Starting a New Series by Marilyn Levinson

Recently, Booked on Murder, the eighth book in my Haunted Library series was released. I knew this would be the final book in the series because now my sleuth's story arc was complete. Carrie Singleton had evolved from a lost, unsettled young woman to become a responsible, involved and established member of her community surrounded by people who loved her. Many readers were sad that I'd ended the series, and I felt a few pangs myself. I would miss writing about Carrie and Dylan and their friends in Clover Ridge, but it was time to move on. I looked forward to embarking on my new adventure.

Ever since I visited San Juan Island in Washington State a few years ago, I've been planning to set my next mystery series on an island. But my island would be smaller and closer to home, peopled with dissenting family members who loved one another but had different plans for the future of the island. And so I created Dickens Island and plonked it down in the middle of the  Long Island Sound between Long Island and Connecticut. Dickens Island is its own small world, yet a ferry connects it to Long Island, and Manhattan is but an hour's drive away.

Starting a new series requires a good deal of preparation. Details must be carefully thought out because setting and characters play important roles throughout the series. I spent a good deal of time creating the island itself--its topography, the layout of streets and important sites, houses and the village. Of most importance is my cast of characters, especially my sleuth and those closest to her. I am lucky that my characters appear to me fully formed. I love exploring their relationships, their secrets and their growth throughout the series.

My sleuth, Delia Dickens, is a divorced woman approaching forty. For the past twelve years she was living and working in Manhattan while her parents raised Connor, her fifteen-year-old son, on the island. Now Delia is back on the island again, living with Connor in the Victorian home her grandmother has left her. Her father has asked Delia to revitalize the Dickens General Store the family owns as he tries to stall every update she proposes. 

Delia's Uncle Brad, her father's brother, also has difficulty making changes to the island. As president of the town council, he has balked at establishing a ferry line to Connecticut and creating new housing. This infuriates his wife Reenie, the island's manager. She is tired of Brad shooting down all her suggestions to bring in more residents and attractions to the island. What's more, Reenie is convinced that Brad's having an affair with Missy, a new addition to the council. And when Missy's found murdered, Delia finds herself obliged to prove that neither her aunt nor her uncle is the killer.

Aside from the murders, there are many elements that go into creating a cozy series. When Delia comes home from the general store, the pile of rags she sees on the porch turns out to be a snoozing bearded collie that followed her son home. Where did the dog come from? The mystery is easily solved, and the dog, renamed Riley, remains with Delia and Connor.

 A secret room, the ghost of Delia's grandmother, a hidden journal, a pirate's treasure, a date with the man who broke Delia's heart twenty years earlier are a few more components of Death on Dickens Island, the first book in the series. Many more will appear in future books as the series continues.

How do you go about planning a new mystery series? What is the first element you create?

An Interview With Josh Pachter

by Grace Topping

After a long career writing crime fiction, spanning decades, short story author Josh Pachter switched gears and wrote his first novel for younger readers, First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet. Another big change for Josh—he wrote it for young readers. It was a pleasure talking to Josh about his novel and its upcoming release on September 24, 2024. 

 

 

First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet

When June Knight—the fourteen-year-old spokeskid for Yummy Nibbles, "the dog food dogs love more than people love people food"— decides that she wants to break into the movies, her agent Morty comes up with a scheme to get her some national publicity: June pretends to sue her parents for emancipation and moves into the attic of a nearby boarding house, where neighborhood vandals have altered the ROOM TO LET sign out front to read ROOMY TOILET.

 

When things begin mysteriously disappearing from the other residents' rooms, newcomer June is the obvious suspect, and to prove her innocence she takes on the most important role of her career and plays sleuth. Each of the Roomy Toilet's wacky tenants has secrets to conceal, and the book builds to a conclusion packed with multiple surprises and happy endings for everyone—well, almost everyone....

                                                                                                     www.joshpachter.com

 

Welcome, Josh, to Writers Who Kill.

 

First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet is a charming book that can be enjoyed by both young readers and adults. You've been aiming your fiction at adult readers for more than half a century. What inspired you to write a book for younger readers? Have you written any other stories for younger readers?

I’m delighted you enjoyed the book, Grace. It was my hope that, like a Disney movie, it would be fun for both youngsters and adults. Thanks.

Some years ago, my brother’s daughter Aly asked me, “Uncle Josh, how come you only write stories for grownups? Why don’t you ever write a story for kids?” I was about to give her one of those condescending fake replies that grownups often fob off on children, when I thought Why should I lie to my niece? So I told her the truth: “I guess I never thought about it.” And she looked up at me and said, “Well, I bet you’re thinking about it now!” 

 

Sure enough, I was, and First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet was the result. Level Best Books offered me a three-book contract, but I’d just retired from a fifty-year career in education and wanted to take a break from meeting deadlines, so I signed for just the one book. I’m working on a second adventure for June Knight, though … slowly but surely.

 

At the urging of her agent, June Knight, the face of the Yummy Nibbles dog food commercials, sues her parents for emancipation, purely for publicity. What inspired you to write June’s story?

 

Every month, I do the cryptic crossword at the back of Harper’s Magazine. Cryptics involve a lot of intricate wordplay, so I’ve gotten used to thinking in wordplay terms. At some point I saw a “Room To Let” sign out in the world and realized that a bit of graffiti would turn that into “Roomy ToiLet”—and June’s story evolved from that observation.

Meanwhile, one of my all-time favorite books is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. I hope that First Week Free captures some of the spirit of that book, though the plot and characters are all very different.  

 

June’s agent Morty is a fun character and provides a nice dash of humor. Do you often include humor or comic relief in your stories?

 

I’m glad you found Morty fun and funny. I like to laugh, and in my day-to-day life I’m a sucker for corny jokes and puns. I don’t consciously try to “write funny,” though, because I think humor relies so much on gestures and tone of voice that I have no idea how to capture it using nothing but words on a page or a screen. As I wrote Morty’s dialogue, I had Mel Brooks’ Miracle Max from The Princess Bride in mind, and that character—played in the film by Billy Crystal—was so hilarious that it was inevitable for Morty to be a fun, funny character.

 

With the setting in a rooming house, the book almost has the feel of a different age, yet it is a very much up-to-date story. What did the rooming house setting provide your story?

 

Mrs. Smedleigh’s boarding house gave me the opportunity to put a number of characters in close proximity, each with a very different personality and backstory. Also, “closed-circle” mysteries like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None have always fascinated me, and the private world of the boarding house allowed me to play with that concept.

 

First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet has a fun twist at the end. How much of this story did you plan, or did it come to you as you wrote it?

 

For my short fiction, I generally have the whole plot worked out in my head before I begin to write. For First Week Free, I roughed out a chapter-by-chapter outline on paper and even drew a detailed map of the boarding house. As I did the actual writing, though, I came to some realizations that weren’t part of my outline, so some of the multiple twists at the end of the book came from pantsing rather than plotting.

 

You have the distinction of having short stories published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine in several decades. Please tell us about that.

 

I sold my first short story to EQMM in 1968, when I was sixteen years old, which made me the second-youngest person ever to appear in that paragon of publications. (The youngest was James Yaffe, who in the 1940s sold them a story he wrote when he was only fifteen.) In 2009, I became the first (and remain the only) person to appear in EQMM’s “Department of First Stories” twice, with a story I wrote collaboratively with my daughter, Rebecca K. Jones (whose third courtroom novel, Staying the Course, comes out from Bella Books this fall and is available now for pre-order). I first sold to AHMM in 1972, and my stories still occasionally appear there, but I’m a much more active contributor to EQMM.

You’ve contributed to and edited a number of anthologies, including stories inspired by the songs of different performers, for example, Only the Good Die Young: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Billy Joel. What is the appeal of these music inspired anthologies?

 

To my regret, I don’t play any musical instruments, and my singing voice would clear a room in seconds flat. I love listening to music, though, especially to singer/songwriters and the rock ’n’ roll bands of my g-g-generation. I kind of fell into editing my first “inspired by” anthology, The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell—long story; ask me sometime when you see me—but I had so much fun putting it together that I decided to do another one (The Great Filling Station Holdup: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Jimmy Buffett), and it just kind of snowballed from there. My seventh (Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead) will be out this fall, and numbers eight (Every Day a Little Death: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Stephen Sondheim) and nine (Cryin’ Shame: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Lyle Lovett) are scheduled for publication in 2025.

 

In principle, the books appeal to four different categories of readers: those who are fans of the music that inspired the stories, those who enjoy crime fiction, those who for whatever reason like my work, and those who are fans of one or more of the contributors.

Your bibliography shows an amazing list of publications. Do you ever dust off older ones or rewrite a story to bring it up to date?

 

Not usually, no, but there’ve been a couple of exceptions, one of which is First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet. I originally wrote it more than a decade ago, but although I’d sold more than fifty short stories by then I had absolutely no idea how to sell a novel, let alone one aimed at kids, so the manuscript lingered on my hard drive for a long time. When I heard that Level Best Books was starting Level Elevate, an imprint for younger readers, I opened the file and reread it and thought it was worth submitting—but first I updated it, trading June’s iPod, for example, in for an iPhone.

 

One other exception is “Invitation to a Murder,” which appeared in EQMM way back in 1972. It was the only story I ever dreamed: I woke up in the middle of the night with the idea fully formed and scribbled it down, then went back to sleep. When I got up the next morning and picked up my notebook, I expected to find illegible gibberish, but a workable idea was there—and it made real-world sense, not just dream sense. Over the next nine months, I wrote at least a dozen drafts, but I just couldn’t seem to get it exactly right. I finally gave up, sent what I had to EQMM editor Frederic Dannay and asked him for his advice—and he sent me a contract and published the story. It’s been reprinted more often than anything else I’ve ever written, and every time I get asked for reprint permission, I tinker with it. I still don’t think it’s quite right, but I believe I’m getting closer….

 

You are well known for your short stories, but your first novel, Dutch Threat, was recently released. What motivated you to write a novel after a long career writing short stories?

 

As with First Week Free, I started work on Dutch Threat quite a while ago. I’m not sure whether or not I’ve got attention-deficit disorder, but the idea of staying focused long enough to write an entire novel has always terrified me, so I kept adding bits and pieces but never whipped the book into submittable shape until I got an email from Leya Booth at Genius Book Publishing. She’d published several collections of short stories by the amazing David Dean—who just recently won the EQMM Readers Award for the third time—and she asked him to recommend another author she could publish. David kindly suggested me, and Leya wanted to know if I had a book that was looking for a home. Given her interest, I finally finished Dutch Threat and sent it to her, and she liked it and published it last October. I was very grateful to see it named a finalist for Left Coast Crime’s Best Debut Mystery Lefty Award, Malice Domestic’s Best First Mystery Novel Agatha Award, and the Mystery Readers International’s Best First Mystery Macavity Award.

Dutch Threat is set in Amsterdam. From what I understand, you have lived there and visit often. In addition, you have also translated short stories and novels from Dutch into English. Please tell us about that.

 

Yes, I lived in Amsterdam for several years during the late 1970s and early ’80s, and although you don’t really need to speak Dutch to get along in The Netherlands, I didn’t think it was fair to ask the people around me to speak my language instead of their own, so I learned me enough Dutch to get along. In the mid-’80s, I was asked to translate two of Janwillem van de Wetering’s short stories from Dutch to English for EQMM, and one of them—“There Goes Ravelaar!”—wound up an Edgar finalist. Twenty years later, when Janet Hutchings decided to launch the magazine’s “Passport to Crime” department, featuring a translated story in every issue, she asked me to find a story by a Dutch author for her. I did, and then I found another one … and by now I’ve done dozens of translations of stories by both Dutch and Flemish crime writers. I’ve also translated comic books, memoirs, and three crime novels (René Appel’s The Amsterdam Lawyer and Bavo Dhooge’s Styx and Santa Monica).

 

You’ve recently traveled extensively through Japan. Did your travels inspire you to write stories in new settings?

 

My wife Laurie and I are avid travelers, and I almost always wind up setting a story in the places we visit. I do in fact have a Japan story in the September/October issue of EQMM, and there’s another one coming out next year in a British anthology I don’t think I’m allowed to comment on just yet. The EQMM story, oddly enough, was written before Laurie and I spent a month in Japan. It’s called “The Wind Phone,” and I wrote it after doing extensive online research. (The anthology story was written after we got back from our trip, and it’s based largely on things we experienced during our time in Tokyo. Stay tuned….)

 

Is there a publication that your stories have yet to be included in that is on your bucket list?

 

Hmm. I’d love to see my work included in either or both of the two annual “Year’s Best” collections, one edited by Otto Penzler and the other by Steph Cha. I had stories in the 1985 and 1987 editions of The Year’s Best Mystery and Suspense Stories, edited by Edward D. Hoch, but that was a long time ago. It’d be great if Otto and/or Steph were to consider my fiction worthy of inclusion in their books.

 

You have received numerous awards and accolades. Which one gives you the most satisfaction?

Well, I don’t know about “numerous,” Grace, but thanks! Things I’ve written, edited, and/or translated have been finalists for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, Lefty, Thriller, Derringer, Macavity, and EQMM Reader awards, and have won several Derringers. I was deeply honored in 2020 to receive the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement, especially since that award is named after my old friend Ed Hoch. But I think the most satisfaction to date came in 2019, when I finished second in the EQMM Reader Award balloting for a story called “50.” That story was published in the magazine’s November/December 2018 issue, exactly half a century after my first appearance in EQMM, and it features the protagonist of that first story, now half a century older. “50” was a deeply personal story for me, and the fact that it resonated with readers was extremely gratifying.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing?

 

This is probably not what you’re looking for, but the most valuable thing I’ve learned since I started writing has nothing to do with writing. In the years since my first publication, I learned how to be a good dad and a good husband, and those lessons have been more valuable than anything else I’ve ever learned in my life. 

 

What is next for you? Can we expect any more novels? 

 

As I said earlier, I’m slowly working on a second adventure for June Knight, and I’ve had readers ask me for another book about Jack Farmer and Jet Schilders, the protagonists of Dutch Threat. Those are back-burner projects, though. In the near future, look for a bunch of new short stories coming out in 2024 and 2025, new translations in EQMM and Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and new anthologies.

 

Thank you, Josh.

 

 

For more information about Josh and his numerous stories, check out his webpage: www.joshpachter.com. First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet is available for preorder at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DH7V5J9P.

 

 

Grace Topping is the author of the Laura Bishop Mysteries Series.

Making Meaningful Writing Associations

 by Paula Gail Benson

             As writers starting out, we often seek writing groups in our community to learn, network, and develop additional contacts. I’ve mentioned in several posts that when I began getting serious about writing, I traveled with a friend an hour and a half from Columbia, South Carolina, to go to meetings in Charleston because a group met there that offered craft workshops. At the time, it was the only opportunity I had to receive that kind of information and interact with other writers.

             Now, thanks to virtual meeting capabilities, it can be valuable to belong to numerous groups, whether or not they are based in your geographic location. Joseph S. Walker, an incredibly talented writer who has won the Bill Crider Award at the Dallas Bouchercon, twice won the Al Blanchard award, been nominated for an Edgar, and now serves as President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, became a member of several Sisters in Crime chapters in order to submit stories to the anthologies they sponsored. Not only has his work been published in those books, but also it has appeared in other periodicals and anthologies as well as several volumes of The Best Mystery Stories of the Year.

             Being part of the online Guppies chapter of Sisters in Crime introduced me to a community that respects and encourages short story writers. Through the Guppies’ short story critique group, I received valuable comments on my own work and met folks I now consider close friends. This year, I’ve had stories accepted by Kaye George for two anthologies she edited. Kaye and I also gave a presentation on plotting short stories at a day-long program given in Decatur, Georgia. Another participant in that program was Debra H. Goldstein. Kaye and Debra remain touchstones I rely upon for writing advice. In addition, they are exceptional cheerleaders when support is needed!

             Debra and I belong to the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Chesapeake has a solid reputation for its anthologies as well as an incredibly experienced and talented membership. It offers monthly programs that give insight into craft and law enforcement procedure.

             A few years ago, I virtually met the President of the Capitol Crimes Chapter of Sisters in Crime based in Sacramento, California, Sonja Hazzard-Webster. We first connected through email and then participated in a virtual meeting held by then Sisters in Crime President Lori Rader-Day. Sonja’s enthusiasm was contagious. We talked about a joint program with Capitol Crimes and the Palmetto Chapter, based in Columbia, S.C. Sadly, Sonja passed away suddenly on June 15, 2020, but the idea of a joint program lived on through the Capitol Crimes presidencies of Penny Manson and Sarah Bresniker and the Palmetto Chapter presidency of Carla Damron and became a reality. Our Killer Workshop, offering both in-person (in California) and virtual options, with Gregg Hurwitz as the keynote, was held on May 14, 2022.

             Since that experience, I’ve continued to be a member of the Capitol Crimes Chapter and am delighted to have been elected to its board. For years, we’ve teased about how we only know each other through our phone and computer screens. But, this year, a few of us attended Killer Nashville and were able to spend time together in person. I commend this group for its dedication in offering valuable programs and retreat opportunities. I’ve also learned a lot from them about mystery writing events that take place on the west coast. I hope one day I’ll be able to meet with them in Sacramento.

             What writing organizations do you belong to and why do you recommend being a member?

 

Seeing the Pictures of a Story vs. Reading the Words

Seeing the Pictures of a Story vs. Reading the Words by Debra H. Goldstein

I Am Alfred Hitchcock is a 2021 documentary that I recently saw at Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival. It followed Hitchcock’s career, interpersonal relationships, and the mastery of his art of making the viewer feel a part of each story. The documentary was divided into several thematic topics including escape, desire, and height that can be related as much to filmmaking as to writing.

For example, depending upon the film, Hitchcock provided escape for the viewer from the reality of the world around them, escape for the characters from danger, or escape from a mental state. If an author succeeds with a book, a reader is captivated away from their everyday existence for as long as they are immersed in reading. Part of the reader’s escape comes from seeing if the characters will escape external threats that put them in peril or danger. If the conflict arises from something internal, the reader waits to see if the character can overcome the mental fears or confusion blocking them from acting.

He believed desire might be attainment of a goal, such as murdering a wife (Dial M for Murder), obtaining a valuable piece of jewelry (To Catch a Thief), successfully fleeing with stolen money for one character or committing a brutal act for another (Psycho). Hitchcock also often used the camera to highlight romantic desire as it built between characters by filming a kiss directly or using circling camera angles or the filming of circling characters to build the implied sexual tension. Similarly, writers may start with characters hating each other who warily circle each other until their lust can’t be contained. Of course, how much of this plays out is either described in detail or, as in a cozy, happening behind closed doors.

Hitchcock used height through high/wide camera angles or close-ups to show scenery, isolation (loneliness), and to build tension (North by Northwest). Coupled with common sound effects, such as street noises, Hitchcock engaged the viewer. Although the visuals don’t exist in a book per se, authors use words to create the same effects. When a book works, the reader becomes so immersed that a subliminal translation is made from personal visuals to what is happening on the page.

The point of the documentary, besides illustrating the complexity of Hitchcock himself, was to demonstrate how framing the various shots, enhanced by sound, costumes, and actor gestures, created a whole product for the viewer. Authors do the same thing with words. 

Do you prefer to have the storyline run through your head by viewing pictures or reading worded descriptions?

Website Rehab by Sarah E. Burr

It’s incredible how many subject matter experts (SMEs) are required to publish and promote a book. The scary part is they’re all usually the same person. Especially if you’re like me, a hybrid author living most of her life in the indie space. Since I began writing in 2017, I’ve had to become an SME in editing, proofreading, book formatting, copywriting, tech systems, cover design, social media, website design, marketing…the list goes on. As authors, we’re responsible for so much beyond just writing an engaging story with relatable characters and a twisted mystery. For me, all these things I’ve had to learn over the years, I’ve figured out by doing and googling the heck out of how-to videos. In this profession, you learn something new every day, or you’re forever playing catch up.

So, when I learn something, I try to share it with others. I do this mostly through the tutorial videos on my YouTube channel, which highlight how to use programs like Canva to make eye-catching book promotional materials. But today, I want to share some tips and suggestions when it comes to managing your author website.

I will be very honest; managing my website is one of my least favorite things. I try to remind myself that a website is often the first impression someone gets when looking an author up online. As the host of A Bookish Moment and The Bookish Hour, I use author websites all the time to get information about my guests. It’s the first window we get into who an author is and what they’re all about.

The checklist below is a compilation of things I am looking for when I’m visiting an author’s website or working on my own:

 

·         An up-to-date “About” section

o   This is meant to introduce yourself to your readers and charm them. Share a bit of your journey through this section, but keep it professional enough that interviewers and bloggers can use this information to write an introduction or biography for your feature.

o   First person versus third person: Writing an “About” in the first person often feels like you’re communicating directly with the reader, which is lovely. However, if you don’t provide a media kit on your website (see bonus point), a first-person write-up can be a royal pain for interviewers and bloggers. I often use the “About” section to craft a bio for my podcast or blog guests; third-person write-ups make this much more manageable.

·         A high-quality, professional-looking headshot

o   What do you want your first impression with a reader, interviewer, or conference host to be? When I come across a blurry or unfocused photo on a website, I am forced to question the competence of the individual. These are our jobs, our careers. We should be professionally presenting ourselves. This doesn’t mean your photo can’t be fun. Showcase your personality; just make sure you're wearing business casual clothing and have a high-resolution image (1080x1080 pixels or more).

·         An up-to-date “Book(s)” section

o   Make sure your books are displayed somewhere on your website. This might seem like a given, but I’m amazed at how often I have to scour a website to see the books an individual has written. And when I find their book listing, they only have their first or latest book posted. ALL your books should be somewhere on your website. If you’ve written a lot, it’s a pain, I know, but it’s a necessity. You want readers to be able to see and access everything you’ve done because who knows which book will resonate with them. You don’t have to have long-winded descriptions of each. For my fourteen-book Court of Mystery series, I highlight the latest release and then have thumbnails of all the other books in the series.

o   Make sure the book covers are formatted so interviewers can download the images for any promotional materials they need.

·         A form or pop-up for newsletter sign-ups

o   We all have heard about the importance of a newsletter in marketing. It is the one contact list we own as authors. If social media ever vanishes, we could still communicate with readers through our newsletters. So, it’s vital that signing up for such a list be made accessible. Most platforms allow integration between your newsletter and website (some companies even offer both services). Make sure your newsletter sign-up is prominently displayed or called out on your website. This way, you can direct readers to your webpage instead of a newsletter sign-up URL.

·         Bonus: An online media kit

o   As an interviewer, when I come across an author webpage with an online media kit, I’ve hit the jackpot. It’s a one-stop shop for everything I need when crafting a feature about the author. A media kit includes:

§  A third-person biography

·         I like to provide bios with different word counts to make sure I cover any situation (fifty words or less, a hundred or less, and two paragraphs are my recommendation)

§  A professional-looking, high-resolution headshot

·         With the quality of cell phone cameras these days, you don’t need to break the bank by hiring a photographer. The photos in my media kit were taken by my husband and a small $10 tripod I bought on Amazon.

§  High-resolution images of your latest book covers

§  Shareable links

·         These include (but are not limited to) your website, newsletter sign-up, book product pages, book listings on preferred retailers, and writing extracurriculars (such as a blog or podcast).

 

If I find all this information on an author’s website, I’m happy. This means that, as an interviewer or blogger, I can get everything I need in one place if/when my guest doesn’t send the materials to me.

You don’t need tabs and tabs of information on a website, either. I’m guilty of having too many tabs because I have too much going on in my author and author-adjacent worlds. A simple one or two-page website can get the job done, and it becomes much more manageable in the long run.

I also recommend dedicating time every month to sit down and visit each page of your website to ensure that they are functioning as expected. You’d be amazed how often a broken URL can occur, and by scheduling time to check out your website, you can keep the content up to date. I used to do this only when I had a new release rolling out, and the number of items I had to address beyond incorporating my latest book was overwhelming. Websites, unfortunately, aren’t a “set-it-and-forget-it” type marketing tool. They need to be maintained to be valuable.

What do you like to see when visiting an author's website?

MARKETING STRATEGIES TO CONNECT WITH READERS AT BOUCHERCON: A Debut Author Perspective

 

By Lisa Malice

Wow! That pretty much sums up my Bouchercon experience this year in Nashville. The five-day conference that brings together readers and writers passionate about mystery, thrills, and suspense was more exhilarating than I could have hoped for. And for good reason. It was my first conference engaging directly with readers as a published author. It truly was an unforgettable four days.

Going into Bouchercon, I had a game plan for getting LEST SHE FORGET in front of readers and enticing them to buy my book in whatever format they might prefer. Some strategies worked well to move the 19 hardcover copies of my novel in the conference bookstore, while others may have boosted online sales of e-books and audiobooks.

My first outreach to readers was my silent auction donation—a box designed with a skeleton-theme to highlight the closing scene of act two in LEST SHE FORGET that sets up the story’s thrilling climax. I surrounded the box with promotional signage highlighting my IBPA Award (“Best New Voice in Fiction”), marketing materials, and notice of a “Second Chance” raffle for all bidders for five chocolate skeletons. Visually, the display was unlike any other auction item, one that invited people to check it out closely, bid to win it or a raffle prize, and take a brochure or bookmark.

My second outreach to readers involved making my marketing brochure available for anyone to take a copy. This 4-page, folded booklet offers readers a wealth of information about me and my book: awards, author blurbs, reader reviews, book formats, author bio and contact info, and the first chapter of LEST SHE FORGET. I set a stack with signage in an alcove where other authors had left their bookmarks and left six on every table for the Debut Authors Breakfast. 

My first face-to-face encounters with readers were two back-to-back panel appearances with follow-up book signings. As I offered my thoughts, I felt a keen sense of belonging with my fellow panelists and connection with the audience. There I was, up on the stage, microphone in my face, discussing titles (session 1) and genres (session 2) with a line-up of well-established authors and speaking to readers and authors who seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.

At the conclusion of the first panel, a reader approached me. “I read your book,” she said with a big smile on her face. “I loved it!” She then revealed she was one of the IBPA judges who honored “Lest She Forget” with the 2024 Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal for “BEST NEW VOICE IN FICTION.”  I couldn’t have been more surprised and delighted!

I didn’t really expect to sell any books during the follow-up signings—Bouchercon had just started. But as it turns out, I impressed four readers with my thoughts about each panel topic enough for them to hand over $20 of their Bouchercon budget for a signed copy of my book. I felt a compulsion to check my stack of books regularly to see if LEST SHE FORGET was selling, but it wasn’t. I stood nearby observing the shoppers and noticed people walk by my stack of books without a second look. I approached one reader as she picked up my book and started to read the back cover. It only took a minute chatting for her to decide to buy LEST SHE FORGET and get it signed.

The encounter made me realize that sales depended on me meeting readers, so I made it a point to spend more time in the communal areas, especially the hospitality room, where I could sit down and talk with folks as they relaxed with a drink and something to eat. My encounters always started with me showing interest in them, their Bouchercon experience, what genres they liked to read. If they happen to mention thrillers, then I pitched my book, and gave them brochures. I always asked about book clubs and encouraged people to let me know their thoughts on my book by contacting me through my website. This strategy worked particularly well with the winners of my second chance raffle—four of the five dashed off to the book room to buy a copy of LEST SHE FORGET and returned for me to sign the books (the fifth winner was an author).

Readers weren’t the only people I encountered with this strategy. I also met two librarians and two book bloggers – “bookstagrammers” – connections which may lead to exponential growth in sales and readership. (I’ll write about my experience with libraries and book influencers soon.)

All told, I sold twelve of my twenty hardcover copies of LEST SHE FORGET I brought to Bouchercon. With so many books and authors to choose from at a book conference, I consider that a good showing. Moreover, my Amazon sales rankings for the e-book version of LEST SHE FORGET jumped more than 1000 points—from 1,956 to 873 (my audiobook ranking is inaccessible), suggesting that my marketing strategies were effective sales tools. During this past week, the rankings have held strongly in the low 1,000s. I’ll follow-up over the next two weeks with those I met – newsletters for readers and authors, emails for librarians and book bloggers to further our collaboration. I hope to see continued growth in sales and readership. 

NEWSFLASH! One of those online sales just blossomed. I received a website inquiry from a Broward County, Florida, library volunteer who attended Bouchercon. He was "enthralled" with LEST SHE FORGET and how I used my psychological background so deftly to tell my story. As a result, I have been invited to schedule an author talk! With Florida MWA's Sleuthfest days away, the conference is a perfect opportunity to coordinate a book tour with Florida east coast authors.   

If you are an author, what marketing strategies helped you grow readership after your debut? If you are a reader, what draws you to learn more about a debut author and their book?

 

It’s All about Balance by Heather Weidner

Before I started writing novels, I was involved in some group anthology projects. For one series, we did almost one hundred in-person and virtual events in about a year and a half to promote the books. I enjoyed meeting people and talking about mysteries, but I soon realized a writing life needs balance. With so much travel, there was hardly enough time to write my novel.

Here are some tips that work for me to help me organize my time.

Make a schedule. I still have a day gig, so I have to schedule everything. I keep a calendar of key writing events and due dates. I have to stay organized, or chaos takes over.

• Try to write (or revise your work) every day. If you leave your project for a few days, it takes time to get back to the place where you left off. (I write from 5:00 - 7:30 every morning and then on my lunch hour. If I hit my word goal, then I’m done for the day.)
• Set your writing goals. To finish a first draft in a reasonable amount of time, I need a daily writing goal. I know if I stick to my schedule, I can have a completed first draft in about two and a half months. I have a running tally on a sticky note to keep me motivated and to see my progress.
• Sit down and write. When you are writing your first draft, just write it. Don’t stop to revise chapters or paragraphs. Make notes and keep going. If you fall into the rewriting trap, it’ll delay your writing process for months (or years).
• Plan your marketing. When I have a new book release, I create a spreadsheet (three months before and three months after). I track all of my online and in-person events, and I make sure I have plenty of time to complete guest blog posts and interviews. Make sure you track all your due dates.
• Organize your contacts. I hate spending time searching for something I know I have, so for things I want to remember, I make spreadsheets. One has all the blogs, podcasters, book reviewers, and other contacts that I like to follow. I add to this throughout the year, and it helps when I start planning my promotions.
• Organize your research notes. I also have a spreadsheet of ideas. I used to keep file folders of newspaper and magazine clippings. Now, I keep cool names, interesting locations, weird true crime stories, and names of resources in one document. It makes it so much easier when I’m looking for story ideas.
• Make sure that you’re also reading. It’s important to keep up with what’s being published and what’s new in your genre.
• And take a break for some relaxation or fun!

How do you balance your writing with the myriad of other things in your life? Let me know what you would add to my list.

Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.

Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio

 

 

By Margaret S. Hamilton

 

With favorite melodies like “Yesterday” and “Hey, Jude” running through my head, I ordered tickets for the Cincinnati Opera stage production of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio. McCartney wrote the oratorio—a large scale orchestral and choral work with no costumes, scenery, or action—for the one hundred-fiftieth anniversary of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. It was performed in Liverpool Cathedral in 1991 and later performed throughout the world.

 

Music Hall, Cincinnati

In 2022, the Cincinnati Opera started to organize the first opera performance of Liverpool Oratorio—with soloists, chorus, orchestra, costumes, staged with sets—as part of the 2024 Cincinnati Opera’s Summer Festival. Artistic Director Evans Mirageas traveled to Liverpool with the opera set and lighting designers to plan the production. With the four soloists, six members of the Cincinnati Ballet, eighteen members of the Cincinnati Boychoir, and forty-plus members of the Cincinnati Opera chorus, it was a packed stage. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, in full “Verdi” mode with lots of brass, performed in the orchestra pit beneath the stage.

 

McCartney collaborated with TV, film, and ballet composer Carl Davis to orchestrate his oratorio. The work is comprised of eight movements from the life of Shanty, born in 1942 Liverpool during the German bombings. It is an autobiographical piece, mirroring McCartney’s own childhood and teenage years in Liverpool. He pays homage to his grammar school teacher, Miss Inkley, the only female teacher in a school with a thousand male students: “As the lone female in this establishment, you may call me ‘Sir’.”

Stage set

The stage set was a large street map of Liverpool, placed at an angle on the stage floor. The action was relatively fast (unlike some operas with the climax scene—usually a death—lasting up to an hour). The transitions between the movements flowed smoothly. The ending with the combined soloists and choruses reminded me of the final movement of Handel’s Messiah, peace, and joy forever and ever and evermore.

 

The orchestral music was lush and full-bodied. The aria lyrics and melodies were pleasant, evoking many Beatles songs. The solo singers were excellent, veterans of the international opera stage. The ballet dancers seamlessly integrated their choreography into the musical numbers. And not to forget the eighteen members of the Cincinnati Boychoir, running around the stage in their schoolboy blazers, shorts, and knee socks, who stole the show.

Music Hall

 

The Cincinnati Opera is actively engaged in making opera performances accessible to the local community, with recitals and outdoor performances in public venues, including the zoo. By staging McCartney’s oratorio, it has moved summer opera in a new direction, appealing to a wider audience.

 

Readers and writers, have you attended an opera production?

 

 

 

 

 

Killer Questions – Killed Anyone Real in One of Your books? 

People often ask writers if their characters are based upon real people. Authors usually answer that their characters are a combination of imagination and composite characteristics of people they have met. We decided to be a little more honest today by discussing how many real people we have figuratively killed off in our books and telling you the best story about one of them.

E.B. Davis - Two—and I disguised them in books because their stories shouldn’t be known. They are toxic people.

Paula G. Benson - Actually, not any. I know writer friends who have used fiction as an effective therapist. I need to think more seriously about this approach.

Debra H. Goldstein – One. She shall remain nameless, but let’s just say her behavior was such that I held a memory and a grudge for many many years – only to let it go when I killed her when I first started writing.

James M. Jackson - Sad to disappoint, but that number is zero.

Grace Topping - I haven’t figuratively killed off anyone real yet. However, I used a real person as the model for my villain in Staging is Murder.  He/she dropped the victim’s body down a laundry chute—where it landed at Laura’s feet.  

Annette Dashofy - Now this question could get me into a lot of trouble. I think I’ve killed three real people in books but I’ve killed those same three multiple times. One person had made me extremely angry by treating someone I care about very badly. I killed them in a book and then happened to run into them. For the first time in a long while, I felt no ill will toward them. It was like “you’re dead to me now.” Murder (fictional, of course) is very therapeutic.

Heather Weidner - My body count is up to 36 now. Wow. I’m deadlier than I thought. My sleuths are amateurs, so they have to use whatever weapon they happen to have nearby. I have two favorites. Jules Keene in VINTAGE TRAILERS AND BLACKMAILERS subdues the killer by knocking him out with a large, iron skillet that her campers use to make s’mores on the firepit. And Emory the prickly bookstore owner in STICKS AND STONES AND A BAG OF BONES was strangled to death by a string of Christmas lights. 

Margaret S. Hamilton - I almost killed a member of the neighborhood yard police by putting her in a screaming coffin filled with dry ice (carbon dioxide) and suffocating her. I am reported by the yard police on a yearly basis.

Marilyn Levinson - Just one, and I'd best not reveal anything about it.

Mary Dutta - My first published story had a character who was the fair-haired boy of his MFA program, who was most definitely based on the fair-haired boy of my graduate program. I didn't kill him off, but he didn't emerge unscathed.

Susan Van Kirk - If I might turn this around a bit…I helped raise money for our local art center by auctioning off character names in my Endurance series. A junior high teacher, who was also the Christian Education person at our church, won the auction. She chose a character in the 19th century who poisoned her abusive husband with mushroom gravy. Made me wonder…

Martha Reed - I’ve only figuratively killed off one real person – a jerk of a boss. It turns out that I’m grateful to have known them because that anger made me mad enough to finish writing my first book, and once I finished the first one, I knew I could write and finish more. Ha-ha. I won. 

Lisa Malice - When I first started writing mysteries, I planned to kill off my husband’s business partners. They had teamed up to steal the business he built for them and needed to die (figuratively).

Kait Carson - Sorry, no can do. That’s why I use a pen name 😊

Nancy Eady - I didn't kill off someone, but I sent them to jail.  A few years ago, there was a state attorney general I really did not like and the antagonist in my book is a state attorney general gone wrong who gets caught. and will have to go to prison. 

Shari Randall - I have tended to stay away from real people in my books, but I will say that if a character is dealing drugs, they might want to hurry up and get their affairs in order.

K.M. Rockwood - My characters are very real to me, and some of my protagonists are based on people I know (with their knowledge & permission) but I can’t think of anyone I’ve killed off. I can tell a few stories, though. The “model” for my Jesse Damon character was very gifted mechanically, and liked to keep busy. He was a hard worker. He was often assigned to maintenance details. At one point, he was working on an old boiler of a heating system, and it became necessary to call in an outside contractor. He was showing the contractor around, pointing out what the problems were and what he’d done to try to fix it. The contractor was a bit uneasy and glancing around. He finally said, “Doesn’t it make you nervous to be working in this prison, with all these murders and things all over?” My Jesse character shook his head. “Since I’m one of the murderers, it really doesn’t bother me all that much.

Korina Moss - My characters aren’t based on real people. The characters I kill off have the negative characteristics cumulated from several people.

Teresa Inge - I kill one to two people per story. My favorite method of murder is my protagonist lassoing a lanyard around the killer’s neck to strangle him.  

Sarah Burr - I plead the fifth on this one.

Lori Roberts Herbst - I could tell you, but then I'd have to...well, you know...

Connie Berry - None. And I hope I never do. To hate someone so much you wish them dead is deadly to your own soul.