Readers Who Care

by Vicki Doudera

One thing I found difficult after my non-fiction books were published was the lag time between when the books hit the shelves and when I actually received feedback from readers. Because Moving to Maine and Where to Retire in Maine appealed to an out-of-state audience, it took a good year before I started hearing from and meeting my readers. The nice thing is that when I finally did, they were wonderful new Mainers who had found my writing helpful and heartfelt. In some cases, Moving to Maine changed their lives.

Writing the Darby Farr Mystery Series has been completely different. I'm constantly meeting my readers, whether I'm at a library event, conference, or in the produce section of the grocery store. I remember the first time someone told me they would purchase A House to Die For electronically. The very next morning they sought me out to tell me they were halfway through and loving it. Heady stuff, for which I'm very grateful.

Readers of Inkspot and Maine Crime Writers share feedback and comments with me on a regular basis (thanks, guys!) and I often hear from blog readers on Facebook as well. All great input from People Who Care. But every now and then, I'll think about my website's personal blog and realize it is the one area that's lagging. There are times I feel like I'm blogging to a big empty nothing. Boy, do I hate those days!

But then I'll visit the moderation panel and see that I am oh, so wrong. My personal blog has some very dedicated readers, and these folks are happy to take the time to write to me. Federico Heichl, for instance. He and I are obviously soulmates. He writes: Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead of that, this is fantastic blog. An excellent read. I will definitely be back. Don't you think his constructive criticism is spot on, too? (I'm inserting some photos into this blog as we speak.)

And then there is Ruhrwerk (a one-namer, like Sting) who says: Wonderful web site. Lots of useful information here. I’m sending it to a few buddies and also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thank you on your effort! I love that Ruhrwerk is spreading the good word about me to his pals, and that he finds my site delicious, like a big plate of pasta carbonara. Obviously!

What about Gloria Buckley? She took the time to give me some much-needed financial advice when she wrote: I strictly recommend not to hold off until you earn enough amount of money to order goods! You should just get the personal loans or just short term loan and feel yourself comfortable. Thank you, Gloria -- my own personal Jean Chatzky.

Of course, she's not alone in offering me some friendly tips. Some of my readers are concerned enough to recommend various drugs that I should be taking. Some even go the extra mile to suggest pharmaceutical aids for my husband. And they are not embarassed to bring up some rather personal body parts! Now these are people who really care.

Really, when you think about it, I'm pretty lucky to have these very caring readers. Glen Bligen's complimentary comment came just the other day: I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays.

I tried to thank Mr. Bligen for his post, but the email came back undeliverable. I hate it when that happens!

I'll close with what's got to be one of the best responses to my personal blog. It's from NovikovNazar, and reads: отличный блок хаyc по отличной цене! I just know that translates to "I loved Killer Listing and cannot wait for Deadly Offer!"

Alright Inkspot readers -- what are your favorite comments from your gentle readers in cyberspace? Please, share in delicious with me!

Whew, I'm glad that's done! (Virtual book touring)

This is the last week of my virtual book tour to promote the March 8th release of Deadly Currents, the first book in my new RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series from Midnight Ink. And the title of this post says it all. I'm soooo glad I'm nearing the end! My last blogtalkradio interview was yesterday, and my last blog visit was the day before. For the rest of this week, I'm just chatting with the Barnes & Noble Booksellers Mystery Book Club on-line and giving them "reports from the field" about the Left Coast Crime conference that I'll be attending next week.

To see my virtual book tour schedule, go here. And to see the schedule of the virtual book tour I did two years ago in 2009, go here. I made 21 stops during my tour in 2009, and I vowed to make this year's tour shorter. Well, that didn't quite turn out as planned. I had 20 stops on this year's schedule. Late in the planning process, I added some on-line reviewers and two blogs that are related to my sleuth's current profession as a river ranger (the River Ranger blog) and past profession as a whitewater rafting guide (the O.A.R.S. Waterblogged blog). Important additions, in my mind.

I started planning the tour in December and finished writing my articles and answering interview questions by the end of February. I did all that up-front work so I could focus in March on juggling logistics, responding to comments, and promoting the virtual book tour stops. Also in March, I've had to do radio and print interviews, design and order bookmarks, update my website, send out an email newsletter, conduct two launch signings in Colorado Springs and Denver, and attend the Left Coast Crime conference, with two signings in Los Alamos, NM and Pueblo, CO on either end of that trip. There's no way I could be writing my guest posts while all that was going on!

Other authors have asked me whether a virtual book tour is worth all the work that goes into it. After doing two virtual book tours, my answer is I don't know. Yes, my Amazon and Barnes & Noble ranks decreased (which is a good thing). Yes, reviews started popping up on reader forums and groups. Yes, the number of libraries stocking Deadly Currents went up in WorldCat. But were those positive signs due to the virtual book tour or something else? Who knows?

It's way too soon after the release to have any kind of hard sales data. And, even if I did, there's no way to know if a book purchase is due to the buyer having heard about the book or me from my virtual book tour, or if they found out some other way. A virtual book tour is just one part of the whole mix to create buzz.

In sales, they say a consumer has to hear about a product 5 - 7 times before they make the buy decision. My hope is that readers seeing some of the articles, reviews, or interviews with me or my characters during the course of my virtual book tour took care of 1 - 3 of those "product views." And, that once they see it again in a bookstore or on-line retailer, they'll make that buy decision. Or, that once they see me in person at a signing or mystery conference, they'll make the buy decision. Those in-person events are where I can glean some anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness of the virtual book tour. Do people mention that's where they first heard about the book, or were intrigued by the setting or main character?

Another question I get from authors is, would I do it again? You know, I equate it to having a baby. Right after the birth, when all the pain and hard work of labor is fresh in a mother's mind, the answer is "Heck, no!" But about two years later, those vivid bad memories have faded and are replaced by the sweet smiles of the baby in your arms. And mom is ready for another one.

It's the same with a virtual book tour. In about two years, I hope the memories of the hard work I put into the tour will be replaced by the sweet smiles of readers telling me how much they enjoyed reading Deadly Currents. Until then, my answer to the question of would I do it again is "Heck no!" ;-)

I'd love to hear your feedback on my tour, or virtual book tours in general, especially if you conducted or followed one recently. What do you think of them?

Beyond the Usual Five

Cricket McRae

A few years ago I enrolled in a Certificate Program for Advanced Fiction Writers at the University of Washington. It was one of the best things I've ever done for my writing, and it garnered me a kickass critique group to boot. The year-long program was taught by Marjorie Reynolds, author of The Starlight Drive-In, and now a good friend.

Marjorie had a bit of thing about smells, though. As in, every time she'd hand one of my pieces back to me, at least one page would have the notation, "smells?" in the margin. It wasn't just me. It happened to everyone. By the end of classes we all had smells in our novels. Lots of them. And flavors and sounds and sights and texture galore.

Of course, sensory detail in our writing draws the reader in, affords depth to settings and characters and concretizes the story. We knew this, but perhaps didn't employ the full range of senses that we could. And Marjorie was certainly right that smell -- the most primitive of all -- can be the most evocative.

Later, at a nature-writing workshop, participants brainstormed about other senses that went beyond the usual five. And boy, did we come up with an interesting list. I've been adding to it since then, and often use it as a jumping off point for a particular writing exercise in my own workshops.

Here are a few additional "senses" that can add atmosphere, attitude, and depth to fiction and nonfiction alike. Most use the usual sensory organs, but not all.

• Sense of vibration
• Sense of multitudinousness
• Sense of enclosure -- can be comfortable or claustrophobic
• Humidity
• Feeling of lift/fall (as in an elevator)
• Dizziness and/or vertigo
• Speed
• Gravity
• Balance
• Echolocation
• Sick-building syndrome
• Flight sensation
• Air pressure (e.g. ears popping on a plane)
• Numbness (e.g. the effect of clove oil)
• Temperature
• Light and dark
• Presence of another
• Sense of being watched
• Subsonic vibration (e.g. dog whistle)
• Depth perception
• Texture (may be felt, seen, heard or all)
• Feeling like you're still moving after getting out of a car
• Barometric pressure

I'd love to learn about more of these secondary senses and add them to my list. Any suggestions?

Before signing off I want to add that I've waited to announce my new blog, Hearth Cricket, on Inkspot until I had enough posts to give readers a good idea of what it's like. Less practical writing advice, and more musings about writing and the things I write about -- domestic arts, recipes, gardening, local and seasonal eating, fiber art, etc. If that piques your interest, stop on by.

Inkspot News - March 20, 2010

The 4th volume of the Chesapeake Crimes short story collection is having its official launch from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 10th. The event will be held at the Southgate Community Center, 12125 Pinecrest Road, Reston, VA. All are welcome to join the party. InkSpotter G.M. Malliet's short story, entitled "Bookworm," is in this collection of 20 stories, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley.

InkSpotter Keith Raffel's author blog, Dot Dead Diary, was named one of the 50 Best Blogs for Crime and Mystery Book Lovers over at Court Reporter. Speaking of Dot Dead Diary, Keith has posted photos and commentary on last week's Left Coast Crime Conference over there. In her interview of Keith on Southern City Mysteries, Michele Emrath gets him to 'fess up on everything from first love to religion. And finally, Keith's appearance on NBC TV's Press:Here was the show's most downloaded videoclip last month. You can watch it here.

Beth Groundwater will be a guest blogger at Mystery Lovers Kitchen on Sunday, March 21st, with two recipes, one for a Mystery Lovers Gift Basket and one for a Whirling Fruit Basket Shooter alcoholic beverage. Also, Beth was interviewed by the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner about her favorite independent bookstores in Colorado Springs. See what stores she recommends.

The Procrastinator

by G.M. Malliet

I happened to catch Laura Lippman on the CBS Early Show on March 15, talking with Harry Smith about the writing life. She mentioned that she writes almost every morning in a coffee shop near where she lives. She doesn't do this for the ambience, nor even for the coffee. She does this to get away from her laundry.

"The thing about being a stay-at-home writer is that laundry becomes immensely attractive and seductive," she said.

I knew exactly what she meant. I think every writer in the world, famous or no, fiction or non, gets this.

I once heard a writer say her house was never so clean as when she had a looming deadline.

Faced with a blank page that you're supposed to be filling with type, almost any other activity starts to look really good. Closet cleaning, bathroom-tile scrubbing, venetian-blind dusting, even bill paying. Of particular fascination to me--rising to nearly the same level as the siren call of the laundry--is the dusty picture frame. You may have noticed that picture frames tend to collect dust along the top, a fact that--until I hit a rough patch in, say, Chapter 13--triggered no particular alarms. But suddenly, nothing would do but that I find a dust rag and furniture polish and get to work on every frame in the room. Chapter 13 be damned, and it probably will be.

There has, simultaneously (while the dusty frame emergency was growing to crisis proportions), been a dead moth "living" in my overhead light globe ( if there is a better expression for "light globe"I would be grateful to the person who supplies it) for at least a month, probably more. Probably years.

In my moments of communion with the Muse, as I cast my eyes heavenward, I notice the corpse of him/her. This poor moth. I am never, interestingly enough, as a crime writer, moved to do anything about this. Investigate it, or something. I just sit there staring blankly upwards. To do something about it would require getting out a ladder and stuff and I really don't have time: I'm busy staring into space.

I don't know what this says about me as a writer or as a person, for that matter. I should bury the poor moth, who, after all, has harmed no one, but somehow I never get around to it.

I guess it says that I don't procrastinate just any old way. I am highly selective about my choice of procrastination activities. Unlike Joe Moore, who is clearly a highly disorganized procrastination dilettante.

Blogging might turn out to be another, powerful form of procrastination for me, but I can tell already it's going to be wa-a-a-y more fun than dusting.