You're In It For The Money

Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published April 13, 2014.

By Sunny Frazier

Oh yes, you are! And that's nothing to be ashamed of even if it sounds crass to admit your intentions aloud.

I've been blacklisted on at least one artsy site and bad-mouthed on others for blatantly saying "I like to make money from my writing." I blame my attitude on my early years as a journalist. In those days I was paid to put words on paper and I grew to like having an income. It felt good to have people reading my articles, even when my precious words were tossed in the recycle bin after a day. Now there are few newspapers and my degree languishes, but I still like the notion that my words are worth a few dollars.

Kudos to those who write simply for the sake of their art. Perhaps satisfaction comes from pieces published in literary magazines for limited readership. Me--I want lots of people reading my stories and books. I want those hours (years) I put into my work to be rewarded. This is a business for me and the IRS concurs.

Not that it's ALL about money. I have no problem contributing to Novel Spaces because I'm investing in a site I respect and hope readers will possibly invest in me. I give books away when I'm on panels to pepper the pot for sales. I've donated my novels to the local Senior Center and VA Hospital. I've even gifted to people who were too broke to spend $12 on one of my books.

Does expecting money for my work make me a hack? Possibly. I know what readers want and I strive to give it to them. They want an entertaining story, interesting characters, a few cringe-worthy moments (I write mysteries) and a satisfactory ending. But, to keep my standards high, I also give them craft, personal insights, soul-searching questions and a bit of astrology. Yes, it's worth much more than the few dollars I'm asking in return.    

What I'm against are those people who make money off of the one segment that can't afford the cash--new authors. When starting out, it's hard to resist the carnival barkers promising quick routes to the bestseller list. They come in the form of costly conferences, webinars, PR people, paid reviewers and businesses that impersonally shovel titles to the Internet. All of this can be done for free--and should be. The info is readily available in your computer if you know where to look. Since we're close to Easter, I'll liken the process to hunting for those colored eggs. The search will take exploring websites, following leads and a bit of time.

Time is money. I realize that and I also understand the World Wide Web can be a very confusing place. My solution was to start a Posse. Several years ago I decided to share my own searches with others. Authors just send me their email addys and they're in. They get emails from me pointing them to articles on marketing, platform building, inside business info, places looking for guest bloggers and yes, my blogs.

There's no charge because the effort is minimal on my part. It's my way of paying it forward. Consider it a gift from one author to another. I hope others do the same with their future network. And, who knows? Perhaps I'm make a fan or a friend who will buy one of my Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries. Because, as the L'oreal ads say, I'm worth it!  

What Is a Platform and Where Do I Find One?

Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published January 14, 2013.

By Sunny Frazier

The hot topic today, the buzz word in the writing industry, is “Platform.” Writers are constantly told they need one, but nobody seems to have a clear idea of what a platform consists of or how to construct one. If you build it, will they come?

Here's the problem. Many writers, in the thrall of creating a book out of their imagination, haven't bothered to learn how the industry works. Everything has changed, but too many potential authors believe what they've seen in the movies--the romantic vision of art and the written word with publishing hacks doing promotion and getting their book on the bestseller list.

I doubt if that dynamic ever really existed, but if it did, it's as dead as Hemingway. The reality is that Big Publishing isn't interested in any work that doesn't have guaranteed sales right out the door. That's why Snookie got a contract and you didn't. But then again, she has a platform. One built with substandard materials, but one that exists.

Independent presses also have to try for guaranteed sales. They struggle enough without handing out contracts to people who have no sense of promotion. That's why we hope to see something in place, to hopefully hedge our bet that the book will sell. This is why we look hard for the author's platform.

Start with name recognition. Sell yourself by getting on sites where you get a page to decorate and interact with people. Book Town, Crime Space, and of course, Face Book. Put up photos, post blogs, jump into forums, initiate discussions. Have a personality that people will remember.

Start collecting your fan base. Anyone who communicates with you is a potential reader. Research each one, take notes on bits of info (do they have a cat? What part of the country are they from?). Everyone likes feeling they get personal attention. So, make the effort.

Get a website up. Create a bog. Make it compelling. Offer people something they can use, not just your idle thoughts on a subject.

It takes the sale of 200 books for a publisher to break even. Can you come up with that many buyers? Indie presses have distribution, but it's hard to get libraries and bookstores (the ones that still exist) to stock POD books. The public still has trouble seeing the economically feasible format as “real” books. That's why authors have to convince the reading public that their book is worth buying. You do that with a fan base and by physically promoting your work.

This is what a publisher looks for—not promises by writers uneducated in promotion, but those who have an established presence before publication. A platform. This is the author we are willing to invest in and hope for a return.

Selling Yourself

Novel Spaces is in its 10th year! Over the coming months we'll be featuring some of the most popular posts from our archives. This one was first published July 17, 2012 . 

By Dayton Ward

In the world of professional publishing, we as writers are both a product and a service, and it’s up to us to present ourselves in this manner. We’re of value to a potential editor and/or publisher; we just have to convince them of what we already know, right?

Oddly enough, I tend to suck at selling myself.

Specifically, I still struggle when it comes to introducing myself to editors, agents, and other publishing professionals. Take this past weekend, for example: Comic-Con International in San Diego. Tens of thousands of people milling about the exhibitor’s hall, and in the midst of that chaos were booths sponsored by publishers big and small. You’d think it’d be easy enough for a guy like me, a reasonably accomplished if not well-known sort, to walk up to one of these booths and feel comfortable talking shop, but as usually seems to be the case, I often was second-guessing myself at the moment of truth. It wasn’t such a problem if I at least knew the person in the booth by name or perhaps even had exchanged earlier e-Mails with them, but a cold introduction?

Awkward.

It’s a lot like when you finish a story and you’re getting up the courage to mail it to the faceless editor you’ve never met, only here you don’t even have the cushion of distance to ease your uncertainty. It’s you and your prospective client, face to face, and everything hinges on the next words to come out of your mouth...assuming you can make your mouth work.

I did have some success, of course. I met several writers in fields outside my own, and we spent a few pleasant minutes here and there swapping war stories before exchanging info. Likewise, a couple of good discussions were enjoyed with friends and colleagues, during which plans of one sort or another were hatched. And I did introduce myself to a few new folks at publishers’ booths where conversations ensued, and I came away with contact information and an agreement to communicate after the mayhem of the con was behind everyone.

Did I take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the con? Honestly? No, owing mostly to my own nervousness with such situations. I always feel out of my depth at these things. Part of me always wonders if the con’s hectic nature just makes attempting any sort of introduction worthwhile. Would the business card I gave the booth person go in a pocket, a box, or the trash? How many other hopeful, hungry writers were selling themselves to editors and publishers just as I was? Quite a few, obviously, and while I imagine most of the people working those booths took such introductions as to be expected in the con environment, I still was wondering if their first reaction as I walked up was something along the lines of, “Oh, great. Another one.”

I suppose it’s worth noting that I’m better at dealing with these scenarios now than I was a few years ago. A little better, anyway. I’ve refined how I present myself and what I do, how to say what I want to convey, and shortening the amount of time it takes to say it while still communicating the appropriate and relevant information. As my resume has grown, so too has my confidence in selling myself, but there’s still that little bit of anxiety taunting me whenever I enter these situations. The rational part of the brain-like thing renting space inside my skull tells me the only way to get over this self-doubt is to keep at it; continue preparing myself as I would for any other job interview, and convincing that other person that I’m a seasoned professional with valuable skills to offer.

From discussions I had over the weekend, I know I’m not the only writer who feels uncomfortable selling themselves. Even some veteran pros—people I’d never having any kind of trouble with this—have confided that they still feel that momentary apprehension in these types of situations. “Just keep working at it,” they tell me.

How about you? Are you a natural seller, or does it come a bit harder for you? Are you a smooth talker, or do you feel like your tongue sometimes wants to fight you over every word? How do you prepare for making these types of introductions, and do you have any particular success (or horror) stories you want to share?

Book Club Snacks

            Lately it seems like I’ve been hungry all the time. I don’t know why—maybe it’s because spring is in the air, maybe it’s stress, maybe the fault lies with Pinterest and Instagram—but more often than not, my thoughts have turned to food.

photo has nothing to do with post--it's just a photo I love and it's cake...

            So this month, in honor of World Book Day (which was April 23rd), I’ve decided to write a post about book club snacks. The post therefore combines two of my loves: reading and eating. And yes, there will be recipes.

            Ideally, a book club snack serves two purposes: 1) it is tasty and invites club members to linger, and 2) it has some connection, however tenuous, to the book under discussion.

            I am lucky to have been invited to attend book club discussions on many occasions when clubs are reading and discussing one of my books. One club has had me visit twice—first to discuss House of the Hanging Jade and second to discuss The House on Candlewick Lane.

The members of this particular club really get into the food-theme pairings. For the discussion of House of the Hanging Jade, which was set on the Island of Hawaii, the members served a smorgasbord of tropical delights, two of my favorites being the fruit punch and poke. For the discussion of The House on Candlewick Lane, which is set in Scotland, the members brought Scotch Eggs, homemade toffee, and even whisky for those who wanted to partake! I took shortbread to add to the spirit of the discussion.

One group in Pennsylvania read The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor. There is a hurricane in the book, which is set outside Charleston, South Carolina, and the family in the book makes something called Hurricane Stew. The group made stew for our meeting! There were also quick breads, which was a specialty of one of the book’s characters.

Book clubs that meet to merely discuss books are great and I’ve been to plenty of those, too, but add food to the mix and you’ve got an extra layer of fun and discussion.

So below are three of my favorite snacks for book clubs. Is your book club reading a romance, or a book set in a steamy locale? Try the Jalapeno Popper Dip. Are you reading something funny? Try a snack that’s sweet and light, like the Fruit Dip. Are you reading a psychological thriller? Try the UFO Dip, which is layered, just like the story.

            Got any favorites of your own? Share them in the comments!

Jalapeno Popper Dip

(from “Every Day with Rachael Ray”)

3 slices bacon, chopped

1 c. panko

3 cans (4 oz. each) diced jalapenos, drained

2 pkgs (8 oz. each) cream cheese, room temperature

1 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 small fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 T. grated Parmesan cheese

Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crispy, 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain all but 2 T. of the bacon drippings; add the panko and stir to coat. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, mix half the bacon with the canned jalapenos, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and cheddar cheese. Transfer mixture to a 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with the panko, remaining bacon, fresh jalapeno, and Parmesan cheese. 

Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 25-30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Fruit Dip

2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding

3 c. cold milk

8 oz. container whipped topping

almond extract to taste

cut-up fruit

Mix pudding and milk for about 2 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Add almond extract to taste and mix well. Serve with cut-up fruit.

UFO Dip

2 pkgs (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 pint sour cream

onion powder to taste

1 jar medium salsa, divided

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1 large tomato, diced

1 large can black olives, sliced

1 green pepper, chopped.

Using an electric mixer, blend together the cream cheese and the sour cream. Spread on a large circular platter or tray (I use the reusable aluminum ones) and sprinkle with onion powder to taste.

On top of the cream cheese mixture, layer the rest of the ingredients in the order they're listed above. Use only 3/4 of the jar of salsa and 1 1/2 c. of the cheddar cheese. On top of the green pepper layer, sprinkle remaining cheese, then dot with remaining salsa. Serve with tortilla chips or crudites.

P.S. Wine is also a popular beverage at book club meetings. Need a suggestion? You're in luck! My website has some great lists of reds and whites--find it at www.amymreade.com/wines.

Table or Booth Book Selling

by Linda Thorne

I’ve sold from tables, booths, tents and a Barnes and Noble “meet the authors” event where a group of us shared a couple of tables. I’ve sat on panels at bookstores and writers’ conferences where the panelists move to signing tables after their session. I’m not much of sales person and some of my author friends encourage me to speak out more at these events.

Will I? From my consumer experience, it’s unlikely. At various times spanning most of my life, I've hung out at places where books were sold at manned tables or booths. I’ve always been interested, but I’ve also noticed my reluctance to approach when the author or authors are present.

Why? I’d like to look over the books without feeling pushed. And the “feeling pushed” comes from within me. If I find out someone is manning a booth who has not authored any of the inventory, I feel freedom to peruse, to buy or not to buy. No pressure. But how often is anyone other than one of the authors going to be selling the books?

Rare, but I’ve seen it happen. I did it a few times myself before I became published, manning the local Nashville Writer’s Meetup Group tent at the Southern Festival of Books. Of course, I had a free handout about my own work in progress to give to anyone who’d take it. When folks came by, I’d say something like, “I’m giving the authors of these books a break.” and thought they showed signs of relief. I’ll never be certain whether their relieved looks were real or just my interjection of what my feelings would be if in their shoes.

Books are expensive and open wallets aren’t rambling around the Nashville area waiting to make authors happy. And books take a while to read. Even those who can afford to buy often have an unread stockpile at home pressuring them with guilt.

Yes, the person selling books from a table or booth is normally the author of at least one of them. If they are friends of mine, then I’m torn with buying from one and not the other. I still gut up and go to these places and when I do, I’ll buy from one and not the others. Although this is still awkward for me, it’s the reality of shopping books and they know it too. Sometimes I don't buy any.

If you’re not James Patterson or Lawrence Block, table or booth selling is a tough, slow way to sell your books. Is it worth it?

I think so. You’re marketing yourself and your work and there’s always the chance for something big to happen, and I’ve seen it happen right here in my town. An author friend of mine, was manning the Nashville Writer’s Meetup tent a few years ago at the Southern Festival of Books. A video editor who was at the festival scouting talent stopped by and asked my friend about his only book, his debut novel. The agent bought it and not long afterward, this author was signing an HBO TV movie option for $$$. That may have been the only book he sold, but I’m sure he was glad he showed up. That’s what authors do.

More Talk About Swag

            Beginning in April, I’m going to need some author swag. (I wrote a post about swag last July—read it here—and since I’m always thinking about it, I’m writing another one)

            Here’s the thing about swag: have you ever bought a book because of the stuff the author gave away with it? Do you even remember most of the swag you’ve been given?

            My husband’s theory on swag is as follows: “I don’t know why you bother. No one buys books because the author gives away pens or bookmarks or anything else. They buy books based on word-of-mouth if they don’t already know the author.”

I’m paraphrasing (except for the first sentence, which is a direct quote).

He makes a good point, but there’s more to the argument than just getting people to buy books. There’s the name recognition factor, which has to be worth something, right?

Right?

A lot of the swag I pick up is at conferences. The piles of postcards, business cards, bookmarks, pens (see aforementioned July post—I cancelled my pen order), flyers, etc. seems endless, and there’s something to be said for an author who can think outside the box and give away something that stands out. One especially memorable giveaway was a seed packet printed with the author’s book cover. The main character is an organic farmer, so that swag makes perfect sense and I won’t forget that author’s name (Wendy Tyson, by the way).

Last year I gave away little packets of Scottish shortbread attached to postcards for Highland Peril, my book set in the Scottish Highlands (see aforementioned July post for some lovely photos). I’d like to think that was a great idea, but I’m basing my opinion on my obsessive love of shortbread.

At Christmastime I gave away handmade gift tags as swag. They were stamped, inked, sparkled, buttoned, and beribboned, and I thought (and still think) they were perfect. I was promoting a Christmas novel, so the giveaway had to have a Christmas theme, too.

And that, I think, was the best swag I’ve given out. It was themed, fun, and—best of all—handmade. I wrote my website URL in tiny letters on the back of each tag so that people could locate the brilliant artist who created it.

So I think I’m sticking with handmade swag for my upcoming appearances. I haven’t decided yet what I’ll make; maybe I’ll do more gift tags, maybe bookmarks, maybe something completely different. Sure, it takes a little longer, but I’m amazed at how much fun I have making things to give away. And it’s cheaper to make my own swag, too, which is always good. And finally, I can tailor the swag to individual events. I hope people find my handmade giveaways memorable.

What do you think? Any ideas for handmade swag? Do you have giveaways when you make an appearance at a conference or other author event? What kinds of giveaways do you prefer?

What's in Your Swag?

 

         

            Today’s post is about swag. You know, that stuff authors give out at events to get people to remember them.

            I have several events coming up, so I had to think long and hard about the swag I’m going to give away. It’s not an easy decision for me, as is true with many other authors, because I want something that stands out and I can’t spend a lot on it.

There are authors out there who give away tote bags, bookmarks (and not just any bookmarks—the dangly kind with a charm on the end), cute little spiral-bound notebooks with a book cover printed on the front, even seed packets (which are great for authors who write about farmers and gardeners, but I’m not one of those authors), but I don’t have the kind of money one needs to give away things like that.

So at the risk of being the most boring author out there, I’ve ordered postcards. Again. Each one is printed with one of my book covers on the front and my photo and social media URLs on the back. I love how they look—I just wish I could do something really out-of-the-box. But out-of-the-box is expensive.

I’ve also ordered bookmarks. Again. These have the covers of each of the three books in my current series. Like the postcards, I think they’re nice-looking bookmarks. I hope people use them.

            But in addition to the postcards and the bookmarks, I have managed to include two more interesting things.

            First, I did a little research and learned that some of the most popular items for authors to give away are pens. Thus, I have ordered pens with my name and a small graphic of a rose on them. This is the same rose photo I use on my website’s Contact Me page and some of my newsletters. It’s not just any rose; it’s a rose from a bouquet my husband gave me when I signed my first contract with a publisher. It means a lot to me and I love the photo, so I use it often.

            Second, my most recent book and my next book are both set in Scotland. What comes to mind when I think of Scotland? Sure, the beauty, the majesty, the lochs, et cetera, et cetera. But I can’t give those things away.

            What comes to mind next? For me, it’s shortbread (it’s always about the food, as far as I’m concerned). Buttery, crumbly, delicious shortbread. I found a website (worldmarket.com) where I could buy twenty individually-wrapped two-packs of Walker’s Shortbread Cookies for about $11.00. Since I only needed fifty packages (this particular swag is for gift bags at the Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival in August), I could get away with spending $33.00 or so and still have some cookies left over for another event. My plan is to staple a package of cookies to one of my Scotland-themed postcards.

            What do you think? Is it memorable, or would you do something different?

            I’ve got a book club appearance coming up in a couple weeks. The club is discussing my book set in Hawaii. I’d like to take a homemade dessert with me that the members can share at the meeting—something with coconut or passion fruit or macadamia nuts. I don’t know how big the group is, but I figured if I make a large pan of something, there will be enough for everyone. Smaller, more personal events like book club appearances make it easy for me to take something because I love to cook and I love to come up with foods that connect somehow with the setting of the book the club is reading.

            Incidentally, I do host giveaways once in a while through my newsletter. For the giveaways, I like to do something a bit more elaborate than postcards and bookmarks. For my last giveaway (to celebrate the release of my book set in Hawaii) I had a reusable shopping bag that I stocked with tropical-themed items and Hawaiian foods (pre-packaged, like macadamia nuts and candies). For my next giveaway I’ll probably award a tote bag with some Scottish-themed items.

            I’d like to hear what other authors are using for swag. What do you give away, if anything? Is there something you received at an author event that was particularly memorable? Share your ideas in the comments below—I’d love to hear them and I’m sure other writers would, too.

           

                       

            

Authors' Books: To Give or Not to Give

by Linda Thorne

Making money writing novels, short fiction, and non-fiction while challenging, can be done. There are examples of it happening every single day. The naysayers will continue to warn us that the competition is enormous, the odds are stacked against us, and the chance to make money is slim. We can’t listen to them, but if we don’t put our work out there, we guarantee their dooming words.

I went to my first full-blown writers’ conference here in Nashville in August of 2009. While there, I kept passing by an unmanned table with piles of an Alan Bradley book with a big tall sign sticking up that said, “Help Yourself to a Free Book.” Each day I’d pass the table of free books and wonder why the author would give his books away. After all the work to write it and edit it, is he so desperate for someone to read it he’s willing to give it away? Doesn’t that cheapen his product?

Before I left though, I couldn't resist taking one of his free copies of Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I could afford to buy it, but I doubt I would have with a thirteen year old for a protagonist. Since it was free, I could try it out at no cost. I didn’t get to reading it until a few years later and took it to a local Sister’s in Crime meeting where we all agreed to bring what we were currently reading for discussion. There were only about five of us there that evening and one of the other members had brought the second book in Alan Bradley’s series and told me this author was all over the internet and Amazon. If you look at his series now, it’s doing quite well and Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie went on to win award after award. Alan Bradley is a success story and he gave away free books for promotion.

So, on a small level, I followed his lead. For Christmas, I added my book to the usual gift we gave our mail lady, garbage collectors, cleaning folks. I even gave it to the police officer who dropped by to take the report when our computer was hacked and the head of our homeowners association. I sent it to organizations and groups where my book is set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One of the Mississippi Gulf Coast cities’ chamber of commerce sent me a letter telling me how they were sharing my book with others. 

Last September when I went to Bouchercon in New Orleans, I donated fifty books to their book bizarre. Conference members (readers and writers) took it for free and those remaining books were sold for a dollar. I was told that if my fifty books were not totally gone by the end of the conference, they would be donated to libraries in the New Orleans parishes. How neat since submitting to libraries and being accepted has not been an easy task for me.

So, where has this gotten me? I haven’t lived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast since 2002 yet the most visitors to my LinkedIn profile are from that area. Some people from reading clubs on the Gulf Coast have asked to be friends on Facebook and LinkedIn. I lost my job recently and we had to let the cleaning service go. One of their employees told me she’d read the book I gave her and had been passing it around. Does any of this mean much? I have no idea.

Recently I gave away free books on Goodreads and found out they do all the work then tell the author who the winners are. I had 776 people ask for my book for free. Goodreads gave me the name and addresses of those to mail it to.

What do you think? In promoting our work, does giving our books away help or hinder? That is my question.

Kansas, Harvey Houses, and Books

Residents taught me the history of the small Kansas town of Horton during a recent visit to the town library, where I helped present a check from Sisters in Crime and give a book talk about my Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series. The town’s recent population is around 2,000, but in the 1920’s, it held 5,000 souls, all because it sat at a junction of the Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railroad.

Soldiers on horseback, cattle drives, wagon trains on tall-grass prairie trails, river barges, and pony express riders evoke images of nineteenth-century Kansas. However, that era had a short-lived existence. The Pony Express, for instance, lasted only eighteen months. Like black and white TV and eight-track players in the Twentieth Century, new technology took over faster than our forebears of one-hundred-fifty to two-hundred years ago could have imagined.  Railroads brought goods and people along with the new technologies into the Sunflower State and caused a demand for new services.

Entrepreneur Fred Harvey saw the need and developed a vast network of eating establishment and hotels at train depots across the state and beyond. In 1875, he opened a café in Wallace, KS on the Kansas Pacific Railway.  A year later, he contracted with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway to build restaurants at its depots. He opened a restaurant in the Topeka train depot in 1876. It did so well that Mr. Harvey opened a Harvey House Restaurant/Hotel combination at the Florence, Kansas train depot.

With Harvey’s strict oversight, Harvey Houses provided good food, large helpings (pies were cut in fourths rather than sixths), fast service, and reasonable prices. More depot restaurants were built, and by 1883, there were seventeen along the train route.  A Harvey House with ornate architecture built in Chanute, Kansas, the Santa Fe’s southern Kansas headquarters, opened in 1896 and now serves the town as its public library.

Nine million dollars are being spent to renovate the grand El Vaquero Harvey House in Dodge City, originally opened in 1900.  By 1901 there were forty-seven Harvey House Restaurants, fifteen hotels, and thirty dining cars.

One of the reasons for Fred Harvey’s success was his decision to replace rough, western male waiters with young females, later including Hispanics and American Indians, who became crews of well-trained waitresses.

They were known as the Harvey Girls and are said to have brought a civilizing effect to the west. They were provided uniforms, room and board, and a better wage than many men of the day. In return, they gave fast, friendly service that drew customers.

At the Harvey Company’s peak, there were eighty-four Harvey Houses at depots along the railway from Chicago to California plus service on the trains and tourist destination hotels and eateries in Indian country, the most famous being at the Grand Canyon. The company was sold by a grandson in 1964, but the legend lives on in the grand old depot buildings that now serve as museums, restaurants, libraries, and town show places. The Harvey House at Union Station in Kansas City is gone, but hasn’t been forgotten. Photos are abundant. Also, Harvey’s Café in the station is named in honor of the former bustling Harvey House.

I live on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro where my cozy mystery series is set. My husband and I take trips across Kansas in our fifth-wheel RV, with our cats in tow, and we’ve visited many of the towns that had Harvey House train depots. One can travel from the northeast to the southwest of the state and see some of the renovated buildings or the spots where they stood. The town, Harveyville, Kansas, sits along Route 335 between Topeka and Emporia. Landscape changes from the woodland east through the Flint Hills and tall-grass prairie to the rugged west makes the drive even more worthwhile.

Fred Harvey’s family settled in Leavenworth, Kansas. His home is now a museum.

The Arcade Hotel in Newton now hosts a law firm in the old Harvey House Restaurant area.

The original Harvey House Hotel in Wichita was most recently used as a Cox Cable office.

A hotel sits where the beautiful Harvey House in Hutchinson once stood, but the original is gone.

My current work in progress is set in part along I-35 in Kansas and Oklahoma where the railroads grew towns in the 1800's. The first three books of my Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series are: CATastrophic Connections, FURtive Investigation, and Nine LiFelines. The Audiobook of CATastrophic Connections is available here or at your favorite audiobook site.

All I Want For Christmas

by Linda Thorne

The picture below is the one we sent with our 2016 Christmas cards this year. It wasn’t taken this month, but mid December 2015 when most of our immediate family got together. We were happy to be part of the gathering, but would've been happier if everyone could've joined, something most people our age agree is difficult to pull off. People work jobs that take a big part of their time. Getting the time off to travel and visit is hard to pull-off for some of us and, especially for some of our children.

Below are our two daughters, our son-in-laws and three of our precious five grandchildren.

So all I want for Christmas is to see an end to my too-busy schedule at work and to start making plans for time off in 2017. Things may calm down a bit after March and I’m hoping to take every single vacation day I have next year and make the most of it - travel, spend time with family and friends, and continue writing my mystery series. 

The second book in my series, A Promotion to Die For, needs my full attention if I’m ever going to get it released. Speaking of, A Promotion to Die For, the work-in-progress sequel to Just Another Termination is completed, but in rough draft format. The story is one that came to me from a one-in-a-billion twist-of-fate event that I experienced as a young woman. I use this experience in A Promotion to Die For, to return my lead character in the series, Judy Kenagy, to a suburb of Topeka, Kansas where she lived almost thirty years earlier. In this new location, my character experiences the same thing that I did, but I fictionalized it to what might've actually happened back then. My protagonist's "lucky fluke" scared off an intruder who went down the street and murdered someone else in her stead. The third book in the series is only in my head, but will be set in the greater Nashville, Tennessee area where my husband and I have lived since early 2008.

Just Another Termination is the first published in my Judy Kenagy mystery series.

I hope next year to have the book cover for my second book, A Promotion to Die For. 

Like I said, all I want for Christmas is the hope for more free time to do the things I really love; time for family, friends, and writing.

What do you want?

Give Yourself a Promotion!

            Whether you love promotion or you hate it, let’s face it: you have to do it if you want to sell books. For some people, it’s the most dreaded part of being a writer. But it doesn’t have to be. I’ve come up with some fun ideas that you can put into practice quite easily. Give one or more of them a try, and let me know how they work!

1.      Have a three-ring notebook for people to sign up for your newsletter. Take the notebook with you wherever you have a book event and encourage people to sign up even if they don’t buy your book. All they generally need to do is provide you with their name and email address. Make sure you have a pen for them to write with, and use a ribbon or string to attach the pen to the rings in the notebook so it doesn’t disappear.

2.      When you design promotional materials, stay away from the usual. I’ve noticed at conventions that the swag tables have a huge array of different promotional items and it’s interesting to see which swag readers—and other writers—reach for first. For example, one author I know of staples a package of two Pepperidge Farm cookies to each of her postcards. These postcards are among the first to disappear at conferences. Another author has pens specially printed with her name and website. One of the coolest things I’ve seen is from author Wendy Tyson, who writes the Greenhouse Mystery Series. The first book in the series is out and Wendy takes the book cover and prints it onto a seed packet with seeds you can plant in your garden. Inspired!!

But what if your budget doesn’t allow for giveaways? There are still things you can do to make your swag interesting. Here are a few ideas, but you can brainstorm and come up with so many more. Each one assumes you are using a postcard with your book cover on one side, so put one of these ideas to use on the back side:

·         Print a recipe from the place where one of your books is set.

·         Provide readers with a list of interesting facts about the setting of your book.

·         Travel tips for people visiting the setting—these can be funny or serious, but make them fun to read.

·         If you write non-fiction, make a list of reasons people should read the book.

·         Print a crossword puzzle using character names or fun facts about your setting.

3.      For little to no extra cost, you can design a business card or postcard that reminds people of your brand. The font you choose is one of the most important elements of this. If you write thrillers, use a font that suggests speed or movement. If you write cozies, use a font that suggests warmth and charm. And beyond font, choose your background carefully. Are you a mystery writer? Make it shaded (but not too dark—you want readers to be able to see everything on the card clearly) and eerie. Do you write sweet romance? Swirls and curlicues might be appropriate. Do you write horror? Think about incorporating black, white, and red into your background. If you use a symbol as part of your brand, make sure that ends up on your card.

4.      I put candy in a basket when I go to a signing. I always have two kinds—chocolate and hard candy. This attracts people who might otherwise have passed me by (the old “feed them and they will come…”) and it gives me a chance to engage them in conversation—maybe about my books, but not necessarily. When people feel they’re getting to know an author, they are more likely to think favorably about that person’s books.

5.      This is one of my favorite ideas: I’ve begun auctioning off the right to name a character in one of my upcoming books at local charity auctions. This comes with my promise to put the winner’s name in the acknowledgements of the upcoming book, too, to thank them for naming such-and-such a character. This is fun for me and fun for the person who wins, and it generates a great deal of interest from people who attend the auction. This has the added benefit of helping the charity, too, because people are spending money for a chance to name a character.

Note, there are a couple of caveats that come with this promotional tool: first, you must make clear that you, as the author, have the right to choose the character you want named. Second, you must make clear that you have the right to reject names if necessary (does anyone remember the recent Boaty McBoatface hubbub in naming a British research vessel?). Third, give your winner some guidelines. For example, the person who named a character in my current work-in-progress had a few parameters: I needed a contemporary name that wasn’t too outlandish and that had Celtic or Welsh origins. My auction winner came up with a great name for me.

Do you have any other ideas that have worked for you? By all means, share them in the comments below!