My Author Challenge? Learning to Say No

Anyone who’s published a book and is in promotion mode will quickly learn that life becomes a tricky balancing act. When you’ve published seven books as I have, and are becoming known in your own community, requests for favours and participation at events start to rise.

For authors, spring and fall are our busy seasons where conferences, presentations, panel discussions, and awards ceremonies abound. Taking part in these while juggling writing, promoting, day jobs, family responsibilities, and illness can drain your time, energy, and motivation. So, how does one cope? Well, this year I’ve learned to say no.

In 2015, I took part in eighteen events. Even with my part time job (which is five days a week) I discovered the hard way that it was too much for me. So, in 2016, my first event was just last week and I’ll have two more this coming week. This is enough for one season. I have six writing projects to finish, and writing is what I love most about this business.

I’ve turned down at least three requests for my assistance/participation and two more potential marketing opportunities so far this year. It’s not easy to say no because part of me always feels that I should be doing more and constantly reaching out to my community. I enjoy helping others, and have a number of times, however I just can’t accept every request.

Do I feel great about saying no? Absolutely not. But I would feel much worse, and resentful, if I said yes. I’ve kept asking myself how many times I can shove aside all the WIPS sitting right in front of me to do this or attend that?

I might not be invited again to participate in whatever event I turned down. Odds are good that those who wanted to infringe on my writing time won’t be happy with me and—heaven forbid—will unfriend me on FB and Twitter. So be it. At the end of the day, we all have to make choices. This year, I’m happy with mine.

Debra

Steep Learning Curves

When I began the editing process with my publisher for the first Casey Holland mystery, it soon became clear that there were still things to learn about editing. Since deadlines were looming, I had to learn fast. It proved to be a steep learning curve, but an exhilarating experience. I was learning to analyze my work differently and, among other things, to plot timelines and character relationships on spreadsheets.

When I volunteered to become Crime Writers of Canada’s regional Vice President for BC, I knew I’d be taking on tasks I normally didn’t do, like using Skype, and organizing events. The first two events, Word on the Street and Arthur Ellis Night were simple, as I’d taken part in both before and had to arrange only one group of panelists for each event.

My limited event planning skills, however, are now being stretched as I find myself creating a whole day of events to celebrate National Crime Month in May. There have been challenges, beginning with tracking down the right people to book a room. Now that I have a room, I’m currently organizing a day of panels and participants. I have four panels, a blue pencil cafe, and about twelve participants. It’s kind of like putting a puzzle together; who goes where and with which topic. I’ve learned that getting help and feedback, especially from those who’ve done it before, is crucial. I’d be lost without them. I have yet to learn how to design adequate posters and flyers. It’s been difficult even for my own work, as this is not my strong suit; however, I have help, and for that I’m grateful.

What baffles me is how people plan entire weekend conference? It’s challenging enough just preparing for one day and one track of events, never mind three or more tracks spread over three days! I have a new respect and admiration for conference organizers, but I’m quite sure I don’t want to become one. Anyway, stay tuned for more info about our day-long event on May 5th in Victoria.

For those who live in BC’s lower mainland, our annual Coastal Crime Wave, an Evening with the Authors will be held in the Alice MacKay room at the Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. We will have a lively panel discussion with mystery authors Roberta Rich, Stephen Legault, Leanne Dyck, and Don Hauka. Following this, we will announce this year’s nominees for the Arthur Ellis Awards. Categories include best unpublished novel, best first novel, and best novel, also short fiction, children’s and others. This is a free event and should be a lot of fun! Oh, and as one of my other duties, I’m hosting. I think I’m also the timekeeper to make sure we don’t go on too long. Ah, challenges, challenges...

DEADLY ACCUSATIONS, (now also out on Kindle http://tinyurl.com/7b5dfub
THE OPPOSITE OF DARK, now available for iphones, iPads, and iPodTouch at http://bit.ly/nZLlS8. Also available in paperback at http://tinyurl.com/30dlx64 and on Kindle at http://tinyurl.com/7kxuat8
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

The Ups and Downs of Writing Events

At a recent writing festival, a colleague expressed her concern about the poor turnout and sales. She also mentioned that another writer told her that he’d attended many events and sold, on average, one book per event.

I’ve participated in half a dozen writing events so far this year, and because my mystery, The Opposite of Dark, was released six weeks ago, I’m just getting started. Every event I’ve attended has been reasonably well promoted in print and online, but the truth is that you never know how many people will show up, or whether any books will be sold. Sometimes, I’ll present at a well-attended workshop and sell nothing. On other occasions, I’ll read and discuss my book, with maybe seven people in the audience, yet I’ll sell books.

A lot depends on the nature of the event. For example, in my experience, people generally don’t buy books at the workshops I and my co-presenter give, although we’ll have perhaps thirty or more attendees. On the other hand, if I give a reading or am on a panel, my audience is usually much smaller, yet I’ll sell books.

As I write this, our city’s beloved Vancouver Canucks are in the midst of playoffs. If any of my events are held on a night the Canucks are playing, turnout will be small, which makes it difficult to plan events until their season ends.

Event location is also crucial. This week, I had the pleasure of being on a panel with four other writers to discuss mysteries and announce the shortlist of Arthur Ellis Award nominees, but the Canucks were playing that night. In fact, the stadium is in the same neighbourhood as the library hosting our event, and yet the turnout was great. The reason is that the Vancouver Public Library always has a lot of patrons, they happened to be holding a book sale, and announcing our event on their PA system.

Lately I’ve been selling more books in cafés than I have in bookstores. Who knows why; maybe coffee and cheesecake makes people happier and more receptive to buying. The point is, timing and location can certainly help sales, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. What’s important is that one keeps participating and meeting new people, and having fun along the way.

I’d love to know about your bookselling experiences. Any surprises? Disappointments? Huge successes? Please share your thoughts!

THE OPPOSITE OF DARK, http://bit.ly/i983XE, book trailer http://youtu.be/ojgoDKSW_ck
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n