Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of "Building An Author's Promotional Package," the final and thrilling conclusion! In Part 1, I talked about writing your book description. Part 2 covered images and quotes. Today, I will talk about two more things you should include, one you can include and one that, in my opinion, is not necessary but is a damned great idea (because I thought of it, you see). Onward!

IV: LINKS

Once you've told people all about your great book, shown them how cool the cover looks and shared what others have thought about it, you want to get them to a place where they can buy it or at least stay connected with you. This means links. These are some of the links that you can provide:

1. A link to a static page dedicated to your book. This can be a page on your website (like this one for Short Stories) or a blog post about your book. If you book isn't out yet, you want this to be the go-to page where you will provide links to all the various places people can buy the book once it does come out. If your book is out, link to this page but I would also recommend providing links in your promotional package to the most popular stores.
2. Your blog, if you're not linking to it as mentioned above.
3. If you have other books out, your Amazon profile page.
4. Social media links (your Facebook and Twitter accounts, for example).
5. Your book's Goodreads page.
6. Any other places your book is mentioned/featured/reviewed.

Try not to go overboard on links, or people may not know where to start. I'd keep the number around eight, definitely under ten.

V: A COMPLIMENTARY COPY

The people who are hosting your book announcement on their blog/website are doing you a huge favor. It would be good form to give them a complimentary eBook copy of your book in return. But this is not purely altruistic. There is the possibility they will read the book and like it enough to post a review for you. This will be especially important early on, when your book is new. It is also a good idea to get your complimentary copies out at least a week in advance so they have a chance to read it before the official release.

VI: BOOK EXCERPT (OPTIONAL)

You may, in your promotional package, include a thrilling excerpt of your book. However, this will tend to make the book announcement rather long-looking, and people may skip over it. I would instead recommend that you post an excerpt on your own blog/website and provide a link to it in your promotional package.

VII: SOCIAL MEDIA BLURBS

Okay, this is the damned great idea: social media blurbs. What are those? A little while back, I realized that a lot of people are willing to tweet/announce my book when it comes out. The people who are hosting you on their blog/website are especially willing to do this. So I decided that I would try to make doing so a bit easier for them and, in the process, increase the likelihood that they would do it. A social media blurb is simply a pre-written message advertising or announcing your book. Instead of having to write something and copy and paste the link themselves, your friends and fans can just copy and paste these pre-written blurbs. I recommend making some for Twitter, adhering to the 140-character limit, and some for other social media sites, like Facebook, where you have a bit more room to work with. If your book is already out, you can link to the most popular stores. If not, you can link to the static page for your book. I recommend providing 4-6 for each type of site so they have some variety. Here, for example, are the Twitter blurbs I will provide in my promotional package for Short Stories:

Read SHORT STORIES by Michael K. Rose: “…the purest form of literature…” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Kindle #Nook @MichaelKRose

Michael K. Rose’s SHORT STORIES is “…as rich as a bottle of Montrachet 1978…” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Nook #Kindle @MichaelKRose

Get SHORT STORIES, #SciFi author Michael K. Rose’s new release. “Prepare to be immersed!” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #Nook #Kindle @MichaelKRose

#SciFi author Michael K. Rose’s newest release is available for #Nook, #Kindle & in print. Get it here: http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories @MichaelKRose

Michael K. Rose’s SHORT STORIES is “…as tasty as a generous cut of Wagyu beef.” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Kindle #Nook @MichaelKRose

New release by @MichaelKRose, “...an insightful, compelling writer with a talent for nuance and timing.” SHORT STORIES: http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories

So what elements do we have in common? First, my name and the title of my book. Those are obvious. We also want the link, which you can see is my website page dedicated to Short Stories. Most of them also have a short quote from reviews that I have previously solicited. Finally, I have tried to include two Twitter-specific things: appropriate hashtags (such as #SciFi, #Nook and #Kindle) and my Twitter username so I can see when people post these and thank them.

A social media blurb for Facebook or similar sites could look like this:

Michael K. Rose, author of SULLIVAN'S WAR, releases SHORT STORIES: "If there is an author new to the world of publishing that I would place next to Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe and Isaac Asimov, it has to be Michael K. Rose." Get your copy today! http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories

The great thing about the social media blurbs is that you can include them in email announcements about your book and send them to acquaintances. So even if someone isn't hosting you on their blog/website, they can still copy one of these and paste them into their social media account. If your book is not out yet, be sure to ask those you send these to to wait until it is or you may end up confusing a lot of people. Alternatively, you can have some "Coming Soon!" social media blurbs to tweet beforehand, and blurbs like those above for after the release.

This brings an end to "Building An Author's Promotional Package." There are, of course, many things you can do and many different ways you can arrange the elements of your own promo package. I'd love to hear your thoughts/reactions in the comments section below. I'd also like to know if you have any great ideas of your own!

Finally, I would like to again say that Short Stories comes out on June 29, 2012. I am actively looking for bloggers who are willing to post a release announcement for me. If you are interested, please email myriad_spheres@yahoo.com with "BLOG TOUR" in the subject line.

Best Wishes,
Michael K. Rose

Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 2

Yesterday, in “Building An Author’s Promotional Package, Part 1,” I talked about writing a description for your book, and a bit about press releases. Today, I would like to talk about the next two elements you should include in your promotional package: images and quotes.

II: IMAGES

Just as your description can pique a reader’s interest, the cover of your book and any associated images can as well. Always include an image of your book cover in the press package. It draws the eye in a way that a dense paragraph of text can’t. I also like to include an advertising banner, so whoever is helping you spread the word about your book has something eye-catching to put across the top of the page. I’m not going to get into the elements of good or bad cover design; there are many other discussions about that. But here are a couple of my banner ads as an example of what those can look like (my blog displays them too big if I go up a size, so click on them for a better view):

And here are two banners from paranormal thriller writer Micheal Rivers:

 

You can see that you can use an "abstract" type background, like in the Sullivan's War banner, you can put the actual book cover in the banner, as I have done with Short Stories, or you can zoom in on certain elements of book cover, as Micheal Rivers has done. From these examples you can also see that you can condense your book description down into a single line ("Can Rick Sullivan Defeat His Enemies Before He Defeats Himself?" or "Can You Bargain with the Dead?"). That, along with the book title and your name, will pretty much fill the space in your banner ad. But if you have a little extra room, your website or a quote from a reader, as in Sullivan's War banner, are also great things to put in your banner ad. 

In addition to your book cover and a banner ad, you should include a photo of yourself. Typically called a head shot, this will give a face to the words. And make sure it's a good face. The way I see it, there are two main schools when it comes to the head shot: casual and not casual (I don't use the word "formal" because sartorially that means white or black tie, and I don't want you dressing up in a tux or gown for your head shot).

The casual head shot is what most authors will opt for, as we live in a casual society. I have chosen to go with a non-casual head shot:

However, if you decide to do this, make sure it is a real part of your persona. Between the symphony, opera and occasional ballet performances and plays, I end up wearing a coat and tie quite a bit throughout the year. I am comfortable in it. If you feel like you're suffocating when you put on a tie, chances are you're going to look like you're suffocating. Be comfortable, but avoid any clothing that could be seen as objectionable or anything very revealing (unless you write erotica, I suppose).

Even if you do go for casual, try to avoid the common snapshot. Have an actual photo shoot with a friend taking pictures of you, telling you which poses/smile/etc. look the best. You want your photo to look like a professional author's photo (pick up some books around your house to get an idea). You want to exude an air of confidence and professionalism. It's purely subconscious and completely unfair, but if you look untidy, readers might worry that your writing is untidy.

III: QUOTES

This is where you really have to plan ahead. What you want to do is find some authors or readers who really enjoy your work. I was very fortunate in this, as I didn’t have to seek them out. People began leaving glowing reviews on my product pages at Amazon and from there I connected with many of them via Twitter, Facebook and email.

Once you have a list of people who you feel you can count on for a positive review, people who not only like your work but love your work, you will want to have a review copy of your book ready about a month before you release it to the general public. A review copy is simply a draft of the book (these days it's often an eBook) that is not quite finalized but is complete and close enough to being revised and edited that a reader can get a good sense for the work. Send this review copy out to your short list of readers. If they enjoy it, you will hopefully get a nice quote from them to add to your promotional package. Another thing you can do once you have your cover image finalized is create a book entry on Goodreads and list it as "Coming Soon!" You can ask your readers to leave their reviews there as well as at the Amazon and B&N and other stores once the book is for sale. Great quotes, especially from other authors, can interest a reader in your upcoming book as much as a great description can. Another benefit of listing your book on Goodreads in advance is that you can start getting people entering for a book giveaway, if you choose to do that.

Of course, if other authors send you quotes to use in your promotional material, it is only right that you offer to do the same for them. Be very careful, however, that a quid pro quo isn’t established wherein you say nice things about their book simply because they said something nice about yours. However, unless they are truly bad writers (or you are hyper-critical), there should be something you like about the book. Even if their book may not be your cup of tea, look at it from the perspective of its intended audience and try to see what they will like about it.

Tomorrow, I will conclude the "Building An Author's Promotional Package" series with two more elements you should include in your package, one optional element as well as one final element that I think is a rather novel idea. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Read Part 3 here.

Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 1

INTRODUCTION

As I get ready to release my new book, Short Stories, (coming on June 29^th!) I’ve decided to put together a promotional package, as I have done in the past. But I realized that I had never given much thought to it. As I pondered the subject, I concluded that there are several things that I think are important to include; these are the things I am going to include in my own promotional package. A lot of this will be common sense for those of us who have done it before, but I hope some new authors out there will get a few ideas to use when they begin promoting their books. Note that this is not a guide on where or how to submit your promotional packages, but briefly, I intend to use mine for the following:

1. To send to those who have agreed to host a book announcement on their blog

2. To post on my own blog

3. To send out to my email contacts

4. To create a Goodreads event

If you want to write up a press release, there are, of course, many places you can post those. Some Google research will be able to tell you more than I can. I’ll address press releases a bit later in the article but the main focus will be on writing your book description.

I: THE DESCRIPTION

The first thing to include in an author’s press package is the most obvious: a description of the book. That’s easy enough, right? Actually, no. It’s notoriously difficult to write an engaging description but it is going to be the most important part of your press package. Based on your description of a book, potential readers will decide to either buy or pass. Just so we’re clear, you want them to buy. So how do you do this? My main point of advice is to use the word “thrilling.” I'm only partly joking about this. Read some book descriptions. Every book ever written is “thrilling.” If it’s not “thrilling,” then it is “heart-warming.” Other words readers like to see are “fast-paced,” “touching,” “provocative” and “engaging.” Of course, only use these words if they actually apply to your novel. Do not try to trick readers with your description. A tricked reader is an unhappy reader, which is something you do not want. It would help to have some friends read the book beforehand and tell you how they would describe it. Find out what key words they use and weave them into your book description.

Here’s my back cover blurb for my upcoming book Short Stories. Give it a read then I will tell you what I’ve tried to do with each part of the description:

The science fiction stories of Michael K. Rose can most accurately be described as eclectic. He is best known for his science fiction adventure series Sullivan’s War and in this collection you will find stories that adhere to the strongest expectations of the genre, such as “Sergeant Riley’s Account,” “Sleep” and “A Random Selection.”

But you will also find stories that, while speculative in nature, owe more to literary fiction than anything else. Works such as “Main & Church,” “Inner Life” and “Pedro X.” explore the psyche as opposed to the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Whatever your tastes, you are bound to discover many favorites amongst these ten stories. The first five have been available previously. The last five are new to this collection.

The first paragraph has done a few things. First, I have described my writings as eclectic. This is code for “there’s something for everybody here!” Next, I mention Sullivan’s War. This does two things. It tells the reader I have a track record as an author and, if the reader has read Sullivan’s War, I have reminded them that I wrote it. They hopefully liked it and will pick up Short Stories based on that. If not, they at least know that it is a science fiction adventure series. I then list three stories that have strong science fiction elements. One of these, "Sleep," is a very popular short story of mine that was released as a stand-alone ebook. So if a potential reader hasn’t read Sullivan’s War, s/he may have read “Sleep” and if they enjoyed it, they can expect more of the same from Short Stories. I also mention “Sergeant Riley’s Account,” another story that is available individually. There’s a chance they've read and liked that one as well.

The second paragraph reinforced the eclectic nature of my writing. If you don’t like sci-fi adventure, there are some “deeper” literary stories here as well. I mention “Inner Life,” which was part of the collection Inner Lives: Three Short Stories. If a reader liked that collection, I entice them with the titles of other similar stories, both of which are new to this collection.

The third paragraph reiterates the idea that there is something for everyone here. I exclude no one. Now, obviously, I can’t really be sure you’re going to find many favorites in Short Stories but if hubris is acceptable anywhere, it is in your book description. You are trying to sell the book. Be bold! Be assertive! Readers want to read something by confident writers, writers who have faith in their work. I also mention that half the stories have been available previously. This means that I consider them strong (and popular) enough to include here. The promise of five new stories will hook readers who are already familiar with my other work.

Now, if you are planning to release an “official” press release, you will want to insert some elements at the beginning and end of your book description to fit that format, and may even want to edit the content of your description a bit. I’m far from an expert on this but by way of example, here’s one I did for Sullivan’s War: Book II – A City without Walls

Since author Michael K. Rose released Sergeant Riley’s Account in December of 2011, this introduction to the science fiction series Sullivan’s War has received rave reviews and has been a frequent presence on Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Science Fiction Series” list. The release of Book I in January, entitled All Good Men Serve the Devil, has also made it onto that best sellers list, reaching a rank of #30, and has earned glowing reviews of its own.

Now Mr. Rose is set to release Sullivan’s War: Book II - A City without Walls. In this thrilling new installment, Rick Sullivan must track down the man who’s kidnapped the woman he loves, all while avoiding a ruthless bounty hunter and trying to move forward his ultimate plan: to free his home planet Edaline of its oppressive regime.

Filled with action and suspense from beginning to end, A City without Walls is sure to please not only fans of the Sullivan’s War series but all fans of the science fiction genre.

Don’t miss out on 2012’s hot new science fiction adventure series! Look for Sullivan’s War: Book II - A City without Walls on March 30 at Amazon’s Kindle store and Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.

So you can see how I sandwiched the book description between information about the series at the beginning and release information at the end. There are lots of ways to do this and your best bet, whether writing a simple book description or an “official” press release, is to write it and then re-write it several times. Give yourself a few days to play with it and change things around until you are satisfied with the result. It will also be helpful to read through some press releases to get a feel for the language used in them.

If you have any other ideas or advice concerning book descriptions or press releases, leave your comments below! Tomorrow, in Part 2, I’ll talk about the next two elements that I think should be included in An Author’s Promotional Package: images and quotes.

UPDATE: Read Part 2 here.

Speculative Elements in Literary Fiction by Benjamin X. Wretlind

Hello, all! Today I am very pleased and thrilled and excited and... all that good stuff to share with you a guest post by my friend, Benajmin X. Wretlind, a truly masterful writer whose new book, Sketches from the Spanish Mustang, arrives July 1st! I have had the opportunity to pre-read Sketches..., and I can tell you, it is a truly a work of brilliance. If you can't wait that long to get your hands on some Wretlind, I also highly recommend his novel Castles: A Fictional Memoir of a Girl with Scissors, a disturbing glimpse of madness... or is it?

I now turn you over to Ben for his thought-provoking discussion of Speculative Elements in Literary Fiction. This kicks off his blog tour for Sketches from the Spanish Mustang. Keep an eye on his blog so you don't miss out!

***

First, I'd like to thank you Michael for allowing me to write all over your blog.  It's a great place to kick of the Sketches from the Spanish Mustang Blog Tour, and it won't be a surprise to your readers to know that you suggested the first topic: Speculative Elements in Literary Fiction.

I'm going to quote a definition from Wikipedia (the parts that are correct) that I've quoted on my blog before and will likely quote again.  What is literary fiction? 

Literary fiction is a term that came into common usage during the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish “serious fiction” which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison to genre fiction and popular fiction (i.e., paraliterature). In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more upon style, psychological depth, and character. This is in contrast to Mainstream commercial fiction, which focuses more on narrative and plot. Literary fiction may also be characterized as lasting fiction — literature which continues to be read and in-demand many decades and perhaps centuries after the author has died.

When I asked a few people what they thought of when they heard the term "literary fiction," the responses I received ranged from “Vladimir Nabokov” to “classics, Dickens, Bronte” to “old stuff.” But it's a term, according to the above definition, that wasn't in common usage until the 1960s. (I'll assume that before then, all stuff was "old stuff.") On top of age, there's a whole book of articles that could be written debunking the notion that literary fiction is just plotless words jotted down for the sake of being fancy.  I won't do that here, but I will say: it's not true.

Literary fiction, in my view, is more a kaleidoscopic of work that includes elements of romance, thriller, horror, science fiction, mystery, the American Western, etc. It is cross-genre. Within that kaleidoscopic of genres, then, it's only natural for us to find the speculative elements.

Here are a few titles I think we can (mostly) agree fit the definition posed above regarding literary fiction: Metamorphosis, War of the Worlds, A Christmas Carol, Wuthering Heights, Gulliver's Travels, Beowulf. Are there speculative elements in each of these?

As kids, we were fascinated by the supernatural, especially as we investigated the world around us. We've all grown up since, but many of us have never grown out of our desire to know more. It's a part of who we are. Think of the strong beliefs which existed in the time of William Shakespeare.  What of the beliefs that existed in around the time of Nathaniel Hawthorne? Charles Dickens? Do you think, just because we listen to music on iPhones, drive hybrid cars or make our own donuts at home these days, that we no longer believe in the supernatural, the paranormal, the speculative?

In a poll conducted by Gallup in 2010, 71% of Americans confess to having had a paranormal experience of some sort. While only 34% believe in the existence of ghosts, 65% believe Ouija boards are dangerous, 41% believe in extrasensory perception and 37% believe that houses can be haunted.  Let me put that in persepective: if there are roughly 300 million people in the United States, about 213 million people confess to having had a paranormal experience of some sort.

Hmmm...

I don't like polls myself, but what I do find interesting is that people generally want to believe there might be more out there. It's this desire to want more which drives people to look for more in movies, television, books.  How many want to believe in sparkly vampires? How many want to think in some distopian future? How many people really think Harry Potter is real?

Combine those desires of what people want with the cross-genre possibility of literary fiction. What you end up with is "lasting fiction" which is peppered with the speculations of a generation.  For me personally, I wrote speculative elements into Sketches from the Spanish Mustang not as a deus ex machina or because I thought they'd be neat, but because they fit the character's personality as much as the story. A Ute who believes in spirits is not uncommon. An immigrant farmer who was brought up in Mexico to believe his grandparents' tales of nahuales is not far-fetched.

What about the claim in that above definition that literary fiction is "principally used to distinguish 'serious fiction'...in comparison to genre fiction and popular fiction?" Well, let me ask you this: would you consider The Road by Cormac McCarthy to be serious fiction? What about Wicked by Gregory Maguire? State of Wonder by Ann Patchett? 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami? All of these are serious works, and yet they are replete with speculative elements.

Speculation (wondering the big "what if") is as natural for humans as it is to love or hate or laugh or run amok in the water sprinklers on a hot day.  That it finds itself in literary fiction is no surprise.  What is surprising is that so many people shun literary fiction because of the label without knowing what's in it, casting it off as "old stuff" without a modern-day focus.

***

SKETCHES FROM THE SPANISH MUSTANG

In Sketches from the Spanish Mustang, a haunting, heart-warming and often brutally direct exploration of the lives of seven people in the mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado, a woman must come to grips with the failings that cost the lives of her husband and child. Bestselling author Michael K. Rose says: "Mr. Wretlind has penned a tale of such emotional and literary depth it will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned." 

With a pencil, a sketchbook and a keen eye for the details of the soul, the woman's lines and smudges, curves and tone reveal the stories behind her subjects. Life emerges on the page — vengeance, salvation, love and death. The artist's subjects fight for survival, only to be saved in the sketches of a woman with a gift . . . and a curse.

International Book Award winner Gregory G. Allen calls the book a "unique journey that rips away the outer layers of people allowing us to stare into their souls where humanity is universal: no matter the genre of writing."

Sketches from the Spanish Mustang will be available at all major online retailers for $14.95 on July 1st, 2012.  It will also be presented in an electronic format (e.g. Kindle, nook) for $5.95.

BIOGRAPHY

Benjamin X. Wretlind, the author of Castles: A Fictional Memoir of a Girl with Scissors and Sketches from the Spanish Mustang, has been called "a Pulitzer-caliber writer" with "a unique American voice." Aside from novels, he has been published in many magazines throughout the past 10 years.

How To Be a Beta Reader

What is a Beta reader? This is a term that writers use for a person who reads through a manuscript before the final editing pass is made. This is invaluable, and writers such as myself who are fortunate to have a handful of helpful, reliable Beta readers know how important they are to the process. But, what does a Beta reader do during and after reading a manuscript? Here are four things that I, as an author, find the most helpful. Should you be asked to serve as a Beta reader for an author, this will, I hope, serve as a handy guide to follow.

1. What did you think? - This is probably the thing that your author wants to know above all else! What did you think? Did you like it? How would you rate it? If you liked it, you can even write up a sample review to help encourage the author.

2. Are there any major mistakes? - You know, things like objects and characters appearing and disappearing, plot holes you could drive a road train through, things like that. One common mistake writers make is losing track of who is speaking. If s/he he isn't using "Bob said" and "Jane said" after every line of dialogue (and s/he shouldn't be!) then a character will occasionally respond to him/herself. It happens. Are there any spots that were ridiculous or didn't make sense? Any stilted or stupid-sounding dialogue? Any unrealistic decisions made by the characters? Were any laws of physics broken? Does anything in the story contradict the internal consistency of the world the author has created? There are all the "big" questions that readers will use to gauge whether or not a book is "good" or "bad."

3. Are there many typos/grammatical errors? - Even in "traditionally-published" books, errors will slip through. It would take an unreasonable amount of time and several sets of eyes to catch everything. However, authors, being so close to the work, often read what they meant to type rather than what they actually did type. Small typos will most likely slip through. Even if the author is going to hire a professional editor, or his/her publisher has one on staff, they can miss things. The more eyes the better, and your author will be grateful for any errors you can point out. Another thing to look for are unusually-worded phrases. If you have to read a sentence a couple of times to understand what the author means then other readers will as well.

4. Which sections are strongest? Which are weakest? - Sometimes a writer can fall in love with a scene and blind him/herself to its problems. If a particular scene doesn't quite work for you, let the writer know, and tell him/her why. You can even offer an idea of how you think the scene can be salvaged. On the other hand, let the writer know which scenes you loved! This information can be useful if the writer is going to be posting an excerpt with which to "hook" readers.

If you have any other things you think Beta readers can look for, please post them in the comments below!

Being Garrulous (again) with Benjamin X. Wretlind(Part 1)

For those few of you who read Chewing the Cud in the Myriad Spheres, the previous conversation between Benjamin X. Wretlind and myself, here is another exciting installment! Due to its lack of brevity (which is chiefly my fault) we have decided to break it into two parts. Enjoy!

BXW: So I was reading over your latest blog post, Inventing a Universe, and a thought popped into my head: during the writing of Sketches from the Spanish Mustang I spent a great deal of time getting into the characters' heads, walking the paths they might take, looking at the town through their eyes.  Likewise, with the novel I intend to start this summer, Driving the Spike, I have already started the process by walking some railroad tracks where an accident occurred 108 years ago.   The idea, of course, is to see the world through the eyes of my characters.  However, with Science Fiction, especially with imagined worlds (or parallel universes like you discuss), how do you see the world though your character's eyes?

MKR: What I like to keep in mind is that people are people, whether they lived ten thousand years ago or ten thousand years from now. If I were a Clovis hunter following herds of mammoth across the Great Plains I think that, despite the vastly different way of life, my fellow hunters and I would sit around the campfire at night and shoot the breeze just as I do with my friends today. The technology would be different, our clothes, our language, our way of perceiving the universe would all be different but we would still be human beings. A heart not unlike mine would beat in the breast of my Clovis twin. I would want food, shelter, love, companionship. In the two hundred thousand years our species has wandered this Earth that has not changed and there is no reason to believe it will change in the near future.

Now, I have never taken down a mammoth with a spear. But I can imagine it. As a writer, imagination is key to understanding other people, people who eventually become "characters." Would it help if I could go back in time and see how a hunting party surrounded and felled a mammoth, where they jabbed their spears, how many of them it took? Of course. But I can't, so if I were to write a mammoth-hunting scene my imagination would fill in the blanks that the archaeological record has left behind. So it is with science fiction. When we write about the future we are not writing from a blank slate. We have all of human history to draw on to understand how human beings will react in different situations. For example, we know that we tend to be suspicious and aggressive when encountering intelligent beings not like ourselves (from history, we have the sad lesson of the Europeans' encounter with the indigenous Americans. In my fiction, look at the treatment of the Squamata in Sergeant Riley's Account and Sullivan's War: Book II.) Another example from history that I draw on is the simple fact that people generally want to be free of oppression. The entire Sullivan's War series is about this and how many times throughout history has a power structure has fallen due to the discontent of the oppressed? Here where I live in the Southwest, Hohokam civilization collapsed around 1400 CE and there are Pima legends that indicate that the people rose up against the powerful.

So writing science fiction is simply writing about people. I cannot see alien worlds or travel through hyperspace in a ship but my brain is capable of understanding what they might be like. My imagination can fill in the gaps left after taking the entire shared experience of human culture into account. I see their worlds because their eyes are like mine. I share their hopes and desires because those are common to all human beings across history. And my invented universe is not that different from our own, when you really examine it. There are real-life parallels to many of the things I write about.

Now, what I find interesting is that in Castles you described experiences unfamiliar to you despite the fact that those experiences are real for all too many young women across the country, across the world. For me, that is as remarkable a feat as bringing to life an alien landscape. We've talked about this before, but would you care to talk a bit about Maggie's story?

BXW: As I've mentioned before, I believe Maggie spoke through me in a way that's really hard to describe without coming off sounding--how should I put it?--bat-shit crazy.  The fact I squirrel away information that comes to me via media may have enabled my subconscious to postulate how a woman might view a certain situation more so than a man who is trying to force the character into action.  For example, I had a lot of trouble near the middle of the story related to Maggie's view of abuse at the hand of her boyfriend because that's just not something I'd ever experienced.  Somehow after a few months or years, though--and after dealing with abusive people as a manager--Maggie spoke up.

Getting into a character's head is important to me, and that's one reason I like to interact with their supposed environment if I can, and if I can't, then to spend an inordinate amount of time researching that environment. However, in A Difficult Mirror, a dark fantasy epic novel to be released (hopefully) next winter, I couldn't walk around the environment since it didn't exist.  Not that I couldn't take clues from other stories, but that the environment just didn't exist.  (That's a bit vague, I know, but the novel isn't out yet.)

You brought up something I'm curious about. I've mentioned to you before that I was never a huge fan of science fiction; that distinction fell to my brother. I was the fantasy type, the one who believed in dragons and wizards and spells, oh my!  However, some historic science fiction I've read has held a sort of special place in my heart simply because of the impact on our present.  I am, of course, talking about the work of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, or Arthur C. Clarke.  Even Philip K. Dick. Their imaginations of technological advances helped pave the way for our present.  Writers like Ray Bradbury or George Orwell, on the other hand, wrote people into the future--much like you describe--and did so without the need to characterize or build up technology that didn't exist.

How do you view technology in your stories? How do you imagine worlds without borders or limitations, and do you hope to one day create something that would inspire some future geneticist or engineer?

MKR: Technology. Well, let me first point out that I am not technologically-minded at all. I am endlessly fascinated by it but if I had to actually try to describe how an intricate piece of software or hardware operated, I'd probably be trying to do it with sticks and a length of string. So, the technology in my stories isn't particularly original. I'll readily admit that. I rely on many tried and true tropes of the genre: hyperspace travel, energy weapons, fold-up tablet computers, three-dimensional displays. Now, since the Sullivan's War story line is supposed to take place about five hundred years in the future, this may seem like pretty low-tech stuff. I actually have a reason for this that will eventually reveal itself as I continue to explore this universe. I will just say that just because a technological advance is made doesn't mean it will be readily accepted.

I suppose I am comfortable with a certain level of technology, a level that has already been explored by many science fiction writers and is accepted and liked by a great many science fiction readers. Again, my own ignorance about technology prevents me from currently writing anything like cyberpunk. I just don't have the background to do it justice. So I really don't see my science fiction as the type that will inspire future engineers. Rather, I see my work as inspiring (if, in fact, it inspires anyone at all) future humanitarians, future philosophers. Remember, science fiction is about exploring how humans respond to fantastical situations as much as it is about inventing and describing cool technology. This is one of the reasons I consider 2001: A Space Odyssey to be my favorite book. Clarke had the scientific knowledge to make the technology one hundred percent plausible but the story is, essentially, about humanity. I mean, it begins with the dawn of consciousness, with the evolution (via external means in his story) of creatures that would one day become human beings! Because of his invented world of the near future, his characters--Dave Bowman in particular--are able to have experiences that no other humans have before experienced. How it affects them is just as fascinating as how future technology, such as the HAL 9000 computer, might work (or not work). How does the realization that an alien intelligence has visited our solar system affect them?

I often think about what would happen if we were to wake up one day and have undeniable proof that we were not alone in the universe. What effect would it have on world religions? I mean, in the 16th century Copernicus developed a heliocentric model of the solar system and while no one with any sense would deny the truth of this model today, there are many who still have a very geocentric, or Earth-centric, view of reality: that we, human beings, are at the center of God's divine plan, that, in fact, we are created in God's image and are his chosen species. Remember, it was only two thousand years ago that not only were humans God's chosen species on the planet, but a very specific group inhabiting the Levant were his chosen race. I speak from a Judeo-Christian perspective, of course, because it is the tradition that has most shaped the Western world. Now, this type of thinking has been used to justify and explain our dominance on this planet. But what if another, intellectually superior species managed to cross the vast distances between star systems and arrive at ours? God wouldn't seem to favor us so strongly then, would he?

I do believe in a creator. To believe in a specific god requires more faith than I have, though. I must trust that the creator, whatever it may be, gave me the ability--via evolution--to observe the world empirically for a reason. We are a species that is meant to question the world around us, not invent angels and devils to which to ascribe the mysteries of the universe. To return to my main point, this is my focus when I write science fiction. I hope to inspire future dreamers, people who will look at our world and see it for what it really is but also see what it can be if we throw off the shackles of tribe, of clan, of race, of nation, even of species. I know that to date my work hasn't explored this as fully as I would like but I am working toward it and my next project, Chrysopteron, will fully explore these ideas.

Read Part 2 here!

My Twitter Manifesto (with Jokes)

or A Public Declaration of Intent Regarding My Use of the Social Networking Site Twitter.

Article I. On Following

To paraphrase Mr. Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion/My Fair Lady: I'm willing to follow you, I'm wanting to follow you, I'm waiting to follow you. That is, assuming the following criteria are met:

1. You have followed me and continue to follow me. To be blunt, I despise those who go through and follow hundreds of people a day to get follow backs, only to unfollow them the next day and repeat the vile process.
2. You are a real person. I can't tell you how many lonely, attractive women wanting to "chat" or "fuck" have followed me. I should only be so lucky! These immediately get reported for spam and will have no help from me in building a list of schmucks to exploit. I also report for spam any account whose tweets consist of unexplained links to websites with an .ru suffix.
3. You are a real person who posts things relevant to my interests. If you are a writer, I will follow you. Period. Post as many links as you like to your books, your blog posts, etc. These are the things I want to see! However, if you're just trying to shill accounting/home business/advertising services on me, look elsewhere. As no one I've ever known has said, "That dog don't hunt."

Providing you meet the above criteria, I would love to be your Twitter friend. If, for some reason, you are eligible for my Follow but I haven't followed you, let me know! Contrary to what I've written in "The Cult of Michael" Handbook ($29.99 + shipping and handling) I am not perfect. I miss things. Also, believe it or not, Twitter isn't perfect either! I know! Sometimes it decides that I shouldn't be following certain people. I might think otherwise, but it doesn't really want to give me a say in the matter, so there you go.

Article II. On Mentions and Retweets

I love it when people mention me or retweet me. It makes me all tingly inside. So if you do one of these things, do so knowing that I am grateful for your support. I will do my very best to thank you and retweet something of yours in return but it is not always possible. Sometimes, it is just a matter of me not having the time and by the time I do have the time, assuming I haven't lost track of the time, I won't remember the time you took the time to help me out. It happens. Sometimes. So, if you have been sending out a stream of tweets saying how wonderful I am only to be met with cold, disdainful silence, I apologize. I really do try and if you don't hear back from me it means nothing other than I am busy and/or lazy.

Article III. On Self-Promotion

I do a fair bit of self-promotion (get the exciting SciFi/Horror short story Sleep for only 99 cents!) but I try not to be obnoxious about it. I balance tweets about my books with tweets about books by other writers and links to useful blog posts (like this one). So, I am not one of those who will huff and click the unfollow button if you are spreading the good word about your latest masterpiece every five minutes. I have found many wonderful books via such shameless self-aggrandizement. Not that you're doing that. No, I'm sure your book tweets and humble and self-deprecating. But if they aren't, I don't mind! I love supporting Indie authors and if you follow me on Twitter, that's what I'll be doing! Get used to it. Run, jump, shout and scream about your book. I might just join in the revelry with a retweet or two. If such enthusiastic drum-beating about how great my writer friends and I are bothers you, you probably don't want to follow. But if you want to read some great books (like Sullivan's War: Book I) then I'm your man. If you want me to retweet something, let me know! Tweets are sometimes easy to miss, so send me a DM if there's something in particular you want me to share. As I said, I love supporting fellow Indie writers and if I end up reading and liking your book, watch out, because the world is going to hear about it.

Article IV. On Friendship

I have met many people on Twitter that I now consider friends. It is a great forum for self-promotion, sure, but friendship is an even greater thing than that. I am very liberal in who I will consider a friend and if you share some of my interests, there's a good chance I'll consider you one. I love joking with people and chatting about books, science fiction, classical music and nerd stuff in general. Feel free to chat me up any time!

You can Follow me on Twitter by going here:
https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelKRose

I look forward to engaging with you!

Best,
Michael

David Nevin's Adding Value Interviews

I was pleased when David Nevin asked to interview me for a series of interviews he has conducted on the topic of adding value to the writing community. The first of these interviews with Melissa Foster, a well-known and respected writer in the Indie community, was posted on April 10th. My interview went live earlier today and I would encourage you all to read both of the interviews, as well as those to come, and think about how helping other writers is not only a good thing to do because it is the right thing to do but because, ultimately, it is a way of helping yourself as well. I have had such wonderful experiences interacting with other writers ever since I published my first eBook in November of 2011 and I look forward to continued positive interaction and mutual support.

Visit this link to go directly to Mr. Nevin's interview with me:
http://davidnevin.net/2012/04/adding-value-interview-with-michael-k-rose/

The interview with Melissa Foster, as well as future interviews, can be found here:
http://davidnevin.net/category/adding-value/

5 MORE Ways to Help Authors Without Spending a Dime

I have received great feedback and a lot of hits on my blog post 5 Ways to Help Authors without Spending a Dime so I thought I'd run a part two, taking into account some of the suggestions left by readers in the comments section. I hope you enjoy these suggestions and put them into practice!

1. Jennifer wrote: "And also don't forget that at the end of the day, a short note to the author letting him/her know how much you enjoy that author's writing can be just the right amount of encouragement at just the right time." She is absolutely right! A few kind words can make all the difference to a writer if sales have been down or s/he's received a negative review. If you enjoy something you read, let the author know!

2. Rachel wrote: "Also how about hitting Yes if you find a review helpful or No if you don't." This is not something I had thought about until recently, when I received my first (and so far only) negative review. Several of my fans and friends rallied around me to click "unhelpful" on that review and reassure me that the reviewer was completely off-base. The fact that the review was so nasty and vindictive made this support particularly welcome.

3. Jeff wrote: "For Twitter, I try to get the most value out of those 140 characters that I can, so whenever possible for thank you's or welcomes, replies, retweets, etc., etc., it helps to add the authors book title, link, whatever you can get your hands on." A great idea! If your followers see a unique tweet coming from you--someone they know and trust--rather than an RT, which a lot of people tend to ignore, it might make them look at it a bit more closely. For authors who have been really supportive of me, I've even made up a file of tweets about their books, which I try to send out once a day.

4. Jeff also wrote: "Don't forget to join an author's blog site (which I just now did btw)." Authors blog. A lot. It's part of that whole attention whore thing I mentioned in the first 5 Ways to Help Authors... post. Now, following a blog helps you because if you like that author and the content s/he provides, you won't miss anything. But it can help the author as well. Here's how: say a prospective reader happens across the blog and sees that many people are following it. This will let him or her know that this author has something worthwhile to say and they may be more likely to stick around and see what it's all about and, perhaps, buy a book or two.

5. Tell Your Friends! This one is so basic that I overlooked it the first time around. If you enjoy a book, write a review, of course. But people you know from work, the PTA, old school friends, etc. may never get around to trolling Amazon for your reviews. Tell them about books that you love and, most importantly, tell them how to get a copy! Send them emails or DMs with the link so they don't forget!

Keep the suggestions coming in the comments section!

Best,
Michael

Reflections on Writing and "Buy Indie Month"

     "We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the universe." - Jerome K. Jerome

     Instantly enamored of Benjamin X. Wretlind's "Buy Indie Month" idea, I've been dutifully buying an Indie book every day for this month of  February. Ben gave his own reflections on why he is doing this, why "dulce et decorum est." Now, unlike those ominous lines from Horace, I don't see any need for one to die on behalf of an Indie writer. But the lines from Jerome, above, more aptly summon the spirit of the thing.

     Read it again: "We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the universe." This sums up, for me, not only the motivation behind a project such as "Buy Indie Month" but also what should be, in my mind, the driving force behind a person's life. Selfishness, ultimately, isn't selfish if--and this is a big if--one's effort on behalf of oneself contributes to the betterment of society.

     For example, a writer is inherently selfish. He wants people to buy and read his books. He believes that he has a story or a message that is so important that everyone who reads it will benefit from it in some way and be glad for the opportunity. The writer believes that he is privy to some truth that has thus far escaped the cumulative knowledge of human civilization. This is not only selfish but highly egotistical as well. But this is acceptable in a writer. The writer provides entertainment, he makes people think, he delivers messages, he makes connections between disparate ideas and those connections are what drive forward the great endeavor that we call "the arts." The writer is both a prophet and a historian, he sees the future, he reflects on the past, he makes sense of this grand adventure that we call life. I would even go so far as to say that the writer--not only the fiction writer, but the historical writer, the political writer, the journalist--is the most important member of any society. Before a speech is made, a writer wrote it. Before a song is sung, a writer wrote it. Before a film or television show is produced, a writer wrote it. And, indeed, before we can truly understand current events, before we can know what has happened in the world beyond the trivial business of facts, a writer has sat down, examined those facts and put them into a framework that makes sense of them.

     The writer does all this selfishly, but look at the benefit to society. And the "Buy Indie Month" idea supports this, it supports not only Indie writers, but supports the continued health of our society as well. As Indie writers, Mr. Wretlind and I, along with Jeff Currie and others, recognize that there are many voices being lost to the cacophony of voices that make up the literary world. Some of those voices speak loudly and stridently and everyone listens. This is good. In most cases, those people have, through the strength of their writing, earned that consideration. But there are also many voices that seem to speak loudly only because they never stop speaking at all. And then there are the voices that are given megaphones--via media, publishing companies, etc--without having earned it. I think here of reality television stars whose ghost-written "books" top the bestseller lists.

     But what those loud and persistent voices should think about in their selfishness is "what does my voice contribute to society? How am I helping to 'mold the universe?'" Should a writer--any creative person, in fact--be held to a higher standard than those who do not engage in any acts of creativity? Should we be responsible for the works that we leave to posterity or is it only about the immediate concern, is it only about the money? Should our selfish desire to be heard above the din leave nothing of value beyond our own gratification?

     I say "no." I say that we should support the voices who truly have something to say. I also believe that we should support the small voices, the voices who haven't yet been heard. We should encourage those voices to speak loudly and clearly in the hopes that even one of them might become the voice of a generation, that one of them might be a voice that will change the world, a voice that will mold the universe in a way that will be to the benefit of all.

     For this reason, we should--we must--support Indie writers.

Buying Indie Month

Inspired by a blog post by Benjamin X. Wretlind (He outlines the reasons why quite elegantly; read them here: http://bxwretlind.com/blog/2012/02/02/buying-indie-month/) I am buying one Indie book a day for the month of February. I will update this page with each purchase throughout the month. If you want to recommend your book to me--I favor science fiction and literary fiction--leave a comment below with the Amazon US store link and I'll take a look! I also encourage you to hop on board with this idea, even if only for part of the month. Indie writers need to stick together and show the rest of the world the great quality that is out there by getting our books to the top of the best-seller lists!

01. Ties that Bind by Carolyn Arnold
02. Moonlight on the Nantahala by Micheal Rivers
03. Nighteyes: A Will Castleton Adventure by David Bain
04. Betrayed by Wodke Hawkinson
05. The Dark Path by Luke Romyn
06. The Fall of Billy Hitchings by Kirkus MacGowan
07. Judgment Tramp (An Eb Maclean novel) by JD Currie
08. Space Orville by Jeff Whelan
09. A Dream of Storms (In the Shadow of the Black Sun) by William Kenney
10. The Watchers of Ur: Cradle by LaMonte M. Fowler
11. Hope Road by John Barlow
12. California Blood by Pete Palamountain
13. Black Beast by RS Guthrie
14. The Rings of Alathea by Dan Moore
15. Legend Unborn, The Key of Souls - Book 1 by David G. Welsh
16. Xenocide by Larry Kollar
17. Archaea by Dain White
18. Outback Love by Teri Heyer
19. Lunara: Seth and Chloe by Wyatt Davenport
20. Convergent Space by John-Paul Cleary
21. Gabriel's Redemption by Steve Umstead
      Attic Clowns: Complete Collection by Jeremy C. Shipp
22. Vigilante by Claude Bouchard
23. Dead of Knight by William R. Potter
24. Hot Roast Beef with Mustard by James Paddock
25. Leiyatel's Embrace by Clive S. Johnson
26. The Code by Craig McGray
27. What in Hell is up with Heaven? by Christopher David Petersen
28. Weimar Vibes by Phil Rowan
29. Farewell to Tyrn by Ryan Harvey

Related Posts:
Benjamin X. Wretlind's "Buying Indie Month" Post
Benjamin X. Wretlind's "Buying Indie Month, Revisited" Post
J.D. Currie's "Buying Indie Month" Post
Five Ways to Help Authors without Spending a Dime