When Nina Vida’s children went off to college, she decided to pursue her own higher education and enrolled in a University Without Walls program at a local California State University campus. While she was completing the creative writing course to earn an English degree, she wrote a story about her sister’s open-heart surgery. The story garnered so much praise and support from her family and professor that it inspired her to write a novel. SCAM, her debut work, published in 1984. Her most recent, THE TEXICANS, was released in 2006 in hardcover and 2007 in paperback. It was called “luminous” and a “radiant work of historical fiction” by Publishers Weekly in its starred review.Vida lives in Huntington Beach, Calif.
What are the top 5 things you did to market your book after publication?
When my latest book, THE TEXICANS, was published in 2006, I put other writing aside and made myself available to Soho Press for book promotion. I was invited to the Book Festival in Austin, Texas, where I was a member of an authors’ panel and signed books. I spoke at the Jewish Book Council in Washington, D.C. I was interviewed on two Texas radio stations. The novel was reviewed widely—an A- in Entertainment Weekly, excellent reviews in the Texas media. I also for the first time put up a Web site, http://www.ninavida.com/.
Did you work alone on your book promotion strategy, or in conjunction with a publicist?
I’ve had seven books published and have always worked on book promotion with each publisher’s publicity department.
What was the best thing you did before publication to prepare?
One thing I did before my first book came out in 1984 was to join Toastmasters. I recommend it to anyone who feels less than confident speaking before groups, large or small. Writers are not necessarily public people and sometimes need to learn a few tricks on how to sell themselves, as well as their books.
If you knew then (when your book first published) what you know now, what might you have done differently?
I would have probably done the same as I did in 1984, which was to bumble along on my own. By 1994, when GOODBYE, SAIGON was published, publicists were beginning to be used more widely. I still resisted, mistakenly thinking that a book was its own emissary. GOODBYE, SAIGON came out and was very positively reviewed in local and national media, including the New York Times (they called it a book “to be read and read again, both for its immediate pleasures and for helping us remember where we’ve been”). I did a lengthy book tour, gave TV and radio interviews, the novel was translated into nine languages, film rights were optioned and subsequently purchased by Richard Zanuck and 20th Century Fox, but the book’s sales weren’t as good as they could have been had I had a publicist working with me. The book business has changed since my first book came out in 1984; competition for bookstore shelf space is keener and marketing is now part of writing. I have a new agent now and a new novel set to go to market, and I intend to hire a publicist.
How do you balance writing with the business side of being an author?
My husband is an attorney. Between him and my agent, I’m pretty well covered.
Any other advice for newly published authors?
Over my writing career, I’ve developed certain ways of approaching the craft of writing (I call it a craft, because art is for someone else to decide). First off, a book beckons to me, clouds my dreams, insists on being written. I make a few skeletal notes, just enough to give me confidence that there is indeed a book lurking in there somewhere, and I begin. I never refer to the notes again and may not use any of the scenes or characters exactly in the way I thought I would, because by now the original ideas are morphing into willfully disobedient creatures that are dragging me headlong into some previously unimagined adventure. That for me is the excitement of fiction
I don’t edit myself as I write. I let it flow as long as it will, then get up, move some furniture around or water the plants or stare at the TV, and wait for the moment my desk calls me back, at which time I either continue letting it flow or begin the editing process. When I’m editing is when I begin to understand what I’ve written and begin to intuit what shape the book is beginning to take. That’s also the time I begin to focus on language—fiercely focus on it—sentence structure, evocative descriptions, original metaphors (reaching too far for metaphors can produce ridiculousness; be judicious). I slash everything that hints at sentimentality. I try to avoid obscurantism; hazy writing isn’t craft or art.
I don’t write on a schedule. But I also don’t let large swaths of time go by without either thinking about writing or actually writing. I write when the words accumulate in my brain or the solution to a plot problem presents itself (usually around 4 in the morning).
The blank paper is always the enemy. That horrible reach for something you know is out there waiting to be captured is like sitting in the dentist’s chair waiting for the drilling to begin. It’s at that time that I’m sure I will never be able to write a passable sentence again. I start with something, anything. The first few words are excruciating; they don’t work, they’re not what I want to say. But there’s victory in conquering the page’s emptiness and those lousy first words can be used as a bridge to get to what does work.
I welcome—even relish—constructive criticism. After all the work involved in writing a book, I want it to be the best it can be, and if an editor or agent (or my husband, who’s my first reader) points out something that could be done better, I’m happy to rewrite. It always leads to something unanticipated that not only fixes the problem but enriches the book.
5 FAVES
Favorite item on your writing desk: My antique porcelain Chinese scholar.
Favorite way to procrastinate: Move furniture around.
Favorite literary character: Elizabeth Bennett in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
Favorite CD: I only listen to music in the car, and it’s whatever’s on K-Earth in Orange County, California.
Favorite snack: I’m always on a diet. Oh, all right. A chocolate biscotti with a cup of decaf coffee.
For more about Nina Vida and her books, visit http://www.ninavida.com/.
Author photo credit goes to Nancy Nimmons.
What are the top 5 things you did to market your book after publication?
When my latest book, THE TEXICANS, was published in 2006, I put other writing aside and made myself available to Soho Press for book promotion. I was invited to the Book Festival in Austin, Texas, where I was a member of an authors’ panel and signed books. I spoke at the Jewish Book Council in Washington, D.C. I was interviewed on two Texas radio stations. The novel was reviewed widely—an A- in Entertainment Weekly, excellent reviews in the Texas media. I also for the first time put up a Web site, http://www.ninavida.com/.
Did you work alone on your book promotion strategy, or in conjunction with a publicist?I’ve had seven books published and have always worked on book promotion with each publisher’s publicity department.
What was the best thing you did before publication to prepare?
One thing I did before my first book came out in 1984 was to join Toastmasters. I recommend it to anyone who feels less than confident speaking before groups, large or small. Writers are not necessarily public people and sometimes need to learn a few tricks on how to sell themselves, as well as their books.
If you knew then (when your book first published) what you know now, what might you have done differently?
I would have probably done the same as I did in 1984, which was to bumble along on my own. By 1994, when GOODBYE, SAIGON was published, publicists were beginning to be used more widely. I still resisted, mistakenly thinking that a book was its own emissary. GOODBYE, SAIGON came out and was very positively reviewed in local and national media, including the New York Times (they called it a book “to be read and read again, both for its immediate pleasures and for helping us remember where we’ve been”). I did a lengthy book tour, gave TV and radio interviews, the novel was translated into nine languages, film rights were optioned and subsequently purchased by Richard Zanuck and 20th Century Fox, but the book’s sales weren’t as good as they could have been had I had a publicist working with me. The book business has changed since my first book came out in 1984; competition for bookstore shelf space is keener and marketing is now part of writing. I have a new agent now and a new novel set to go to market, and I intend to hire a publicist.
How do you balance writing with the business side of being an author?My husband is an attorney. Between him and my agent, I’m pretty well covered.
Any other advice for newly published authors?
Over my writing career, I’ve developed certain ways of approaching the craft of writing (I call it a craft, because art is for someone else to decide). First off, a book beckons to me, clouds my dreams, insists on being written. I make a few skeletal notes, just enough to give me confidence that there is indeed a book lurking in there somewhere, and I begin. I never refer to the notes again and may not use any of the scenes or characters exactly in the way I thought I would, because by now the original ideas are morphing into willfully disobedient creatures that are dragging me headlong into some previously unimagined adventure. That for me is the excitement of fiction
I don’t edit myself as I write. I let it flow as long as it will, then get up, move some furniture around or water the plants or stare at the TV, and wait for the moment my desk calls me back, at which time I either continue letting it flow or begin the editing process. When I’m editing is when I begin to understand what I’ve written and begin to intuit what shape the book is beginning to take. That’s also the time I begin to focus on language—fiercely focus on it—sentence structure, evocative descriptions, original metaphors (reaching too far for metaphors can produce ridiculousness; be judicious). I slash everything that hints at sentimentality. I try to avoid obscurantism; hazy writing isn’t craft or art.
I don’t write on a schedule. But I also don’t let large swaths of time go by without either thinking about writing or actually writing. I write when the words accumulate in my brain or the solution to a plot problem presents itself (usually around 4 in the morning).
The blank paper is always the enemy. That horrible reach for something you know is out there waiting to be captured is like sitting in the dentist’s chair waiting for the drilling to begin. It’s at that time that I’m sure I will never be able to write a passable sentence again. I start with something, anything. The first few words are excruciating; they don’t work, they’re not what I want to say. But there’s victory in conquering the page’s emptiness and those lousy first words can be used as a bridge to get to what does work.I welcome—even relish—constructive criticism. After all the work involved in writing a book, I want it to be the best it can be, and if an editor or agent (or my husband, who’s my first reader) points out something that could be done better, I’m happy to rewrite. It always leads to something unanticipated that not only fixes the problem but enriches the book.
5 FAVES
Favorite item on your writing desk: My antique porcelain Chinese scholar.
Favorite way to procrastinate: Move furniture around.
Favorite literary character: Elizabeth Bennett in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
Favorite CD: I only listen to music in the car, and it’s whatever’s on K-Earth in Orange County, California.
Favorite snack: I’m always on a diet. Oh, all right. A chocolate biscotti with a cup of decaf coffee.
For more about Nina Vida and her books, visit http://www.ninavida.com/.
Author photo credit goes to Nancy Nimmons.
