Storm Clouds

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a friend about silver linings. With the economy the way it is, book sales—along with almost all other sales—taking a beating, and lots of gloom and doom on the news, it’s easy to get depressed and start thinking that this is a crazy time to publish a book, or write a new manuscript, or look for a job, or whatever it is that you know you should be doing, but feel too down to even try. We both agreed that in retrospect, some of our best opportunities came as the silver lining on otherwise dark stormy clouds.

I guess the timing of the conversation was pretty appropriate, because today, about an hour after I came into work, my boss entered my office and closed the door. We chatted for a few minutes about how he wasn’t feeling too great, and stress of the economy, etc. Finally, he kind of sat back in his chair, and said, “I didn’t come here to talk about me.”

Ahhhh. Suddenly the dime dropped. This was that conversation. I have to admit, I was not expecting this at all. We’d just had layoffs, and the management assured us they were the only layoffs planned. Apparently this was not planned. (Hey, I know how that goes. In fact a couple of our best kids were . . .) Anyway, back to my point. He was coming in to tell me that I was being let go the end of this week.

I guess he was surprised that I wasn’t angry, or didn’t burst into tears or something, because after I told him I understood, he said, “Wow. You’re taking this a lot better than I am.” In fact I’m pretty sure he thought someone had given me advance notice. They hadn’t. And I admit, it took me a while to digest the information. But the thing is, what’s the point in getting upset? They have their business to run. I have my business to run. Hopefully the two are in sync. But sometimes they aren’t. And when they aren’t, one of us has to make a change. That’s what they were doing.

After letting my sales team know about the change, I took the rest of the afternoon off to get my thoughts together. I called my wife, and said, “Well, Honey, the good news is, I have a lot more time to write.” She picked up on that pretty quick.

Once we talked things out, we realized this might be one of those blessings in disguise. The good news is that over the last couple of months we’ve paid off both of our cars and all of our credit cards. Only a week ago, we finished refinancing our house. And we’ve got a little money in the bank, which hasn’t always been the case. And I get my first royalty on Farworld in January. So we aren’t going to starve any time soon.

But even more than that. I’ve really felt for the last few months like I needed to spend more time on my writing, and marketing my books. Yes the economy is tough, but as I wrote about a few weeks back, people are still buying books. They are being more picky, but they are still buying. I just need to make sure that it is my books they are buying. I also have several projects I need to finish up. Farworld Book Two of course. But also a regional mystery series I write, that I am far overdue on. I also have a couple of other projects I’m really excited about. One about a boy who gets turned into a zombie and another about a boy who is afraid of everything, who discovers he is a facilitator—a person who talks monsters out of their fears.

When I first got home, my stomach was still a little in knots. But the more my wonderful wife and I talked, the more we realized that we may have been pushed out the door a little sooner than we planned, but this is what we’ve both wanted to do. At least for the next few months, I will be a fulltime writer. I will be able to focus on nothing but writing and marketing. I can do what I love, and get paid for it. Will it last? I probably won’t know that until sometime around late January. At that point, if I have to go back to work for a while longer I will. But rather than stress, I plan on enjoying the next couple of months. If things work out, I am a fulltime writer as of this Saturday. But even if they don’t, I am still a fulltime writer as of this Saturday. I may just have to take a little break from being a full time writer, later in the year.

So here are just a few of the things I plan on enjoying during that time. Eight plus hours of writing, without feeling like I am neglecting my family, my job, or my yard. (Thank goodness for snow.) Speaking of snow; watching the snow fall without worrying about how bad it will be to drive to work in it. And for that matter driving an hour and back to work every day. Responding to e-mails and postings from my friends and readers the same day. Finishing writing two books and getting well into a third by Christmas. Being here when my boys come home from school. Enjoying my daughter’s plans for getting married in the spring. And finally, doing what I want to do. Not what someone else wants me to do.

I guess when my boss asked me why I didn’t look more upset when he told me I was being fired, I should have answered. “Monday, you’ll be driving to a job. Monday, I’ll be doing one of the things I love most in the world. Thanks!”

Thanks goodness for dark clouds, and the silver linings that come with them.

Fun News

Hey, everyone. Finally I have climbed out from under the avalanche of interviews and web site creation. Nice to be back above ground. Tomorrow I'll post a recap of the tour and a list of everyone who has done reviews or interviews since my last update. In the mean time, some great news.

First, Water Keep is hiiting store shelves, so make sure and check in with your local bookseller.

Second, Amazon is now shipping Water Keep which means they are also posting reviews. If you'd take a minute to post a review or at least rate Water Keep, I'd really appreciate it.

Finally, my interview on Channel 4, Utah's ABC affiliate, ran tonight. Here is the video.




I wish I hadn't been wearing my glasses with the auto-tinting leses, but it was still a great interview. Who new changing jobs so often would lead to being on the news?

Lastly, if you haven't dropped by my forum, www.readfarworld.com/forum please drop by. More tomorrow!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes When You're Busy Washing the Woodwork

I felt a little like Cinderella this last weekend. The one who is scrubbing bedpans while her stepsisters are at the ball?not the one who meets the prince and dances the night away. Friday through Sunday all of my fellow Shadow Mountain fantasy authors were at BEA (Book Expo America) in Los Angeles, doing book signings, meeting cool authors, attending dinners etc. Unfortunately, since I didn?t have my first book out yet, I was left home.

The analogy even goes a little farther, because my fairy godmother even made me a beautiful new gown for the ball. It?s the cool book cover over on the right of this blog. And it is as beautiful as any gown I could wish for. The kind of sucky thing is that in this version of Cinderella, the gown went to the ball without her and was snatched up by other dancers. (Okay this whole analogy is starting to sound a little creepy even to me. But you get the point.)

I guess the good news is that Shadow Mountain took 250 ARCs to the show, and they were gone before the end of the first day. With all the free books available, that really says something about the cover. So yay!

Meanwhile, back in Utah, I figured I might as well get out and do some work. So Jen (my wife) and I took ARCs, mouse pads, posters, and bookmarks out to twelve stores. It was actually kind of fun seeing how different the responses of store employees were. Some were thrilled to death and others looked like we were the postman dropping off a batch of junk mail. We even came up with a little grading system.

F?The only F I am going to give is there store where we walked in at a few minutes after seven and no one was there. The entire store was empty. Finally we checked the back office and realized the store had closed at six and some guys were cleaning the carpets. Um, you might want to lock the front door maybe?

D?Manager or CRM not at store. No clue who I am, who the publisher is, or what an ARC is. Repeats this phrase over and over as I hand him all the goodies. ?Okay, I?ll give it to the manager.? Fortunately I only had one of these. I really tried everything I could to get him excited, but he looked like he hated anything to do with books. Which begs the question, ?Dude, why are you even working here??

C ? These employees at least seemed to look interested. They politely took the book and glanced at the cover. I couldn?t get any conversation going about school visits, book signings, or the like. When I mentioned Shadow Mountain there was no recognition. Mention of Fablehaven got a small spark. They seemed to understand generally what an ARC was.

B ? There was actual interest here and recognition of some sort. They definitely knew what an ARC was and were interested in reading it. They recognized either me or the publisher. They liked the goodies and promised to put them out. They thought there were several people in the store who might want to read the book. There was interest in having me do events with them.

A ? These were the best ones. And fortunately there were more of these than any other. These people knew exactly what an ARC was and practically snatched it out of my hands. When I mentioned Fablehaven their eyes lit up. The loved the poster and promised to get the mouse pad on the office computer where everyone could see it. Several of them knew exactly who I was from my other books and couldn?t wait to start on this one. (This won?t be the case at most stores outside of Utah, but it was still fun.) They were excited to talk about school visits and book signings. They told me what had worked well in the store previously and gave me suggestions for working with them. I came back from these almost forgetting I wasn?t at BEA.

So what did I learn? Several things actually. (If you aren?t into book marketing jargon, stop reading now. This is the kind of stuff that bores most non-authors to tears.)

First, I am going to make up some new business cards with information about school visits, books signings, best ways to reach me etc. They best store managers asked for that right away. I may even make up a little flyer talking about my school presentations. Many of the stores got excited as I outlined what I present to schools.

Second, a few stores know who Shadow Mountain is. But nearly everyone recognizes Fablehaven and The Wednesday Letters. I could tell that several store employees were wary when I first showed up. Typically ARCs come in the mail. But once they realized I was with a publisher they knew and saw my book, they opened right up. I found that phrases like, ?My publisher would normally send this out, but I like to meet you person,? helped a lot.

Third, know the name of the person you are coming to meet and try to make sure they are there when you come. There is a huge difference between meeting a manager or community relations manager and just dropping by on a bunch of employees. While we did meet several employees who were excited to see us and promised to get our materials to the right person, the managers were always excited and involved. I will make appointments from now on instead of just dropping by.

Fourth, explain what an ARC is. Not everyone understands that this is an advance copy of a book coming out. I actually had one nice salesperson try to ring it up while I was talking. I need to make sure they understand that the final product will be a hardback with illustrations and that an ARC is not proofed.

Last. I need to get a clean clear pitch that I can give in less than a minute. It explains who I am, who I am with, why I am there in person, and what I can do for the store. Starting with the right pitch makes all the difference in the world. It was clear the assumption was that I was some schmoe out peddling a book he printed up in his garage. I don?t think they get a lot of drop ins from authors, so letting them know I am coming in advance and why I am there would probably go a long way.


Well that?s it. I guess I?ll get back to work. I still have to finish sweeping out the chimneys and washing the dishes before those ugly step sisters get back. But I hear a rumor that if I clean the drapes really well, I might actually get to see some inside illustrations today. Now where are those helpful little mice?

The Market

A friend of mine (writing as a sheepish anonymous poster) recently wrote about not writing for ?the market,? and thought I might take offense at that. I?m sure he didn?t really think I?d be offended, but was instead referring to a strongly held belief of mine that you shouldn?t try to write what sells unless you hope to sell what you write. Today I thought I?d post about the difference between writing for ?the market? and writing ?what sells.?

First of all let?s define the two directions. I do not believe there is any such thing as THE (note the effective use of capitalization here) market. There are lots of markets. The romance market, the fantasy market, the middle grade market, the non-fiction market. In fact there are really more markets than there are genres, because you can combine them. How about little old ladies who only buy paperback medical romances? That?s a market. And if you could corner it, you could make a decent living as a writer.

When people talk about writing for the market, they generally mean it in a negative way. Writing a book with the intent to sell a lot of copies. Or selling out for the sake of a buck. For example an author who put extra sex scenes into a book, or profanity, or gratuitous violence, or a profusion of crabapples. (Just wanted to see if you were still paying attention.) Let me just say that if all you had to do to sell a million books was insert x, y, or , z, 90% of the writers out there would be writing for ?the market.?

The truth of the matter is that no one?not even publishers or agents?know what the next big thing is. Could you have predicted prior to Twilight that everyone and her daughter would be buying vampire books? Prior to Harry Potter, the NY Times bestseller list wasn?t forced to pull children?s books off their main list. Since no one really knows what the market wants, how can you possibly write for it?

The second direction is writing what sells. I know what you?re thinking. ?Didn?t you just say that nobody knows what sells?? Yes and no. It?s very difficult to predict what the next big seller will be (other than books by established authors or things like movie tie-ins.) It is much easier to predict what will not sell. Think about it. You may not be able to guess what the next fashion craze will be. But you could probably look at neon green spandex neckties with leather fringe and say, ?It ain?t that.?

A certain smaller publisher I know has determined that their bestsellers are mysteries/thrillers, romance, historical fiction, and nonfiction. If you want to write for them, it would be a smart idea to do your homework and not send them a memoir of your first thirteen years living in a beach house on the coast. If you want to write your memoir, by all means go ahead and do so. But just understand, your chances of selling it to this publisher are pretty slim.

One of the first things an agent or publisher wants to know about your book is who you are marketing it to. In one of my recent polls, I asked what type of book you like. The general answer was a story which meets the guidelines of the genre you are reading, but that stands out from the competition. If you are writing a romance, have the two get together at the end, but do so in a unique and unexpected way.

Two recent movies are very good examples of the problem with not understanding the market. Iron Man is a fairly typical super hero flick. Was there really anything in the movie that made you go, ?Wow! I?ve never seen anything like that before?? Probably not. It was somewhat predictable. But it had a solid script, solid acting, and a storyline that was easy to fall into. In other words, it met the needs of the super hero/action adventure crowd.

Next, let?s look at Speed Racer. Even critics who didn?t like the movie admit it had good acting and incredible special effects. The script wasn?t amazing, but it wasn?t significantly worse than Iron Man. In fact, I would go so far as to say that while the plot was just as predictable as Iron Man, the style and cinematography was superior. So why did Iron Man rake in the bucks while Speed Racer flopped? Don?t tell me it was because today?s audience doesn?t remember Speed Racer. Today?s audience hasn?t read any Iron Man comics for the most part either.

I believe that the difference comes down to understanding your market and meeting its need. The super hero market is easy to define. It?s been done dozens of times. It?s not hard to see where some succeeded and others failed. But who was the market for Speed Racer? Was it a kid?s movie? Was it a chick flick? Was it an action adventure? Was it a family movie? At different times it was all of those. But the trailers didn?t nail any one target audience.

Here?s what I?m trying to say. First and foremost write what you love and love what you write. If you find yourself adding scenes to make your book more sellable, you are probably not writing what you love. But once you know what you love, read the books in that genre and find out what works. I?m not saying copy. I?m saying study. Learn why Harry Potter succeeded while so many YA fantasies bombed. Read not only to see what has worked before but to give you ideas on what hasn?t been done yet. Understand the rules of your genre and know when and why you are breaking them.

It?s hard enough to succeed in this business. Don?t hurt your chances any more by deciding you will only write what comes from your heart and who cares whether anyone likes it or not. Again, I?m not saying that people who write just for the fun of it are wrong. What I am sick of hearing are people who think that publishers only want to buy what sells. That?s like the authors who whine that their readers don?t understand their work. As an author, my job is to write something that people will read, love, and buy. If they don?t understand my work, that?s my fault not theirs. And if I am so condescending as to think that they should all come around to my way of thinking, I?m in the wrong business.

ARCs, Mouse Pads, and Marketing

The ARCs are out. After an exciting evening of printing, labeling, signing, stuffing, and sealing, I will be dropping them off to Shadow Mountain for mailing tomorrow. Here are a couple of pics from the blessed event.

Ready to get to work. More or less

Read the name, grab the envelope, apply the label . . .

What I told them to look like after we finished.

What they claimed they felt like after we finished.
(Until we went to DQ and they all perked back up.)

On a second note, I was asked a question yesterday that I thought was worth blogging about. I was talking with a friend about the things I?ve been doing and will be doing prior to the release of Water Keep. In particular, we were talking about some mouse pads that I bought as giveaways for the stores I?ll be visiting, and the cost of gas and hotel. Her comment was, ?Why are you spending all this money of your own? Should the publisher do that??

The answer I gave her was shorter than what I?ll post here, but in essence it came down to the same thing. If you could make a living doing anything you want, what would it be? Rock Star, actress, ship captain, the guy who goes up and down the strip in Las Vegas changing light bulbs? (Hey we all have our dreams right?)

For me, my dream is to make a living telling stories. If Bards were still around?and if I could sing?I?d probably go for that gig. In today?s world, the profession is novelist, script writer, movie director, or something of that sort. The problem is, there are far more people who want the job than actual opportunities. I?ve probably said before that more people make a living in the US as professional baseball players than novelists. So when the opportunity presents itself, you have to jump on it.

Now let?s take a look at what you?re getting into when you sign on for this particular adventure. First of all, it?s a 1099 position, meaning that there is no base, no guarantee, not a ton of job security, no insurance, and a paycheck that hopefully comes twice a year. Not exactly CEO of a fortune 500 company, right? In addition, my book will something like 1 out of 175,000 published this year.

Now the odds are not quite as bad as they sound. First of all, a lot of those books are nonfiction. So technically they don?t compete directly with me. Then there are a large percentage of books that are either self published or published by regional publishers small enough that they will see minimal if any shelf space nationally. Finally, we have to get rid of fiction titles that don?t compete directly with mine?adult, picture books, etc. I?m sure if I was really industrious I could scour the internet and come up with the actual number of YA fiction titles that will be published by midsize publishers or larger in 2008, but let?s be totally random and guess that the number is somewhere around 5,000.

What that means is that in my space alone, there are 5,000 other authors looking to sell enough books to make a living. Obviously, the biggest thing I can do to stand out is write a good book. And hopefully I?ve done that. But how many good books?books you?d really enjoy if you knew about them?come and go without you even knowing it?

So this week, I?m going to hit the road taking my ARCs to stores. In addition I?m taking out mouse pads that I purchased myself. I?ll spend money on gas and hotels. It will look like I?m out making friends, meeting store managers, and promoting my book. And all of that is true. Honestly, I?m really looking forward to spending some time with my wife as we travel from Las Vegas to Denver to Idaho, and everywhere in between. But what I?m really going to be doing is investing in myself. My thinking is this. If I?m not willing to invest time?and yes, money?in myself, why should anyone else be?

Posters, Bookmarks, and Another Question

Before I get to the next question, I wanted to show you a couple of new goodies Shadow Mountain created for my signings and school visits. This is the poster. The words in white on the left side read, ?First find the Water Keep. Take Courage?the magic is already inside you.?


The is the front and back of the bookmark.

FarWorld Bookmark - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: FarWorld Bookmark

Great timing because I?m actually doing my first school presentation tomorrow. I?ll let you know how it goes.

Now on to the next question.

Growing up, I knew one of my grandfathers a little. He was my father?s father, but died when I was still pretty young. I do remember going out to his house in Carson City, NV and looking for arrow heads with him. Also playing horseshoes. But that?s pretty much it.

I knew my father?s stepfather better. He was a tough old carpenter who could start a hand-crank tractor with one hand, calculate how many board feet of lumber he?d need to build a house in his head, and who used to pour turpentine on open wounds to avoid infection. He also used to scare the crap out of us kids by wielding an axe and popping out his false teeth.

The grandfather I knew the longest and the best was my mother?s father. He was an independent sort who never worked for another person in his life. When my mom was born (back when you used to pay cash for medical care and stay in the hospital for a month after the birth of a baby), he showed up and said, ?I sold a bracelet. So you can stay in the hospital for another week.? He also used to travel across the country selling oven cleaner he?d made in the bathtub of a hotel to local restaurants. Some other time I?ll tell you about the time he left his new bride standing on the corner while he ducked out for a burger. That took a while to live down!

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because my maternal grandfather gave me some advice relating to sales that also applies to World Builder Robin?s question about, oddly enough, world building. He said that too many salespeople are afraid to get on the phone or go knock on doors until they have studied all their manuals, prepared all their forms, done plenty of research, sharpened all of their pencils . . . you get the idea. He said that you should be prepared, but sometimes you?re better off to just go out and make sales calls.

Daren and Anna gave some great advice. It?s true that fantasy readers want to understand the rules of a new world. How does magic work? What is the currency? What is the hierarchy of the good guys and the bad guys? The civilization. The history. All that good stuff gives a depth that makes the world more real.

You actually can get away with a lot less background information when writing for a younger audience. There are two reasons for this. One is that a younger audience just doesn?t care that much about what makes things work. Mostly they just want to see them in action. The second reason is that the younger your readers, the less patience they have for back story. They would never endure all the filler information of Tolkien or Robert Jordon.

Even with YA or adult fantasy though, you can do too much research. Honestly, many times you don?t even know what you don?t know until you dive into writing the story. The nice thing is, you can take notes as you go and fill in extra details later. And once you do have the information, be careful about how and when you present it. In my opinion, Tolkien would have a difficult time getting published today, because he spent so much time on language, songs, poetry, side stories, politics, history. If you can, it?s much better to present the information in context. Implied history is also cool. If I mention an archive of old scrolls in passing, I don?t have to show them all right now. And remember, if you are doing a series, it may not be necessary to show your entire hand right away. Sometimes it?s better to leave a few things shrouded in mystery at first.

I like to set up information for future books. I have a character hint at what happened when he was gone for a while. But don?t tell any more in the first book. I explain enough of how magic works to satisfy (hopefully) young and old readers alike. But I leave plenty for the protagonists to discover along with the reader. One example of this is a character who wants a magic wand really bad. The wizard tells him that his wand will find him when his magic is ready for it. Not to be a spoiler, but that doesn?t happen in this book. It?s enough that the reader understands the role of a wand in this world, and that at some future point the wand may appear.

I know quite a bit about my world, but there is plenty more I will discover along the way. One thing I am a stickler for?and this is just me?is not starting a series or a book until you know the end. One of the most fun things for me in a series is having things set up in earlier books for later books. Sometimes the things I set up are obvious enough that an alert reader may catch them and think, ?Aha! I?ll bet this will come into play later.? Other times the reader won?t even know I am setting something up. But either way, it gives your series a feeling of continuity or circularity you wouldn?t otherwise have.

So, I guess my answer is: before you publish the book, you need a pretty solid knowledge of your world. But sometimes it?s best to just dive right in and figure things out as you go.

Marketing Part IV?The Blog Tour

As promised, I am officially kicking off the Find Your Magic, Farworld Blog tour. Since I haven?t done this before, I am going to kind of make it up as I go. It?s pretty simple, so that shouldn?t be too hard. But if any of you more experienced bloggers think of a better way to do it, or catch something I missed, let me know. Here?s the deal:

My publisher, Shadow Mountain, is providing me with 400 advanced reader copies of the first book in the Farworld series, Farworld?Water. The books will be used for a blog tour running from July 1 to August 31. (The book should hit the shelves the first week of September. It appears the official release date is September 5th.) I will send the first 200 bloggers who sign up to take part in the tour an ARC, and will also drop ship a second copy for them as part of any type of contest they would like to run.

What: Farworld Blog Tour
When: The tour will run through the months of July and August. Signup will begin Friday, April 11th. (But you can get in early. See below.)

Here?s what you do:

1) Send an e-mail to me at scott at jscottsavage dot com any time after 7:00 am MST Friday, April 11th telling me the name and URL of your blog, the mailing address where you?d like the book sent, and any preference you have as to when you want to post your review. I?d kind of like to spread out the reviews over the two months prior to the release, but I don?t want to tie anyone to a specific date. Let?s just make it easy and say first half of July, second half of July, first half of August, or second half of August.

2) Agree to run a review of the book and do a Q&A with me on your blog during the tour. You don?t need to send me your questions now, since you may come up with different questions once you?ve read the book. (I?d imagine something like, ?If you can get this trash published, doesn?t that give hope for everyone??) Okay, I hope that?s not really the first question that comes to mind, but it would be great if sites asked questions that are most tailored to their audience so they aren?t all the same.

3) When the time comes to do the review and the Q&A, run any type of contest you?d like. When you have a winner, send me their address and I?ll send them their book. On both the book I send you and the one I send the winners, let me know if you?d like them signed and personalized in any way.

Here?s what I do:

1) I will provide Shadow Mountain with the list of blogger addresses. As soon as the ARCs come out they will be mailed to you.

2) I will post here on the site when the tour is full, and when the ARCs are sent out. If you don?t get your book within a week or so of the mailing, let me know and I?ll check on your copy.

3) As soon as I get your questions, I?ll send back my answers.

4) If we get too many people signing up for one part of the tour, I?ll ask for volunteers to change to another part of the tour.

Random Notes:

G sharp, E flat, D.

Sorry.

The only real rules I can think of are that you must be using a blog that is fairly active. No fair using sites that haven?t been updated since 1999, cool as that year was. If you have two blogs that have different audiences, I think I?d be okay with you posting and running contests on both of them, but I?d only send you one review copy. Also, if you are part of a blog that you share with other people, it will be first come first serve. Only one review and contest copy per blog.

Oh, this might be kind of a pain, but since the initial release will only be in the US, I?m going to limit the tour to US and Canadian addresses only. I promise to do another tour in other countries when foreign rights are sold.

If you don't have a blog, not to worry. I'll link to all the blogs on the tour, so you'll have 200 chancea to win one. And I might be able to snag a couple of extra copies to give away here too.

Finally, thanks everyone. I really appreciate all of you who have given me such great feedback and support. It?s great to have good people helping you, and I hope I can return the favor. But in all seriousness, review the book honestly. I?d much rather have someone say they didn?t like this or that so I can try to improve with the next book in the series. But, hey, if you really do think I?m the next JK Rowling, say what you have to.

Marketing Part III?Finding the Magic

When I was in eighth grade, my family moved from Pleasant Hill, CA to New Providence, New Jersey. I soon met another boy my age who lived just down the street. He was seriously into rock and roll, and introduced me to a lot of the groups I came to love. He also taught me the basics of playing the bass guitar. One day I asked him what kinds of books he liked to read.

I have to stop here for a minute to point out how important books have been in my life. Some kids played sports, some played musical instruments. Some kids spent all their time watching TV, or in generations after mine, playing computer or video games. Some kids spent all their time at the movie theater. I spent not all my time, but a great deal of it, with books. I actually used to cut school to go to the library. (Not suggesting that at all Brian and Anna!) The point is, I grew up surrounding myself with all the books I could get my hands on. That?s why I was beyond shocked when my friend told me he didn?t read books. Not that he couldn?t read them?he was fully capable of reading?he just didn?t like to.

That very day, I gave him a copy of S.E. Hinton?s classic novel of rival gangs, ?The Outsiders.? I remember coming to his house a few days later. The first words out of his mouth were, ?I had no idea anyone wrote books like this.? Within the month, he?d read every Hinton book published at the time and was looking for other books to read as well. I don?t know if reading those books changed his life or not. We moved a few years later. But I do know the statistics about kids who read vs. kids who don?t, and let me tell you they are astounding. Do a little research on the effects of literacy and you?ll be amazed.

Here I am, thirty plus years later, with the incredible opportunity of making a full time living writing the very kinds of books I loved to read as a kid (and still do for that matter.) It seems to me, I have not only the opportunity to share the?I was going to say importance, but that?s the wrong word. To share the love of reading with kids who think the only thing that can hold their attention comes on a screen or a monitor.

Fortunately, my publisher feels the same way. When my book comes out, they will send me on a two week tour of schools all across the country. In addition, they will send me to even more schools throughout the course of the year. Every one of their YA fantasy authors has the opportunity to do this. In addition, each of the authors brings a unique message all their own. James Dashner calls his tour the ?Change the World Tour.? Brandon Mull?s tour focuses on using your imagination. I?m planning on calling my tour the?and this shouldn?t surprise anyone here??Find Your Magic Tour.?

My publisher will probably shoot me for this, but I?m going to post a small section of my book. Since I haven?t received my final edits yet, this could change. But I?ll take my chances. I want you to understand a little of why I call this blog, the Find Your Magic blog and why my tour will focus on the same thing. Here?s a little snippet from Farworld?Water.

Master Therapass glanced suspiciously up at Riph Raph, and the skyte quickly averted its big yellow eyes. ?Come, little one, and sit.? The wizard pointed a finger at Kyja?s chair and she reluctantly took a seat.

The old man stroked his long gray beard, his face crinkled in thought. ?Kyja,? he said softly. ?A horse may wish to fly. And it may briefly be able to launch itself into the air. But shortly it must return to land again. A duck may wish to carry a melody like a song bird. A goat may wish to swim beneath the waters. But ultimately, every animal, plant, even the rock in the field, must accept what it is, and in doing so, fulfill the measure of its creation.?

Kyja could feel her lips trembling as her eyes began to fill with tears. ?You?re saying I should quit trying? Just give up??

?Is casting spells really so important?? he asked, his deep brown eyes mirroring the pain in her glistening green ones.

?Yes!? Kyja cried leaping from her chair. ?Everyone has some magic. Cooks, farmers, blacksmiths. Babies turn their rattles into sweets. Mothers command scrub brushes to wash their children. Even plants and animals have magic.?

?Everyone but you.?

?Exactly!? Kyja began pacing about the room. ?I?m an outcast. It?s not bad enough I can?t do magic. But I can?t even take part in the magic the other kids do. Charms don?t work on me, spells bounce off, potions might as well be water for all the good they do me. I can?t play in any of their games.?

Master Therapass traced his boney fingers across the surface of the table. ?Don?t you see, little one? The very fact that magic does not affect you makes you special.?

?Not special?strange.? Kyja said, unable to stop the tears from dripping down her cheeks. ?Do you have any idea how I feel when the other kids make fun because I can?t do spells? They laugh behind my back and call me halfwit. They say I have to live in a barn because I?m as dumb as a cow. I don?t want to be different. I want to fit in.?

She waved her hand up at Riph Raph. ?Even he has . . .? Sudden understanding dawned on her as she stared up at the little skyte. ?It was you, wasn?t it? You were the one who made my hairclip move.?

Riph Raph tucked his head under his wing in shame. ?I?m sorry,? he said, his voice muffled. ?I just wanted to help. I was watching you try so hard. And I was concentrating with you. And suddenly . . .?

?Ohhhh,? Kyja cried. She dropped into her chair, burying her face in her arms. ?I?ll never be able to do magic. Never!?

?There, there.? The old wizard hobbled around the table and laid his hand gently upon the back of Kyja?s head. When her sobs changed to sniffles, he took her chin in his knobby fingers and raised it so she was looking into his eyes.

?Listen to me,? he said, his face dark and serious. ?You are right. Everything does have magic in it. From the smallest insect to the mighty trees of Before Time.?

Kyja looked up at him miserably. ?But not me.?

Master Therapass smiled. ?Even you, little one. But magic is not just spells. The magic you see on the outside?making pots and pans fly or brewing potions to make boys swoon before you?is but a tiny fraction of the power of true magic. The real power of magic lies within you. Who you are, what you do, and most importantly of all, what you may become.?

Kyja wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ?You really think I might have some magic inside me then??

The wizard nodded. ?I know it.?

There you have it. The first public posting of any content from Book 1. If you see Lisa or Chris, we?ll just keep this quiet. But hopefully this will give you a small taste of a theme that seems to keep coming back in the book, and I?m sure in the series, although I didn?t intend that when I started writing. Every one of us has magic inside. I know that sounds corny, but I believe it wholeheartedly.

I can?t sing if my life depends on it, but when I listen to someone with a beautiful voice sing, it feels like I?m witnessing magic. When you see a painting that seems so incredible you can?t believe anyone made it with their own hands, tell me a part of you deep inside doesn?t believe some kind of magic had to be involved. Those are big examples, but little acts of magic happen around us all the time. One little kid cheering another kid up. A girl discovering she can play the flute. A boy discovering he stinks at kickball but is good in drama.

That?s the message I want to take to kids all across the US, and hopefully across the world. Every one of you has magic inside. All you have to do is start looking for it and eventually you?ll find it.

Of course this is still marketing. I?ll be selling books along the way. That?s what pays for the tour. But in way, that?s a kind of magic too. Because people buying books provide enough money that I can go to even more schools and spread the message to more kids. All of you have magic inside you and what better way to discover what it might be than reading books about different people in far away places.

I?m sure there must be a better job than writing books and telling kids how great they are, but if there is, I can?t imagine what it would be.

Marketing Part II?Side Attack

Yesterday I wrote about my release party, and the goal of starting off with a bang. You?d think that would be the first of my marketing objectives since it coincides with the book?s release. Before I started writing, I just assumed the actual marketing didn?t start until the book came out. After all, what would be the point of marketing a book that isn?t even released yet, right? Man was I wrong.

Turns out that much?if not even most?of the marketing for a book takes place long before the book ever hits the selves, just so it actually will hit the shelves in quantity and people will be looking for it. In book sales you have two things to consider: distribution and demand.

Distribution is putting the book in a place where you can buy it. Of course these days nearly all new books are available online through Amazon, B&N, or even the author?s own web site. But the huge majority of books are still purchased through brick and mortar stores. If I want to have successful sales, I need to get my book on the shelves of as many stores as possible. Fortunately for me, this is all handled by my publisher. I already know my book will be carried by all the major retailers and most of the independents as well.

The second issue, demand, is where I can have some impact. Working hand in hand with my publisher, I need to make sure people look for my book, or having on the shelf space won?t help me much. One thing I can do is get the word out early. And who better to get the word out on the B&M side of things than the bookstore employees themselves. Bookstore employees can be your greatest asset or possibly a detriment. It all depends on how much they know about you and your book. I?ve done book signings where the store employees were actually recommending another book in my exact same genre while I was there. On the other hand, an employee who likes you and your book can hand sell dozens of copies.

Obviously, I want bookstore employees to know my book so they can recommend it. I think this is especially true of children?s/YA books, where parents often come in to buy their kids ?a? book not a specific book. They may not know what book to get, so they ask the employee what they would recommend. Also, and I know this sounds strange, but I want them to know me personally. That?s because people like to sell the books of authors they know. It?s great to be able to recommend a friend.

This brings me to part two of my personal marketing plan. In early May I?ll be getting my ARCs. Fortunately Shadow Mountain will get me as many as I need?not typical with most publishers, which is one of many things that makes them awesome! I live about smack dab in the middle of Utah. Within a one day?s drive, I can reach Las Vegas, Idaho, Denver, all of Utah. Focusing just on Utah, Denver, Las Vegas, and Southern Idaho there are the following number of bookstores:

Utah: 3 Borders, 2 Waldenbooks, 10 Barnes and Noble, 1 B. Dalton
Las Vegas: 7 Borders, 3 Borders Express, 4 Barnes & Noble, 2 B. Dalton
Southern Idaho: 1 Borders, 1 Waldenbooks, 1 Barnes & Noble
Denver Area: 8 Borders, 2 Waldenbooks, 1 Borders Outlet, 12 Barnes & Noble

So that?s a total of 58 stores. In addition, Deseret Book, parent company of Shadow Mountain, has 29 Deseret Book stores, and another 23 Seagull stores in the same areas as above. That?s a total of 87 stores. Add the good size independents and we are over 100 stores.

I figure if I take off on Friday afternoon and work through Saturday?coming home Saturday night?I could hit all of those stores over the course of 5 weekends. That means by the time my book actually comes out there will be a minimum of 100 stores that will personally know me and my book. But because I also travel quite a bit for business, I should be able to hit at least another twenty or thirty stores in the evenings.

So let?s be somewhat conservative and say I only make it to 120 stores. Who will I meet? Everyone I can. No point in taking all the trouble of going to a store and not meeting the whole gang. I?ll probably bring some kind of giveaway too. Chapter books, bookmarks, whatever. But in each store, I am specifically looking for the person who runs the children?s books section. That?s who I?m giving my ARCs to. I also want to meet the person who handles school events, book signings, etc. In the Seagull stores the manager does pretty much all of that, so I?ll target them unless they have an employee that specializes in kids books. I?m also going to visit some of the bigger independents. No point in going by the big box stores (WalMart, Cosco, etc), because they don?t have anyone who recommends books for the most part.

At this point I?m sure some of you are asking who?s going to foot the bill for several thousand miles of driving and at least three nights in a hotel? That would be me. Could I get my publisher to pay for it? Probably. But they?re going to be doing my big book tour when the book is actually out. And they are providing all the ARCs. To me it?s a no brainer that I invest some money now to start the snowball rolling, and hopefully make a bunch of friends down the road.

So that?s part two of the plan. Seed every major bookstore within a 24 hour drive with advance copies of Farworld Book 1, and whatever kind of goodies I have. Tomorrow stay tuned for bringing up the flank?part 3 of my marketing plan. Finally on Monday we hit the internet streets hard with the blog tour promotion and prepare to give away 400 advance reader copies!

In Search of Buzz

It looks like the scheduled on sale date for Farworld is September 5th. Basically, that?s about six months until the first book hits store shelves, give or take a week. Between now and then, my publisher will be busy with things like finishing up the artwork, doing final edits, collecting the blurbs, printing ARCs (advance reader copies), and creating posters and bookmarks.

Shadow Mountain has done a great job of building up a name for themselves in the YA fantasy market with Leven Thumps, Fablehaven, and now The 13th Reality. Leven Thumps has sold hundreds of thousands, Fablehaven hit the NY Times bestseller list for children?s books, and even though The 13th Reality has just been released, it is selling well, and Borders has decided to feature it for the month of April in their ?New Voices? section.

Onece Farworld comes out, Shadow Mountain will send me on a two week multi-city tour where I will visit lots of schools and do lots of book signings. In addition, Shadow Mountain will have ARCs of my book at BEA (Book Expo America, the largest book show in the US,) and several other shows. Clearly this is all a dream come true for me. Unless the Earth spins off its axis in the next six months, I should be selling a bunch of books in the fourth quarter of this year.

The question is, what do I do for the next six months? The book is written. Other than final edits of the galleys, I?m not changing the story at all. Of course as an author, you always think of things you?d like to do better. But based on getting a lot of feedback from a lot of readers, I think people will find this book exciting. I?ve spent a lot of time studying reviews of other YA fantasy novels, and the three biggest complaints I see are: ?Not enough depth to the characters.? ?Too slow.? And, ?More suited to younger kids.?

I think I?ve avoided all of those pitfalls. Marcus and Kyja are not cardboard characters. They deal externally and internally with real issues. I?ve had many, many adults tell me they liked the book at least as much as their kids. I?m not going for silly with this series. And if there isn?t enough action in this book, you may need to read it while swimming with killer sharks or something. So the writing will either sink or swim.

But I don?t want to just sit back and wait. I?ve been racking my brain trying to think what I can do to help build up momentum until then. I think the bottom line is that word of mouth is what will sell the book. If I?m right, and my book is good, people will tell other people. Hopefully I?ll get good reviews for some of the biggies like Kirkus and Publisher?s Weekly. But what can I do to get the ball rolling until then? How do you create word of mouth before your book is out?

The first thing I did was to start this blog. If I keep the content fresh and helpful, people should start telling other people and the number of visitors will steadily increase. That seems to be happening. For me, the concept of the internet is fascinating. As I look at the map of who is visiting my site, I see people from all over the world and most of the regions in the US. Is there a way I can use that to start building up what industry people call buzz?

Here?s what I?m thinking, and I want you to brainstorm right along with me. The best way to get the word out is to approach the people who talk to the most people. If I were already a big name or had unlimited time and money, I?d start traveling across the country right now. I don?t have money, but I do have ARCs that will be available in May. Shadow Mountain prints a ton of these. I?m not sure they want me to say exactly how many they send out, but it is quite a few. They will send out copies to all the big book reviewers both on-line and in print.

Again, if my book is as good as I think it is, that should generate some talk. But what about a grass roots effort? What about all the people who have blogs, but aren?t huge reviewers? I think I?ll probably have 100-200 books that I can give out. Let?s say I gave out 200 books to people who have their own blogs. If each of those blogs averaged say thirty unique visitors (some will have many more, some will have less) I could reach 6,000 people before my book even comes out.

Honestly, if you sold 6,000 books your first week, you?d probably hit the NYT. Of course I?m not na�ve enough to think all 6,000 people would rush out to buy my book. But it?s definitely better than just sitting back and waiting. So the next question is, how can I reach those people and what can we do to make the blog posts interesting enough to get some attention?

Here?s where I need your help. I?m still pretty new to this blogging stuff (at least on a national level), but I know many of you spend quite a bit of time with your own blogs and reading others. What if I did this?

Let?s say I offer a free ARC to anyone who agrees to read the book and do a review along with a Q&A on their blog between the first of July and the end of August? I think they call this a blog tour or a virtual tour. I send you the book and you send me questions, Whatever questions you want, writing questions, questions about the books, silly questions, serious questions, whatever. I?ll send you back my answers and you agree to post a review and the Q&A on your blog starting July first.

Obviously I expect you to say what you really think about the book. If you love it, great. If you don?t love it so much, then say what you didn?t like. In addition, what if I could get enough extra ARCs so you could give out one free copy to someone who comments on your post? Do a random drawing, best comment, whatever. I?d even have the book drop shipped for you to the person who won it.

It seems to me that if I did this, it would really help get the word out. I honestly don?t know if I?d get tons of bloggers interested or only a handful. What I?m thinking I would do is take a date like the middle of April and announce that I would send out books to the first two hundred people who sent me the name of their blog and their mailing address.

I?d definitely get some overlap on blogs, but maybe we could try to schedule dates so everyone didn?t blog at the same time. And by doing different questions and answers, it could make the blogs unique enough that readers might read more than one post.

Oh, and for those of you who don?t have blogs, I could do some kind of drawing here as well as the chance you?d have to win a book off someone else?s blog. In fact I could do a daily link of everyone who is taking part in the tour so people could go from my blog to their blogs to try and win a book there or just check out the other cool blogs.

So what do you think? Would this work? Why or why not? I?d love to hear your comments, and I?m going to put up a poll tied to the questions of how effective it might be. I?m really looking forward to hearing your thoughts.