novel in the series, BURN NOTICE: THE FIX, released in August, with the second, THE END GAME, arriving in May. OTHER RESORT CITIES, his next collection of stories, will be released in October.

Goldberg lives in La Quinta, California, with his wife.

What were the top 5 things you did to market your latest book after publication?
Well, here’s the thing: you put a picture of Gabrielle Anwar and Jeffrey Donovan on the cover of a book holding guns and looking like they are about two minutes from killing someone and then screwing each other—there’s not a lot of things you need to do in terms of marketing. People are going to buy the books regardless because of the show Burn Notice, so marketing from my personal standpoint was not really a concern in the least, whereas with my other books I’ve always played a pivotal role in how both the books and I am marketed. That said, I did do a lot of interviews, went on a small-ish tour (normally I do about 10-20 cities in several states, but this time I just stayed in California and Nevada) consisting primarily of genre bookstores and then, well, then I just stood inside my local Borders and pointed at my book every time someone new came into the store. So I don’t really have a top five per se because for the first time in my life I absolutely let go of everything and allowed the publisher to do everything. So there were ads on TV, they handed out sunscreen on the beaches of Los Angeles promoting the book, there was a ton of Web publicity and a built-in audience who watches the show who were likely to buy the book simply because it said "Burn Notice" on the cover.

The one significant thing I did on my own, however, was that I recognized that my situation was unique in that I was writing in a genre outside of my general area of expertise and thus managed to convince the Los Angeles Times that I should get 1,500 words to talk about it on the front page of the Sunday Book Review: http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-ca-tie-ins24-2008aug24,0,1463672.story

What was the best thing you did before publication to prepare?
I ran five miles a day, ate nothing but egg whites and killed a moose with my bare hands and then lived inside of said moose like I was Luke Skywalker in that great scene from The Empire Strikes back where Luke kills his Tauntaun and then sleeps inside of it. Apart from that, I versed myself in all things Burn Notice so that I wasn’t just the guy writing the books, I was the guy who knew all there was to know about the show and the characters. It’s a different world when you’re brought into an existing franchise and an existing fan base, as you want to make sure you understand as much about the world as possible.

Did you work alone on your book promotion strategy, or in conjunction with a publicist?
The things I chose to do on my own—features on me, articles I wrote, interviews with different magazines and newspapers and such—I figured out for myself and used the many contacts that I have, though in the past I’ve used a private publicist as well and will likely do so again. After four books, I have a pretty wide network of contacts helped by the fact that not only do I write books, but I also do a pretty fair amount of book reviewing for a number of newspapers, so I have avenues of contact that not every writer has.

How was it different promoting your literary novels and short story collection than it was for your mainstream novel?
The biggest thing is that when my literary fiction comes out—and here I should note that my next collection of stories, OTHER RESORT CITIES, comes out in October, while BURN NOTICE: THE END GAME comes out in May—I don’t usually get nice ads on television like I do for my Burn Notice books (though, actually, FAKE LIAR CHEAT had a pretty cool ad campaign on MTV back when MTV actually advertised their books on MTV…but that’s another story) and so part of my job is to try to bring the books to a wider audience by force of personality somewhat. I’ve been very fortunate in that all of my more literary books have received pretty widespread critical attention, which has naturally spawned opportunities for me to visit places and talk about them. With SIMPLIFY, I had an idea of how I really wanted the book marketed and my wonderful publishers listened to me, the result being that it had already gone into additional printings long before it was actually released, which is a wonderful thing. My sense was that with SIMPLIFY—my third book—I really needed to begin branding myself in literary fiction if I wanted this collection of stories to get the attention I thought it deserved, so we hit the literary blogs hard, which is something most everyone does now, but which were underutilized in late 2005/early 2006 when my book was coming out. I received a huge sum of support online and found that the book had legs because of that, even more so than from what were pretty uniformly glowing reviews for the book.

What do you know now that you wished you had known when you first began promoting your books?
That the number of fucktards who will attend your book signings grows with each book; that no matter how much time you spend worrying and checking on things, inevitably you’ll arrive in a city across the country, and no one will have remembered you were coming, and you’ll have to try not to kill someone (yes, Borders in Wilmington, DE, I’m talking about you…); that people you didn’t like in elementary school, junior high, high school and college will, in fact, show up out of the blue at your events; that you never want to do a book signing next to Clifford the Big Red Dog; that your best friend on earth is the kid behind the counter making $6 an hour because he or she loves books…unless that person hates your book; that even after all of the stress, it’s still the best job you could possibly imagine.

How do you balance writing with the business side of being an author?
Well, as my friend Mark Haskell Smith once told me, it’s called the publishing business, not the publishing gallery. It’s an important distinction because you can’t be a success as a writer without treating it like a business. The way I handle it is I surround myself with great people who do most of the pressing business for me—my literary agent Jennie Dunham, for instance, has been a real confidant over the years, in both business and creative things, plus I come from a family of writers, which means any mistake I’m about to make has already been made, probably twice, so I have a good sense of how to look at the business side of things—and I verse myself in all sides of the business so that I’m not writing into a vacuum. The writing always takes precedence, however, because without the words, well, there isn’t any business to conduct.

The other aspect of it all is that in addition to writing books, I also direct an MFA program at UCR’s Palm Desert campus, so in addition to managing my writing and managing the business of my writing, I also have to manage a graduate writing program and give it all the attention it needs, which is substantial.

Any other advice for newly published authors?
Please use less adverbs.

5 FAVES

Favorite item on your writing desk: A snow globe of the Hotel Del Coronado, a place I love.
Favorite way to procrastinate: Yikes. There’s not just one way, really. So I’m going to say fantasy sports—baseball, football and basketball; blogging; excessive time on Facebook; Googling myself; playing video games; going to Target and wandering the aisles; eating Pop Tarts.
Favorite literary character: I’ll give you a few: Owen Meany from A PRAYER FOR OWN MEANY; Jack Foley from OUT OF SIGHT; Frank Bascombe from THE SPORTSWRITER; Miles Roby from EMPIRE FALLS and Jay Gatsby of THE GREAT GATSBY.

Favorite CD: Again, it’s hard to narrow this down to one, so I’ll give you a few: “Nothing Shocking” by Jane’s Addiction, “Darklands” by the Jesus and Mary Chain, “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” by Lucinda Williams, “The Chronic” by Dr. Dre, “Cinema Verite” by Dramarama, “By the Way” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Nebraska” by Bruce Springsteen.
Favorite snack: Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts. Greatest snack food ever.

For more on Tod Goldberg and his books, visit http://todgoldberg.typepad.com/.

Marketing idea: Self-guided book tours

Joshua Henkin, author of MATRIMONY, and Kelly Simmons, author of STANDING STILL, are featured in this Philadelphia Inquirer article about their successes in actively cultivating invitations to book clubs to get the word out about their new releases. It's pretty interesting...

You can find the article here.

BACKSTORY: The story behind BABY IN WAITING, by Jacqueline Diamond

I'm taking a break from the usual interview format this week to share a Q&A I did for the Romance Writers of America's Orange County chapter newsletter, Orange Blossom. This one features my friend and fellow OCC/RWA member Jackie Hyman, who writes as Jacqueline Diamond. She's a remarkable romance writer, with more than 80 novels to her credit in a number of genres. In this interview, she discusses BABY IN WAITING, released in August in the Harlequin American Romance line.

She lives in Brea, California, with her family and in January will release her next book, MILLION-DOLLAR NANNY, also in Harlequin's American Romance series.

What was your inspiration for BABY IN WAITING?
BABY IN WAITING is the second book in my Harmony Circle miniseries within Harlequin’s American Romance line. I began thinking about the storyline when I planned the first book, THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR (May 2008), and developed the hero as a secondary character. The heroine, Brooke, makes her debut here, a free-spirited character who’s the complete opposite of my ambitious, workaholic hero.

Since Harlequin readers enjoy elements such as pregnancies, I wove one into the story – always seeking twists that would make the plot fresh and fun. In this case, the baby isn’t the hero’s. Our heroine was tricked by a previous boyfriend into believing his wife had left him, when in fact he’d abandoned his wife and children. Now that he’s returned to them, she’s determined to keep her pregnancy secret rather than risk destroying his home and further hurting his kids.

She and the hero, Oliver, are casual friends who often spar verbally. He’s kindhearted enough to want to help her – but he doesn’t plan on rearranging his life for her. Of course, love has other ideas.

What was the biggest challenge for you while writing this book?
In addition to the challenge of seeking plot twists, I had to continue setting up the story for the third book in the series, MILLION-DOLLAR NANNY, which comes out in January. There’s an ongoing subplot in the Harmony Circle neighborhood about a rich divorcée who buys a small, picturesque home and plans to replace it with a mansion. She’s engaged to a financier.

I had fun weaving their story into BABY IN WAITING. Sometimes challenges give a book extra spark.

How did you get into the writing mood?
I don’t wait for inspiration to strike, because I write for a living. The hardest part is sitting down at the computer first thing in the morning and not opening my e-mail, playing a quick round of Solitaire or checking something on the Internet. Those tasks wreak havoc with my concentration.

When I start a novel, first I work on my character sketches, setting and storyline, with an emphasis on key turning points. I diagram the area – in this case, the Harmony Circle neighborhood -- and sketch a layout for each character’s house. Then I cut out photographs of the characters to post by my computer, along with magazine decorating articles that show their décor, it must look like I’m playing paper dolls, but these help keep the characters and setting firmly in my mind.

If you'd like to know more about Jackie and her books, visit www.jacquelinediamond.com.

THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS, with novelist Christine Wells

Christine Wells reached a turning point in her writing career when her Regency historical novel SCANDAL’S DAUGHTER made it to the final round of the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart contest for unpublished writers. Not only did the manuscript go on to win the 2006 award, it received offers from two editors. Wells, a former corporate lawyer, signed with Berkley and the novel debuted in September 2007. She followed its success with THE DANGEROUS DUKE earlier this year. Romantic Times says the novel satisfies “readers’ cravings for adventurous, sexy romance,” while Two Lips Reviews praises Wells’ ability to weave “a tale of danger, passion and intrigue.”

She lives in Brisbane, Australia, and her third novel, WICKED LITTLE GAMES, will be published in July 2009.

What were the top 5 things you did to market your latest book after publication?

I think the most important thing is to write the best book you can, with a marketable hook. THE DANGEROUS DUKE is about a duke who steals a lady's erotic diary, so I felt that was a strong hook and of course I did my best to write a book that would keep people turning the pages.

I did a blog tour on the Internet—that is always a good way to reach readers.

I sent my characters to do interviews instead of me and set up a blog where my hero and heroine interacted with each other and readers.

I spoke at writers' conferences and festivals, and took workshops.

I gave away lots of signed copies of THE DANGEROUS DUKE, as well as bookmarks, postcards, etc., including a mass mail-out to romance-friendly booksellers.

What was the best thing you did before publication to prepare?

I put a lot of thought into my Web site, but probably the best thing was starting a blog with some of the other 2006 finalists in the Golden Heart, called the Romance Bandits. They're a fantastic, funny group of women—so inspirational and supportive. So, while we're having a great time together, we're also promoting our books. A win-win situation!

Did you work alone on your book promotion strategy, or in conjunction with a publicist?

At Berkley, we're assigned a publicist and also I've recently employed an assistant, and she gives me great advice on promotion—what works, what doesn't.

What do you know now that you wished you had known when you first began promoting your books?

There's no magical key to what promotional strategy will work. It's different for everyone. Some things will capture readers' imaginations, and others will leave them cold. Writing the best book you can is more important than pouring all your time and effort into promotion. It's a cliche, but it's true.

Also, blogging by yourself is a LOT of work. You need to blog consistently and often, and you need to promote the blog as well. I learned I prefer to blog in a group.

How do you balance writing with the business side of being an author?

I tend to write when I have alone time and promote when I have a lot going on around me—two small boys are very rowdy and demanding, so promotion is something I can do in between.

Any other advice for newly published authors?

Don't bite off more than you can chew in the promotional arena. It's better to start small and work up to more than to start something that ends up consuming your life, especially when it's almost impossible to quantify the benefit to sales of doing all of this work.

5 FAVES

Favorite item on your writing desk: My Oxford dictionary, my Tigger and my silver bell-heart

Favorite way to procrastinate: Reading industry blogs

Favorite literary character: Lizzy Bennett

Favorite CD: At the moment, Cole Porter's “Night and Day”

Favorite snack: Chocolate chip cookies

For more on Christine Wells and her books, visit http://www.christine-wells.com/.

On the power of kind words...

I wrote last week about the light copyedits on my manuscript, but I neglected to mention that in addition to pointing out the corrections, my wonderful editor took the time to point out the passages she especially liked.

I can't begin to tell you how good it felt every time I came across a page with a "Great!" or a "Nice!" or a "Terrific!" Some of the passages she marked were my own favorite scenes, and that made the compliments particularly sweet.

Over the past few days, I've thought a lot about her kind words, and they still give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. More than anything, they've invigorated my writing and made me more confident about my current project.

But they've done something else, too. They've made me think about how few times I went out of my way to tell a writer something was good (or Great! or Terrific!) when I worked as a copy editor for a magazine and newspapers, and how many times I had the opportunity to make someone's day and didn't.

All too often, this happens in critique groups, too -- when fellow writers detail the weaknesses of a work, but fail to mention the positives. I believe it's important to point out what's right with a story or an article, as well as what's wrong.

I'm lucky to have an editor who knows this better than I do and to remind me how powerful kind words can be.

You shouldn't miss this....

The wonderful ladies over at The Writer's Group blog have some book promotion do's and don'ts from Lissa Warren, who wrote THE SAVVY AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO BOOK PUBLICITY. She's the senior director of publicity at Da Capo Press, so she knows what she's talking about.

Her responses seem to apply more to non-fiction writers, but there's plenty we fiction writers can learn from her as well -- especially in her advice on what NOT to do (shameless self-promotion for one thing...)

You can find the post here.

THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS, with author Rachel Resnick

Rachel Resnick’s debut novel, GO WEST YOUNG F*CKED-UP CHICK: A NOVEL OF SEPARATION, not only landed her on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list in 2000, it also taught her first-hand how involved an author must be in promoting her own work. She’s applying what she learned with her latest book, the provocative memoir LOVE JUNKIE, released last month to rave reviews, which has helped to create a buzz that continues to fill her schedule with television, radio and podcast interviews; panel discussions; signings and myriad other book events.In addition to her books, Resnick, a Los Angeles-based writer, has published a number of articles and essays in newspapers and national magazines, as well as stories in literary magazines and anthologies. She has taught creative writing since 1995 at UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, USC Professional Writing Program and other universities, and operates her own luxury writing retreat and private coaching program, Writers on Fire.

What were the top 5 things you did to market your most recent book after publication?
1. Stayed on top of incoming press, with Google Alert and manual checking
2. Disseminated incoming press via Web site, other social networks (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace), via word of mouth to fans as well as publicity team.
3. Started a blog on my Web site.
4. Insisted on book tour and book party for morale and for spreading the word bit by bit nationwide (in cities only where I had support already).
5. Went to a therapist (self-care).

What were the best things you did before publication to prepare?
1. Hired a web designer.
2. Hired an online publicist.
3. Created a book tour and book launch, and an inventive strategy for creating buzz.
4. Hired personal publicists.
5. Personally spread the word via online, via friends.

You must prepare FAR in advance of your publication date. Minimally six months prior. Use your creativity the same way you do in your writing, but direct it toward marketing.

As I said above, I hired other professional people to help me instead of trying to do it alone or only with the excellent publicists at Bloomsbury. They rock, but they have to handle a lot of books at once. And if your book isn't chosen as one of the "anointed" books with a ton of money set aside to promote, you damn well better pull out the stops yourself. I didn't depend on any one of these talented professionals alone to strategize nor stay on top of constant communication or updating. I think successful book promotion requires constant refining of goals, and integrating of reviews, news, sales patterns and reader response. It requires your constant attention. Some people say the writers' real job begins once the book is completed. Once you have poured your heart and soul into the book, you must shift gears entirely. It may be awkward. Even embarrassing. Too bad. It is crucial. Today, publishing is in crisis. They literally do not know how to sell books anymore. The old models aren't working. Book reviews and venues are disappearing daily, as are bookstores. You have to think outside the box, experiment, and figure out the online world. You've got to get involved.

Added 12/11/08: Then there's image. Even if you're only giving bookstore readings, it pays to pull your look together. If you're like me, while writing you've been dressing like crap. Pajamas, sarongs, sweats -- whatever's comfortable for facing the daily existential abyss of the blank page. Now that you're reemerging into the world and meeting the public, it's your job to get your look polished. It's revealing that I forgot to mention this important aspect the first time I answered your excellent questions! But getting a fantastic professional author photo -- which includes hiring someone to do your hair and makeup along with a great photographer -- is key. You'll be living with that photo for a long time. In the case of LOVE JUNKIE, when I started getting media attention -- including even television -- I realized I needed to step up my game even more. I was clueless, so I hired some consultants for a crash course to help me learn how to do my own hair, makeup, and choose a simple wardrobe that I could use as a uniform for the book tour. What a relief. I still suck at getting my picture taken. As these consultants/photographers said, unlike the quiet, pliant, photogenic actors they usually work with, I made too may faces, thought too much, and generally wouldn't stop moving. Still, all you can do is your best. Try to relax! And breathe. Knowing you look as good as you possibly can helps take some of the pressure off writers when they finally emerge from their shadowy creative caves into the public light.

Did you work alone on your book promotion strategy, or in conjunction with a publicist?
I didn't work alone, but the same way the book was ultimately mine, the publicity campaign is ultimately mine as well as a joint effort. I have to be the one to keep all the elements in place in the big picture. What are my goals? What's realistic? I am always open to gathering information from fellow amazing writers and promoters, and also from the professionals with whom I'm lucky enough to work.

What do you know now that you wish you had known before you started promoting your book?
I’m in a good position with this book because I learned the hard lessons with my first book, GO WEST YOUNG F*CKED-UP CHICK. I learned that you have to start preparing at least six months in advance. Any later is, frankly, too late. By the time I started with GO WEST, it was too late. I also learned back then you have to do it yourself, and you need professional help. I tried so hard to promote that book – my first book ever! – that once it was published I got myself sick. I shot my adrenal system and was ill for a full year afterward. You do not want to do that. This time, I got smart. I’m way out on a limb with hiring these people. I’m not loaded. I don’t have a trust fund. I’m investing my advance in making this book happen. You have a very small window to give your book a chance. Six weeks, maybe, from publication time – unless it develops legs. A lot of it is about having faith, gambling, and for me adding yet more debt. By the way, I would never have made the same kind of expensive effort for my first book, because it simply didn’t have as much potential for broad appeal. It wouldn’t have been worth it.

Was promoting a nonfiction book different from promoting a novel?
It’s very different promoting a nonfiction book, because you usually have a topic in addition to narrative. In my case, I’m very lucky that the topic of love and sex addiction is in the news currently. This is the kind of thing you have to be aware of, and to capitalize on. It seems that the time is ripe for people to learn about this addiction, and the time is now to promote discussion. That is exciting. Then it becomes about an issue. It becomes about you as an author being of service in furthering education and adding your voice to a cultural discussion, in whatever small way. That’s stimulating, and gratifying, and keeps the focus off you as an ego-driven author. You are being of service. This is also a beautiful principle of the twelve-step programs that have helped me so immensely. I firmly believe the books we produce are no longer ours once we complete them. Then they belong to the readers. We authors become merely ambassadors. And marketers.

How do you balance writing with the business side of being an author?
Balance is very tricky. I’m an addict, so I am all about extremes. I lost all sense of balance with my first book. With this one, I’m making a conscious effort to try and balance the constant work of promoting with basic self care. I’m trying hard to eat and eat right, to exercise, to make downtime, to sleep. I don’t always succeed! When I was writing this memoir I thought I had narcolepsy. I found I would go unconscious around the material it was so hard to write. Re-creating the scenes literally retraumatized me. Part of the writing process included insanely long naps. Now I find I’m an insomniac. I’m constantly anxious about what’s next, what I have to do, will it all work, and will it pay off. I just have to make a conscious effort to take care of myself and only do what I can without hurting myself.

Any other advice for newly published authors?
The most important thing is to write well. To go deep. Don’t hold back. Unleash everything you have onto the page, and create a book that you can be proud of and stand behind. That is your job as an artist, and the foundation for promoting. I can’t imagine doing it any other way. Otherwise you become merely a circus barker, a snake oil salesman. In this case, you are simply doing your complete job as a writer in the modern world, which these days also requires you to be a damn good businessperson. As I learned in facing my addiction, I have only myself to blame. It’s my job to take responsibility for myself as a woman seeking intimacy and health, and also as a writer seeking to share my work with as many people as I can.

5 FAVES

Favorite item on your writing desk: A tailfeather from my former scarlet macaw, Ajax
Favorite way to procrastinate: Facebook or trashy TV
Favorite literary character: Fuckhead from JESUS’ SON
Favorite CD: LOVE JUNKIE mix tapes people are making for the Web site, including anyone from Nillson to Me’Shell N’Degeocello to PJ Harvey to Amy Winehouse.
Favorite snack: Young coconut, the kind where you have to hack it open, drink milk and spoon coconut flesh,

For more on Rachel Resnick and her books, visit http://www.rachelresnick.com/.

On my dining review debut...

I've been so preoccupied with holidays and copyedits on THE BELLY DANCER that I didn't even realize my first dining review for OC Metro was out. I finally remembered to stop by my favorite Wahoo's to pick up a copy, and I was thrilled to see the editors even teased it from the cover. (I'm sure that has more to do with Mesa at The Camp in Costa Mesa being an amazing new restaurant and lounge than it does about my excellent reviewing skills, but still ... yay! If you're interested, you can find it here.)

BTW, another one of my stops today was the post office to send back the copyedited manuscript. Other than adding a little elaboration in three places, the other copyedits were really minor things, such as punctuation (I now know Berkley prefers serial commas!), tightened up sentences, and typos. It's amazing to me how I had read that darn thing from beginning to end several times and still didn't catch all the typos. But what really surprised me was that I had completely changed the name of two characters (minor characters, but still...) Out of the blue Cecil and Arthur became Cyril and Archibald. Oh well. It's all fixed now. (I hope...)

THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS, with novelist Gemma Halliday

Before Gemma Halliday began writing fiction in 2002, she had a number of jobs titles, including actress, 900-number psychic, temporary tattoo artist and teddy bear importer. When her writing earned her several awards, including the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award, which led to her first book contract, she added a new title to her growing résumé: novelist.

Halliday’s debut novel SPYING IN HIGH HEELS appeared in 2006 with a starred review in Publishers Weekly and kicked off her popular High Heels romantic mystery series. The fifth installment of that series, MAYHEM IN HIGH HEELS, arrives later this month, and plans are in the works to adapt the series for television with USA Network. In addition to her novels, Halliday has contributed to the anthology THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STRUTTING, which came out earlier this year, as well as the charity anthologies DREAMS & DESIRES and DREAMS & DESIRES 2 to benefit victims of domestic violence.

She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is working on a new series involving Hollywood’s tabloid culture. It’s set to debut in late 2009.

What were the top 5 things you did to market your book after publication?

My first book, I tried to do everything I could think of. If I had to pick the top things that I feel were effective, I'd say:

1. Targeted mailings to booksellers

2. Book-signing tour

3. MySpace site

4. Contests (both entering published writing contests to gain name recognition and hosting contests on my Web site to gain readership)

5. Freebies to readers – bookmarks, pins, signed books, etc.

What was the best thing you did before publication to prepare?

Have a Web presence! I had a Web site all set up pre-publication, which not only saved me a lot of work once I sold, but also was a useful marketing tool for my publisher as well. They took the tagline on my Web site and put it right on my book cover and ended up using the blurb I had on the site almost word for word as the back cover copy. I think the fact that I had branded myself and had a Web presence already made it easier for my publisher to see who my target audience was and how best to market me. Which they did a fantastic job of, by the way!

Did you work alone on your book promotion strategy, or in conjunction with a publicist?

I worked with the in-house publicist at my publisher, Dorchester. She was wonderful about setting up signings and promoting me to media outlets that would have been harder to reach on my own. I did do a lot on my own as well, so I think working together we really covered all the bases I'd hoped to with that first book.

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you first started promoting your books.

Like I said, with my first book, I did everything I could think of to market it. Some stuff I think was really worthwhile, others a waste of both time and money. I really wish I hadn't wasted the time and money. Lol! But, I think it's going to be different for every author what works best, so I guess I had to try it all to see what worked best for me. I'm a lot more focused in my marketing strategies now.

How do you balance writing with the business side of being an author?

I'm not sure I do. It's something that's a constant juggling act for me. I do try to build my writing schedule so that I have some time set aside just for marketing near my book release dates, but it doesn't always happen that way. I think the more I do it, the betterI'm getting at it, but I would definitely say I've far from mastered that skill. One thing that I have found helpful is doing group activities – blogs, contests, signings, etc. That way the time commitment is usually spread between more people, and it's just a whole lot more fun than doing it alone.

Any other advice for newly published authors?

Don't be afraid to ask questions! I know that my editor and publicist at Dorchester were more than happy to answer any newbie questions I had about marketing, and they're advice was always spot on. I also got tons of tips from other published authors that I knew. There's a lot of great information out there, and most people are more than happy to share their experience.

5 FAVES

Favorite item on your writing desk: Framed photo of my son's kindergarten portrait – I sold my first book the very day he started school. It was the best day on so many levels.

Favorite way to procrastinate: Updating my Web site.

Favorite literary character: Scarlet O'Hara

Favorite CD: I'm an MP3 person, but I'd say one of my go-to fav artists is Ricky Nelson. I love the upbeat puppy love songs.

Favorite snack: cold pizza. I'm such a gourmet. :)

For more about Gemma Halliday and her novels, go to http://www.gemmahalliday.com/.

On moving into the copy-editing phase...

It was leaning against my front door when I arrived home from a doctor's appointment this morning: a 4-pound FedEx package containing my copy-edited manuscript of THE BELLY DANCER.

Yesterday a nice e-mail from my editor, Jackie Cantor, alerted me it was on its way, but I didn't expect it so quickly. Now that it's here, I have a couple of weeks to go through the copy editor's questions on consistency, style and clarity, as well as review the punctuation and other fixes she's marked in red pencil throughout the manuscript. By Dec. 16, it has to be back in her hands.

I've given the 303 pages only a cursory look, but so far it seems like the changes are minor, which means the process should be fairly easy -- knock on wood. I'll let you know how it goes...

My author pic choices...

I hope everyone had a terrific holiday. Ours was very nice and relaxing, and I'm already knee-deep in the Christmas spirit. I have to admit I'm having trouble getting back to business as usual, especially since the first order of business for me is trying to settle on an author photo. You see, I thought sitting for the photo was going to be the hard part, but I'm having just as much trouble choosing one from the flock.

I thought I'd be happy to find just one I liked, but there are actually a few I'm considering. I'll say it again: Photographer Jason Wallis is very good at what he does :-)

Here are the contenders so far: