As a Canadian author, I'm very concerned with protecting my copyright and my works, and it's great that we have organizations like Access Copyright fighting for us and fighting to keep Canada's literary culture alive and well. Don't get me wrong, I am all for making it easier for schools to have access to Canadian works, but authors must be rewarded for their work, just as teachers are.
In the video below, a handful of Canadian writers share their thoughts on Bill C-32 and its possible effects. I'm sharing it to help educate the public. Most Canadian writers earn very modest incomes. Many writers try to get by on less than minimum wage. Some people say that's our choice. And it is. But creating is our calling, our vocation, our passion.
Just like anyone else, creators need income to survive. Our incomes depend not just on sales. We also depend on income we receive when universities, colleges, schools, corporations and governments make copies of our works for their own use, instead of buying more copies of the original.
Copyright exists to protect creators. When others use our works, copyright law should ensure the people who worked so hard to produce them are compensated.
Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling Canadian author
http://www.cherylktardif.com
Showing posts with label canadian writers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadian writers. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Guest Post: Anthony Bidulka shares The 5 'C's of Promoting Your Book
Means a lot of different things to different people, but to writers it means one thing: promotion. What to do the morning after you’ve landed that long sought-after publishing contract. It can be a shocking thing, the morning after, when you realize there isn’t some marketing guru whose sole responsibility every day is to figure out more and better ways to get your book into the hands of readers. It can be shocking when you realize that marketing guru needs to be YOU.
When it happened to me, after some hits and misses, I came up with:
The 5 ‘C’s of promoting your book.
- Confidence
- Circulation
- Communication
- Capitalization
- Creativity
- A successful career comes from within:
- Be confident - Portray confidence no matter what is happening with your career.
- Protect your confidence – don’t let critics, reviewers, jealous neighbours and frenemies get you down.
- Nurture the confidence of colleagues – it will come back to you ten-fold.
- YOU are the best salesperson of your work.
- Do not rely on your publisher/agent/booksellers/distributor/best friends to do it for you.
- Help them help you - Get out there/ be seen and heard.
- Lack of publisher promotion strategy? Create your own and see how far you get.
- Research what other authors are doing.
- Ask for nothing from you publisher, get nothing. Ask for 100 things, get at least one or two.
There are a plethora of choices for (a) Who you communicate with/to and (b) How to communicate
WHO
- Publishers
- Bookstores – owners/managers/suppliers
- Your Readers
- Other writers – critique or writing groups, joint readings, conferences, online groups
- Book clubs
- Writers groups – local, national, international – professional and otherwise
- Website
- Book trailers
- Readings and public appearances
- Myspace
- Blogging
- Online discussion forums
- TV interviews
- Radio
- Newspapers
- LibraryThing.com
- Goodreads.com
(4) CAPITALIZATION
- Know your strengths and capitalize on them. Know your weaknesses and either improve, work around them, or get someone else to do it!
- The best example is a colleague of mine who is, self-admittedly, a poor public speaker. His books are terrific, but to hear him read from one was pure torture for both him and his audience. He practiced and got pointers from everyone he met, but nothing seemed to help. He came up with a brilliant solution. He still organizes readings, but instead of doing the reading himself, he simply asks a local celeb (like a radio DJ or a bookstore owner) or even his wife, to do it for him. Afterwards he handles the Q&A. Genius I think.
- Be creative with how you promote yourself and your work. You can use tried and true methods – but spice them up. Ask other authors what creative things they have done. It’s a competitive industry – get noticed! It doesn’t have to cost big dollars.
- Key- there is no one golden bullet - have a basketful of tricks.
- Take control.
- Think outside the box.
- Sometimes it’ll work. Sometimes it won’t.
- Oftentimes you won’t even know for sure.
- Having no budget is no excuse to do nothing.
- Never give up.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
How About A New TV Show: “So You Think You Can Write”
I’ve been working at my current job in security for about nine months now, and during that time colleagues have slowly found out that I’m a writer with two published books. (They don’t know about all the published short stories, essays, and articles). In terms of security personnel, the site I work at isn’t large. There are perhaps fifty employees in my area and another half dozen on the management team.
During my employment, I’ve discovered four more colleagues who have or are currently writing novels in science fiction, fantasy and even a historical western. Now, given the number of many thousands of books published every year, I’m not surprised that writers are coming out of the woodwork. Nor am I surprised when they ask me how they can publish their books quickly. But that’s when I’m stumped.
I’ve been working at my craft for nearly thirty years. I’ve attended more workshops than I can count. I’ve belonged to critique groups for over fifteen years, and I’m constantly reading to improve my skills. I edit and edit and edit to make the piece the best it can be before publication, and even then mistakes slip by.
Honestly, I try to tell these aspiring writers about the work and the importance of editing (see Pat Bertram’s terrific blog on this topic), but people seem primarily interested in publishing and making money. I try to tell them, without crushing their aspiration, that there are no shortcuts and that it really does take a lot of work. Am I getting through? I don’t know. But it seems to me that every other person I meet these days wants to, or is writing, a novel. In fact, novel writing is so popular that I'm wondering if the TV networks should develop a new contest. So You Think You Can Write! or Canadian Writing Idol! or Canada’s Got Writing Talent!
Contests from all over the country would submit their first twenty pages to qualified judges with celebrity status. Margaret Atwood, for example. I figure the judges could expect about half a million entries. (The other three million wannabes didn’t get their entries in on time or follow guidelines). Then they’d all gather and the judges would critique their work on camera. Naturally, there’d be tears, and unhappy glares from unsuccessful contestants, and there’d be jumping up and down elation for those who made it to the next round. After all, they’d land a free ticket to Saskatoon for the semi-finals. From there, they’ve have to submit fifty more pages from a new work. If they made it through that round, they’d receive a ticket to Toronto for the finals. And on it would go until a winner was declared. The grand prize would be a contract with a Canadian publisher, provided the publisher’s government subsidy isn’t cut this year. And that’s always a big if. Think the concept would fly? I know there are plenty of contestants out there just waiting for their chance to make it big.
To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death, visit http://www.debrapurdykong.com/.
Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n
During my employment, I’ve discovered four more colleagues who have or are currently writing novels in science fiction, fantasy and even a historical western. Now, given the number of many thousands of books published every year, I’m not surprised that writers are coming out of the woodwork. Nor am I surprised when they ask me how they can publish their books quickly. But that’s when I’m stumped.
I’ve been working at my craft for nearly thirty years. I’ve attended more workshops than I can count. I’ve belonged to critique groups for over fifteen years, and I’m constantly reading to improve my skills. I edit and edit and edit to make the piece the best it can be before publication, and even then mistakes slip by.
Honestly, I try to tell these aspiring writers about the work and the importance of editing (see Pat Bertram’s terrific blog on this topic), but people seem primarily interested in publishing and making money. I try to tell them, without crushing their aspiration, that there are no shortcuts and that it really does take a lot of work. Am I getting through? I don’t know. But it seems to me that every other person I meet these days wants to, or is writing, a novel. In fact, novel writing is so popular that I'm wondering if the TV networks should develop a new contest. So You Think You Can Write! or Canadian Writing Idol! or Canada’s Got Writing Talent!
Contests from all over the country would submit their first twenty pages to qualified judges with celebrity status. Margaret Atwood, for example. I figure the judges could expect about half a million entries. (The other three million wannabes didn’t get their entries in on time or follow guidelines). Then they’d all gather and the judges would critique their work on camera. Naturally, there’d be tears, and unhappy glares from unsuccessful contestants, and there’d be jumping up and down elation for those who made it to the next round. After all, they’d land a free ticket to Saskatoon for the semi-finals. From there, they’ve have to submit fifty more pages from a new work. If they made it through that round, they’d receive a ticket to Toronto for the finals. And on it would go until a winner was declared. The grand prize would be a contract with a Canadian publisher, provided the publisher’s government subsidy isn’t cut this year. And that’s always a big if. Think the concept would fly? I know there are plenty of contestants out there just waiting for their chance to make it big.
To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death, visit http://www.debrapurdykong.com/.
Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n
Friday, April 10, 2009
Belief Goes a Long Way for a Writer
During a discussion in one of my writer's groups a while back, the topic of book signings, marketing, shyness and belief came up. Some authors expressed that they find signings or sales to be difficult, 'embarrassing', nerve wracking experiences. They don't like them or don't want to do them. Others felt it was a necessary part of a writer's life.
This was my reply:
I understand where you're coming from. My husband is like you and many others. If he had to live off his sales, he'd starve too. Thank God he's into the labour side of things. It's true that some people are more natural at selling, some can learn how easily, and some are just overly pushy...We all know the arrogant saleman or telemarketer who won't let us hang up.
Personally, I've always been good at sales...well, as an adult. But I always set my boundaries and had to believe in the product/service, no matter what it was, charity fundraisers, vacuum cleaners, dayhome directories (which I published myself years ago), Pampered Chef, cosmetics, security systems, vehicles, to name a few. Then I had to believe in myself, that what I had to sell was what many people (not all) needed. That's what got me the sales--not shoving a book in someone's face saying 'Hey, buy this! It's the best book you'll ever read!" (which incidentally is the 'technique' of an author I know).
Years ago, my husband had gotten out of the Armed Forces and had gone into car sales until he could figure out what he really wanted to do. Every night he'd come home and tell me how difficult it was. And this was coming from a guy who lived and breathed cars. He knew them inside and out. I barely knew how to drive one--and only if it was automatic.
The more he complained about his job, the worse it got. Until one day, I'd had enough. I told him to quit, but he refused. Then I said "Learn how to be better and believe you can do it." He said, "You have no idea how hard it is to sell cars. You should try it." Well, one thing led to another and finally I told him I was going to apply for a part-time job at a different dealership. He laughed and said they wouldn't even hire me. So I took the challenge and told him that I thought it was believability that was holding him back from sales. He didn't believe he could do it, therefore he couldn't.
He was right about one thing. I know nothing about vehicles. The next week I started a part time job at a Jeep dealership.
Then my husband said, "It took me weeks to sell my first car. It'll take you months."
On my third day I sold a brand new, fresh off the lot truck...I think it was a Ford F150 or something. :) Did I push my 'sales techniques' down the buyer s throat? No. I stood beside him, believing I could sell cars, while he said "Great, this has blah blah blah..."
When he asked me a question, I said, "I'm new here. Let me go verify that for you." Belief sells! Honesty sells.
I quit after 2 weeks. I had taken the job to prove a point. After that, my husband's sales started to improve. Now, that doesn't mean that he turned into a fabulous salesman, because he didn't. It was still out of his comfort zone. But he learned to improve by believing he could do it--even if only temporarily.
I know many authors who have a published book (traditionally and self) that don't do booksignings. I asked one of my friends why, and he said he just didn't feel comfortable doing it, he 'hated' doing them and then later he grumbled that his sales were low.
People pick up on your attitude. That's why it's key to LOVE those book signings. Unfortunately, you just can't have it both ways.
I know some authors who write more as a hobby. They have a self-published book and don't care how many they sell or if they sell. They did it more for themselves. And that's fine, if that's all they want. Although, I can guarantee that if they started seeing bigger paychecks rolling in, a few of them would change their perspective.
To each their own. I think it's important to understand your individual goal. If all you want is your name on a cover of a book and to sell a few copies to family and friends, that's your choice. Go for it! If your hobby is to self-publish a book every couple of years without any editing, that's your choice too, but don't be surprised if people complain. But if you want this as a career, there are things you must do in order to succeed. Like always learn. Learn more about writing, editing, marketing.
If writing is your passion and you want New York Times best selling status or to catch the attention of a highly motivated traditional publisher, I believe you have to put yourself out there, step out of your comfort zone and grab onto the belief that you CAN do it. If you want it badly enough, you'll make it happen.
And that's the key! I have a friend who is an artist. Her dream is to sell her paintings for tens of thousands of dollars each. I asked her what she was doing to get there and she said 'not much'. She'd only finished a few paintings. I asked how she was going to market them, she didn't have a clue. I asked if she could envision her art gallery opening with hundreds of people attending. She couldn't. I believe that when my friend can see that art gallery show, imagine, envision, taste the wine, hear the people's comments, that's when she'll believe it herself. Then and only then will she be on the right track to success. She has to develop a 'whatever it takes' attitude first.
Now consider that all I've said above is coming from the shyest kid there ever was in a BC kid. The kid who sat in the back row, who had zero self esteem. Sure I became very good at sales. My last professional J.O.B. was managing a sales department for a large security company and writing copy. I also became a motivational speaker for a major international organization. I overcame my shyness because I had to--I wanted to. And I wanted be the 'best at everything I do. And since writing has always been my intense passion and I want to be very successful at it, I overcame my nervousness of booksignings because there was no other choice.
It all boils down, I think, to one key question: How badly do you want it? Then it's up to you to define what 'it' is. Are you happy with your success? Satisfied with your sales? Want more?
We choose our success; it doesn't choose us. And we all have different definitions of what that success is. So for those who are happy with the odd signing and a bit of spending money, that's great. For those who want more, choose more. Then find ways to get it.
I totally respect where some authors are coming from, but I'm hoping this reaches a few that are looking for some inspiration to become more motivated with book signings or marketing in general.
This is what award winning author Alvin Abram has to say:
"Selling yourself is selling your product. I practice reading out loud every day. I try not to say uh, you know, or any such repetitive remark. It takes practice. I, too, was an introvert until I realized that I was a bottle with a cork that wanted to explode. If you want to sell, pop your cork, forget about the word 'can't and do."
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com
This was my reply:
I understand where you're coming from. My husband is like you and many others. If he had to live off his sales, he'd starve too. Thank God he's into the labour side of things. It's true that some people are more natural at selling, some can learn how easily, and some are just overly pushy...We all know the arrogant saleman or telemarketer who won't let us hang up.
Personally, I've always been good at sales...well, as an adult. But I always set my boundaries and had to believe in the product/service, no matter what it was, charity fundraisers, vacuum cleaners, dayhome directories (which I published myself years ago), Pampered Chef, cosmetics, security systems, vehicles, to name a few. Then I had to believe in myself, that what I had to sell was what many people (not all) needed. That's what got me the sales--not shoving a book in someone's face saying 'Hey, buy this! It's the best book you'll ever read!" (which incidentally is the 'technique' of an author I know).
Years ago, my husband had gotten out of the Armed Forces and had gone into car sales until he could figure out what he really wanted to do. Every night he'd come home and tell me how difficult it was. And this was coming from a guy who lived and breathed cars. He knew them inside and out. I barely knew how to drive one--and only if it was automatic.
The more he complained about his job, the worse it got. Until one day, I'd had enough. I told him to quit, but he refused. Then I said "Learn how to be better and believe you can do it." He said, "You have no idea how hard it is to sell cars. You should try it." Well, one thing led to another and finally I told him I was going to apply for a part-time job at a different dealership. He laughed and said they wouldn't even hire me. So I took the challenge and told him that I thought it was believability that was holding him back from sales. He didn't believe he could do it, therefore he couldn't.
He was right about one thing. I know nothing about vehicles. The next week I started a part time job at a Jeep dealership.
Then my husband said, "It took me weeks to sell my first car. It'll take you months."
On my third day I sold a brand new, fresh off the lot truck...I think it was a Ford F150 or something. :) Did I push my 'sales techniques' down the buyer s throat? No. I stood beside him, believing I could sell cars, while he said "Great, this has blah blah blah..."
When he asked me a question, I said, "I'm new here. Let me go verify that for you." Belief sells! Honesty sells.
I quit after 2 weeks. I had taken the job to prove a point. After that, my husband's sales started to improve. Now, that doesn't mean that he turned into a fabulous salesman, because he didn't. It was still out of his comfort zone. But he learned to improve by believing he could do it--even if only temporarily.
I know many authors who have a published book (traditionally and self) that don't do booksignings. I asked one of my friends why, and he said he just didn't feel comfortable doing it, he 'hated' doing them and then later he grumbled that his sales were low.
People pick up on your attitude. That's why it's key to LOVE those book signings. Unfortunately, you just can't have it both ways.
I know some authors who write more as a hobby. They have a self-published book and don't care how many they sell or if they sell. They did it more for themselves. And that's fine, if that's all they want. Although, I can guarantee that if they started seeing bigger paychecks rolling in, a few of them would change their perspective.
To each their own. I think it's important to understand your individual goal. If all you want is your name on a cover of a book and to sell a few copies to family and friends, that's your choice. Go for it! If your hobby is to self-publish a book every couple of years without any editing, that's your choice too, but don't be surprised if people complain. But if you want this as a career, there are things you must do in order to succeed. Like always learn. Learn more about writing, editing, marketing.
If writing is your passion and you want New York Times best selling status or to catch the attention of a highly motivated traditional publisher, I believe you have to put yourself out there, step out of your comfort zone and grab onto the belief that you CAN do it. If you want it badly enough, you'll make it happen.
And that's the key! I have a friend who is an artist. Her dream is to sell her paintings for tens of thousands of dollars each. I asked her what she was doing to get there and she said 'not much'. She'd only finished a few paintings. I asked how she was going to market them, she didn't have a clue. I asked if she could envision her art gallery opening with hundreds of people attending. She couldn't. I believe that when my friend can see that art gallery show, imagine, envision, taste the wine, hear the people's comments, that's when she'll believe it herself. Then and only then will she be on the right track to success. She has to develop a 'whatever it takes' attitude first.
Now consider that all I've said above is coming from the shyest kid there ever was in a BC kid. The kid who sat in the back row, who had zero self esteem. Sure I became very good at sales. My last professional J.O.B. was managing a sales department for a large security company and writing copy. I also became a motivational speaker for a major international organization. I overcame my shyness because I had to--I wanted to. And I wanted be the 'best at everything I do. And since writing has always been my intense passion and I want to be very successful at it, I overcame my nervousness of booksignings because there was no other choice.
It all boils down, I think, to one key question: How badly do you want it? Then it's up to you to define what 'it' is. Are you happy with your success? Satisfied with your sales? Want more?
We choose our success; it doesn't choose us. And we all have different definitions of what that success is. So for those who are happy with the odd signing and a bit of spending money, that's great. For those who want more, choose more. Then find ways to get it.
I totally respect where some authors are coming from, but I'm hoping this reaches a few that are looking for some inspiration to become more motivated with book signings or marketing in general.
This is what award winning author Alvin Abram has to say:
"Selling yourself is selling your product. I practice reading out loud every day. I try not to say uh, you know, or any such repetitive remark. It takes practice. I, too, was an introvert until I realized that I was a bottle with a cork that wanted to explode. If you want to sell, pop your cork, forget about the word 'can't and do."
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Can a man join Sisters in Crime?
As my friend and fellow author Austin S. Comacho puts it: "This mister's a sister." In his latest blog post at Criminal Minds at Work, Austin explains why he decided to join the predominantly all-female writers' organization known as Sisters in Crime.
If you're a male writer, you'll want to read this.
"Originally I joined because I wanted to support the cause - to combat discrimination against women in the mystery field and raise awareness of their contribution to the field. Soon after I joined I realized that..."
Read Austin's post at Criminal Minds at Work.
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author
http://www.cherylktardif.com
If you're a male writer, you'll want to read this.
"Originally I joined because I wanted to support the cause - to combat discrimination against women in the mystery field and raise awareness of their contribution to the field. Soon after I joined I realized that..."
Read Austin's post at Criminal Minds at Work.
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author
http://www.cherylktardif.com
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Well, I Had to Start Somewhere
In the world of mystery novels, lawyers, police officers, PIs, FBI agents, and journalists often take leading roles. Few authors choose an accountant as an protagonist but when you’re a beginning writer as I was when I started to write Taxed to Death, the old adage, “write what you know” was sound advice.
I was working as a secretary for a mid-size accounting firm and spent many lunch hours sharing a table with articling students. One day, I found myself talking about my writing (something I still rarely do at work) when one of them said, “How come no one writes about us?” It was a good question. A lot of the accountants I’d known we’re pretty interesting: funny, smart, cocky, shy, arrogant, kind, neurotic, lecherous. Some loved their work, others loathed it, but most were ambivalent.
The idea for Taxed to Death came easily, but the words didn’t. I’d written a few short stories, but I quickly discovered that writing a novel was completely different. Concepts like point of view changes, inner monologue, pace, red herrings, and dialogue were skills that came slowly with practice, workshops, and a helpful agent.
The book took twelve years and ten drafts to complete while I maintained a day job and had two babies. Needless to say, writing time was squeezed between feedings, diaper changes and the hundred household duties most of us have. But I finished it and Taxed to Death was published in 1995. The book received some terrific reviews, one from a CA, no less. I thought the sequel, Fatal Encryption, would go a little faster. Boy, was I wrong. But that’s another story.
To read excerpts of Taxed to Death visit http://www.debrapurdykong.com
Friday, August 15, 2008
Join the Canadian Authors Network
Visit Canadian Authors Network
This network is ONLY for Canadian authors* and for fans of Canadian authors. Please do not join this group if you are neither.
International authors should not join unless they are serious fans of Canadian books/authors and posts should be relevant and not self-promotion.
Canadian authors can discuss their works, events, news, etc, and fans can discuss their favorite Canadian authors and Canadian books.
*You are a CANADIAN author if you currently live in Canada or were born in Canada.
Canadian Authors Network - Helping CANADIAN AUTHORS connect to fans worldwide!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Attention writers! Sign up for CanWrite!
I'll be speaking at the Canadian Authors Association Annual National Conference - CanWrite! in Edmonton July 3-6. The conference has a great line up of sessions, panels, keynotes and special events and I encourage you to attend. This is great opportunity to meet authors, editors, publishers and agents from across Canada.If you're a writer and can make it to Edmonton during the above dates, be sure to register.
Learn more about CanWrite! Conference 2008 at www.canauthorsalberta.ca/CanWrite
I hope to see you there!
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, a proud Canadian suspense author
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