TUESDAY WRITING TIP – USING A JOURNAL

J.E. Fison is the author of the kids’ adventure series, Hazard River. The series was inspired by a family holiday on the Noosa River, but she also relies on her journal for a constant source of ideas for her adventure stories. Julie describes how newspaper stories inspired her latest adventures, Blood Money and Toads’ Revenge.

Two teenage brothers are fishing in a quiet creek near their home in northern New South Wales. There’s been some heavy rain and the creek is littered with broken branches that have washed down in the flood – nothing unusual about that, until the boys spot a plastic bag amongst the debris. It’s most likely just a bag of rubbish, but the boys decide to check it out. They can’t believe their eyes when they open the bag. It’s full of money, cold hard cash and loads of it – a total of one hundred thousand dollars in all. What an unbelievable find!

This isn’t a story I made up – it really happened to two boys in a town outside Lismore. The boys spent two weeks deciding what to do with the money, before eventually doing the right thing and handing it in to the police.

When I read this story in the newspaper a couple of years back, I knew it would make a great start to an adventure story. So, I cut it out and put it into my journal (which is more of a plastic folder than a journal). It emerged a year later on the banks of Hazard River, in the latest adventure, Blood Money.

Just like the boys in the real story, the kids at Hazard River find a bag of cash and just like the real boys they face a moral dilemma about what to do with the money. Add to this a few snakes, some troublesome meatballs and a nasty neighbour and everything is in place for a rough ride for the newly cashed-up kids of Hazard River.

Starting a journal was one of the first things I did when I began writing the Hazard River series. My journal now runs into several volumes – all choc-a-block full of news clippings on endangered animals, notes on adventure ideas and snippets of conversation I have stolen from my own children as well as strangers. There are also bus tickets, maps, plane tickets and an assortment of other souvenirs from my travels that might just come in handy for a story some day. So, when I come to write a new story, it’s just a matter of linking it all together. Well, it’s not actually that easy, but having a good source of story ideas certainly makes it easier.

I spent many years working as a news reporter before I wrote the Hazard River series and I still like to keep up to date with the news. I read the newspaper daily so I know what’s going on in the world. I also keep my eye out for strange, quirky and bizarre stories that I might be able to weave into my adventures. I tuck those stories into my journal until I need them.

In Toads’ Revenge the kids of Hazard River find themselves thrown into a nasty toad-infested new world when they accidently fire themselves into the future. Although it’s a bit of a change from the usual Hazard River stories, the idea came from the real world. Cane toads were introduced into northern Queensland to eat sugar cane beetles. Now they have spread as far south as Sydney and into Western Australia, threatening native animals and fragile wilderness areas along the way. Cane toads are poisonous and when snakes and lizards try to eat them, they die. (The keelback is one of the few snakes that can eat a baby cane toad and survive.) The super-resilient cane toads are also super breeders. Females lay up to 35,000 eggs at a time and the toads’ march across the continent is proving impossible to stop. A newspaper clipping on the cane toad inspired me to make them the bad guys in my latest adventure.

So, if you haven’t got a journal, start one today. Write down your story ideas and keep anything at all that you find interesting. You never know when that news story on the skateboarding dog or the ticket from last year’s grand final is going to come in handy. Inspiration comes from all sorts of places and there’s nothing worse than remembering you had a great idea but forgetting what it was!

Good luck with your journal and good luck with your writing!

*

For more information on J.E. Fison and the Hazard River series you can visit her website at www.hazardriver.com or read her blog at www.juliefisonwriter.wordpress.com

I also get a lot of my inspiration from newspaper articles.  My book, Elephant Trouble was based on a true story I read in the paper about a man who came home from work and found an elephant stuck in his driveway.

Journals are great for storing away all those great ideas that you think you will remember but often don’t.

Some authors like Sue Lawson have a journal for each book they write. My journals tend to be a mish mash of ideas with all sorts of weird bits and pieces including:

• song lyrics
• leaves and other things from nature
• scraps of material
• newspaper articles
• song names
• scraps of conversation I hear
• poems
• names of people and places
• photos
• drawings
• sounds
• description bites
• word prompts
• story titles I dream up
• random thoughts

Do you keep a journal? What do you put in it and how does it help you with your writing?

Feel free for sharing your thoughts and comments.

Happy writing:)

Dee

TANIA’S TOP WRITING AND MARKETING TIPS

Today, I’m pleased to welcome a special guest to Tuesday Writing Tips.

Tania McCartney is an author, editor, publisher and founder of well-respected children’s literature site, Kids Book Review. She is an experienced speaker, magazine and web writer, photographer and marshmallow gobbler. She is the author of the popular Riley the Little Aviator series of travelogue picture books, and is both published and self-published in children’s fiction and adult non-fiction.

Tania is visiting my blog on her tour to celebrate the release of her latest book, Riley and the Grumpy Wombat (published by Ford Street Publishing)

As well as being an inspiring creator and marketer extraordinaire, Tania is also a kind and generous person and has agreed to share her tips here today.

TANIA’S TOP TEN WRITING TIPS

Some writers started young. Some started yesterday. Some are starting as I type, but they all have one thing in common: they write. And so begins the first of my Top 10 Writing Tips for anyone keen to make a dent in this tightly-crammed world of fabulous literary talent.

Tip Number 1 – Write

Yes, that’s right. Writers write. And they do so with tenacity, chutzpah and unfailing self-belief. Well, that’s the ideal, anyway. Truth be told, even the most established, successful and famous authors have doubts about their work.

Doubts, insecurities, uncertainty – any creative endeavor is fraught with these very real emotions – but it’s the writers who manage to overcome emotion and focus on productivity and writing from the heart, that truly succeed.

Work can always be edited and improved upon. It can’t be edited or improved upon if nothing has been written.

Tip Number 2 – Write What You Know

Write about the things that interest you, the things you adore, the things that make you smile, laugh or enliven you. It will show in your writing. It will make the words come alive.

I know some authors will tell you to explore what you don’t know – but I prefer to call this ‘research’. Sure, I could research and write about the evolution of the V8 engine, but I just don’t want to, thanksverymuch. I don’t know anything about V8s but I also don’t WANT to know. I want to write about what I know and love because I will do it well and here’s a thought – I’ll have fun doing it.

Writing should be fun, not a chore.

Tip Number 3 – Be Original

Don’t be tempted to ‘copy’ a successful idea that already exists on the market. Firstly, it simply may not resonate with your style, your voice or what you love to write about. Successful books are those written from the heart and with passion about the subject matter – not formatted against a pre-existing idea.

Publishers are always on the lookout for something ‘new’ – something that will stand out in an overstocked market… think outside the square when it comes to your book idea. Do we really need another fairy book on the market? What about a book on pixies instead? Often the greatest ‘original’ shift can be very simple.

Tip Number 4 – Develop Your Voice

Even the most original, clever and perfectly woven stories can suffer if they don’t ring out with a unique and beautiful voice. Incandescent, original writing that doesn’t rely on stereotypical or adjective-laden descriptives or mundane structure, allows the reader to skip along merrily with the text, and truly become absorbed in the storyline.

A book that plods along with clumsy or complicated writing is the equivalent of a popcorn-munching neighbour in a movie theatre – whose every crunch hauls you away from the magic of the film and back to ‘reality’.

Write clearly and creatively. Learn to edit and rework. Do it over and over again. Let your writing simmer, then come back to it later. Toss it up in the air and restructure it, if need be. And learn to let it go, if need be, and start all over again.

Work on the ‘voice’ of your work until it flows and meanders and doesn’t in the least bit get in the way of a great story.

Tip Number 5 – Know Your Target Market

Who are you writing for? Young adult? Primary school age? Toddlers? Who?

Carefully ponder this as you write and hold it close as the plot unfolds. Be certain you’re able to drag yourself back to this market as the story develops. Keep an eye on the words you use, the nature of the plot threads, the voice, the characterisations. Hone these elements to suit your audience, and you’ll save yourself a lot of rewrites later.

Never talk down to nor patronise when you write. Not even to toddlers.

Tip Number 6 – Watch Your Word Count

Whatever the style of book you’re writing, word count is a surprisingly large consideration.

Picture books should not exceed 500 to 600 words (for someone who reviews hundreds of children’s books a year, there’s nothing more frustrating to me than a picture book that is superfluous with the text, and fails to let the images do the talking). Junior Fiction generally runs between 10,000 and 30,000 words, depending on the age, and young adult may run anywhere from 30,000 to 70,000 words. Adult fiction – 70,000 to 100,000.

Whatever you write will probably be cut considerably by either yourself or your editor, so going a little over these figures is okay – but save yourself the time and energy of over-writing (and potentially complicating the plot) by keeping a solid eye on your word count.

Tip Number 7 – Push Through

Writer’s block? You better believe it exists, particularly if you’re working on a complicated novel.

Storyboarding or keeping a spreadsheet of the plot and characters may be helpful, but my own personal strategy for those agonizing moments of Blankdom, is to push through. Just keep writing. Don’t avoid writing, whatever you do. Don’t do the washing or go out. Keep going. It’s not easy, sure, but for me – pushing through and persisting, even if it means writing drivel, works every time. Suddenly, things begin to magically unfold – and the synchronicity and ease with which this happens never fails to astound me.

Tip Number 8 – Let it Simmer

So you’ve written a best seller and you think you’re kind of done, but you’re still not sure. OR you’ve sent it to a million publishers and you’ve got nothing but rejections. What to do?

Put it away. Let it simmer. Let the flavours deepen, and go back to it later. This could be a month later, or twenty years later. Looking at your work with a fresh eye is often just the tonic a book needs to become something More – something publishers will want to publish.

Tip Number 9 – Network

Share the agony with other agonized writers. Get some empathy happening here. Groan, moan, laugh, share, learn. Join your local writers’ group. Set up your own group. Network online and in person. Sharing your processes, your frustrations, your joy – your WORK – with others is absolutely priceless for your work and your sanity.

And you may just make some lifelong friends.

Tip Number 10 – Be Tenacious

My number one piece of advice when it comes to writing books is one word: tenacity. If at first you don’t succeed… If it took Andy Griffiths ten years to have Just Tricking! accepted for publication, then you simply must accept, in your heart, that a rejection slip simply DOES NOT define the quality of your work.

Keep at it. Dust yourself off and keep going. A wise golfer once said “a hole-in-one is absolutely achievable – it just depends on how many times you’re willing to hit the ball.”

Polish up those golf clubs and keep on swinging.

For more, see www.taniamccartney.com and www.fordstreetpublishing.com.

TANIA’S TOP TEN MARKETING TIPS

Writing a book? EASY! Selling it? Not so easy. Whether you’re published or self-published, these tips on marketing your work effectively will hopefully nudge your sales in a positive direction.

Tip Number 1 – Branding

Your book is important, but let’s face it – it’s often the name of the author or illustrator that really carries the majority of sales. Thinking of yourself as a human ‘brand’ can help you maximize exposure so that every book you produce will fall under the umbrella of your authorship, and so attract a potentially larger market. People relate to people – and developing a personable presence is a wise and unexpected way to maximize your marketing potential.

Branding involves visuals – logos, colour, images – in a consistent, repetitive way. Do you have a logo for your business as an author or illustrator? Do you have a website and blog and other online presence that are visually tied together with colour or images or style? Are your book covers reflective of your brand (picture an Andy Griffiths book cover and you’ll know what I mean)? Do your emails have branded signatures? Your business cards and flyers and book trailers?

Think about this branding issue and how you can hone it to work for you. When someone glances at your book, do they instantly know it’s yours?

Tip Number 2 – Excellence

Always, always, always do everything with excellence. Dedicate your time and energy to your interviews, your websites, your events, your readings. Half-hearted effort will reap parallel results. Do a great job and you’ll be asked back again and again and will develop a reputation for being wonderful to work with – and producing great work. Make yourself an asset.

Tip Number 3 – Events

Events are a truly fabulous way to promote your work. And they don’t have to be expensive or difficult to produce. Book readings at schools, libraries or bookstores usually cost nothing but your time. Organising sponsorship for book launches (food, giveaways, goodie bag stuffing, entertainment) is surprisingly easy – and cost free.

Online events like this blog tour require nothing more than dedication to writing a stack of great articles.

Tip Number 4 – Online Presence

This, of course, is a given. It’s almost free – just takes a little time – and has the potential for world-wide, constant market saturation.

Websites are nowhere near as daunting as they used to be. Blogger offers incredibly simple blog templates that can be played around with before publishing online, and for just US$10 a year, can be converted to an official website domain, complete with email addresses. For those not-so-confident net-users, almost any website-production process, like writing html, can be googled for instant answers.

It’s well worth the time investment of exploring the option of running your own site – it will save you much time and money – and is an essential and far-reaching marketing tool.

Tip Number 5 – Networking

Priceless. It’s the new word-of-mouth. Not only does it help you with market saturation, it is the best writing and book marketing school in the world. Authors and illustrators are notoriously supportive of each other (they ‘know what it’s like’!) and you will only be failing yourself if you don’t get involved on the social networking scene. You don’t need to live and breathe it – but at least set it in place and contribute regularly. You may just make some glorious friendships, too.

Number 6 – Book Trailers

Book trailers are the new calling card. They are quick and easy to make – you can either learn to do it yourself (Windows Movie Maker is good) or source someone to do it for you, relatively inexpensively. And trailers are yet another avenue for marketing your work. Kids and teachers love them and you can splash them all over YouTube – one of the busiest ‘marketplaces’ on the web.

Number 7 – Author Photo

Do you really want to represent your brand with a blurred, be-sunglassed photo of you on holiday in Ibiza fifteen years ago? That’s not branding.

Get yourself a bottle of wine, a friend who’s slightly handy with a camera, a neutral backdrop (bookshelves and a white, collared shirt, if you really must) and a series of props that relate to YOU and your work – and get snapping. Taking hundreds of photos, in natural light – and you’ll be surprised at how easily you’ll achieve a great author shot with little effort and expense.

If you create illustrated books, consider asking your wonderful illustrator to draw in your book characters, as Kieron Pratt has so expertly done with my own author photo. Oh – and keep the photo current.

Number 8 – Ancillary Products and Resources

You don’t need to set up a production line in China, but offering that little something ‘extra’ – whether it be teachers’ notes, magnets, printable paper dolls of your book character, colouring sheets, online writing workshops (the list is endless) – is a prime way to attract a whole other market to your work. Offering ’something for nothing’ is a great route to more market saturation.

Number 9 – Produce More

Product sells product. This is why book series do so well – both from a branding perspective and from a ‘well-stocked’ perspective. If you have more in the pipeline, more on the shelves, more coming, you will receive more exposure, and each book will link into the next. You don’t want to be a one-hit wonder – more books sell more books.

Number 10 – Keep At It

Unless you want to change your career path, you can’t stop marketing your books. Ever. A publisher can only do so much (they have other books to promote, too, and most books have a relatively short shelf life), and a proactive self-promoting author can sometimes make or break a book’s success. Commitment to promoting your own work is a truly vital marketing component.

For more, see www.taniamccartney.com and www.fordstreetpublishing.com.

As you can see, Tania is a wealth of information and ideas. If you’d like to follow the rest of her blog tour, you can find her itinerary here.  Tomorrow, Tania and Riley are visiting my other blog, Kids’ Book Capers on their journey through cyberspace.

MY LA ADVENTURE – PART 3 – DAVID SMALL AND JUDY BLUME SHARE THEIR SECRETS

After Donna Jo Napoli’s talk, it was onto the next keynote speaker David Small. Not much time in between sessions so it’s hardly surprising that we were all mentally exhausted (but happy) at the end of each day.

An illustration from David Small's amazing book, Stitches

David’s topic was The Voice of the Eye

He is an amazing author/illustrator who has come from a very sad place including being abused by  a mother who didn’t love him and having a cancerous tumour removed in his teens, then losing his ability to speak for several years, later on in his life.

He talked about his graphic novel, Stitches (an incredibly powerful book, where each picture says a lot more than a thousand words) and how his art was instrumental in his physical and emotional recovery.

Why he chose the graphic form

Drawing is like breathing. I don’t write with ease. The fewer words the more I could communicate the voicelessness.

A kid whose mother doesn’t love him or her, lives their whole life with a hole in their heart. Art helps enormously.

What he wants readers of this book to know?

 Stitches is a warning about wrong-headed thinking in families.

It’s about stepping out out of conga line of passing things down in families.

Stitches was originally published as a graphic novel for adults and then it was entered in National Award in YA category and is now available for teens.

According to David, he didn’t write the book with a readership in mind.

I wrote the book just for anyone who could understand it.

JUDY BLOOM SHARES HER SECRETS

John Green was scheduled to be the next keynote speaker but had to withdraw due to illness.

Judy Bloom was the surprise speaker brought in to replace him, and she kept us all enthralled as she was interviewed by SCBWI founder, Lin Oliver. Unfortunately, I had to leave early as I was having a manuscript assessment done, but what I heard was inspiring.

 

Judy was asked how things had changed over the last 40 years since she started her publishing career.

Everything comes electronically now

 In 70s to 90s everything came by snail mail.

 Not so much available for kids then

 The intimacy is in the pencil.

People don’t change, way we live changes, maybe they think they know more earlier, but really, people don’t change.

 THE CREATIVE PROCESS FOR JUDY BLOOM

Judy told everyone, ”You know what I’ve never really understood the creative process. I start with a basic idea that lives in my head for a long time – lives there and percolates.My ideas come when I am doing something physical – when I’m distracted from writing.”

(This seems to work for a lot of writers. The more you try and think of an idea, the harder it can be. Some of my best ideas come when I’m walking my dog)

THE WAY JUDY WORKS – HER TIPS

1. I start a book on the day something different happens.
2. I know where it’s starting and I think I know where it’s going. I don’t know anything that’s going to happen along the way. I love the fear and the excitement of it.
3. I learned how to write books from reading them.
4. I scribble a lot of stuff in a notebook before I try to write the book – so I never face a blank screen or page.
5. First draft is finding pieces to puzzle – second draft is putting pieces together.

Judy says her reason for writing has been about finding out what’s going to happen.

“If I get up every morning and want to spend time with these characters, that’s good.”

“Writing not only changed my life, it saved my life.”

A character I met in LA

WRITING DIALOGUE

The only thing Judy Blume likes to write is dialogue.

I like what they’re thinking versus what they are saying – subtext.

Dialogue comes to her naturally and spontaneously. She ‘hears’ the characters.

I raced out of Judy’s session to do my manuscript assessment with agent, Michael Bourret. It was definitely worth doing. I got so much valuable feedback on the first ten pages and learned a couple of things that I think can be applied to everything I write:

1. Slow down the pacing
2. Allow each scene to play itself out fully before moving on to the next one (related to pacing I guess).

Afterwards, I took a break from the workshops so I could absorb what Michael had told me and think about where to next for my manuscript.

The next session I attended was full of lots of good information about author promotion on the internet. But more about that tomorrow.

Happy Writing:)

Dee

HOW TO WRITE PAGE TURNING SCI-FI – TUESDAY WRITING TIPS

Today, popular author Paul Collins shares his tips about writing and some of the techniques he used to create his action packed new YA novel, Mole Hunt.

Mole Hunt takes place in a galaxy of cuthroat companies and shadowy clans – in a world where everyone has an agenda.

Anneke Longshadow knows there’s a mole in RIM,  the spy agency she works for. Maximus Black is RIM’s star cadet and he has a lot to hide.

Today  Paul talks about how he created Maximus and Anneke and the amazing world of their story.

Max is not a likeable character yet he is so compelling that the reader wants to keep reading to know what happens to him. What tips do you have for writers wanting to create a character who is not a traditional ‘hero’, but still engages the reader?

Mole Hunt is pretty fast-paced, and I think this device covers a multitude of sins. Take for example … no, I won’t mention his name! — but think of a best-selling YA writer who also writes page-turner fiction. It’s acknowledged that he’s not a good writer, but heck, he outsells most of us by ten to one, and even his critics say they kept turning the pages. I don’t see his characters as standouts, rather merely cutouts. But he doesn’t care — he’s not writing literature, he’s writing books that people want to read.

Maximus of course is an anti-hero, so he can’t have too many (if any) likable traits. He has at least one vulnerability, in that he internalises his reasons to kill. There needs to be some justification in his mind as to his actions. All characters need flaws. Superman’s was Kryptonite, magic, and he couldn’t see through lead. Something less tangible was his morals/ethics, and the villains use this to great effect. Does he save Lois Lane or does he save 20 million people? As it turns out he achieves both … but for a while there he had a real dilemma, which was the villain’s main aim.

There’s a lot of technology in Mole Hunt and even though I don’t read sci fi normally, I found myself immersed in the world of the story. Do you have any tips  or techniques for writers wanting to create a  world that readers of any genre can relate to?

The “trick” if I may use the word is to make the unbelievable believable. I’m not a tech-head, but if you read my science fiction you’d swear blind I must be an engineer at the very least. I remember years ago asking my publisher a question about my computer. He said, “I find it hard to believe the author of Cyberskin (another dystopian novel I wrote fifteen years before The Hunger Games, but with a strikingly similar plot!) has just asked me that question”. You see, he believed in the world I’d set up, was totally believing that I knew what I was talking about. And I have to confess I do have friends who are engineers and quite tech-savvy. Quite often I know what I want to say, but I don’t have the background to fathom it out. That’s when it pays to have someone to brainstorm with. technology is only bounded by the imagination.

How do you set up your first book to allow for a possible sequel/sequels?

The easiest way is to write your trilogy as one long book. And then you split it into three. It’s a tough call to write one book as a stand-alone, and then its sequel, and then attempt a third book. Because whatever you have in the first book must stay the same, and you can easily get hemmed in with books two and three. But if you write a 150,000 word novel, you’re no longer restricted. You can simply change earlier text that suddenly clashes with new ideas that have materialised. And any plot does evolve over time. I had a problem with Dragonlinks, book #1 in The Jelindel Chronicles, because Penguin wouldn’t commit to a trilogy (it’s now a quartet — see, here’s that ever-evolving menace again!). The only criticism that book received was that there were a couple of loose ends. They were there because I needed them to loop on to book #2. Fortunately the series was a success and Penguin kept publishing The Jelindel Chronicles.

Do you base your characters on people you know? If not, how do you create them?

There’s a bit of me in some of them, especially the action. I have black belts in taekwondo and ju jitsu, plus I trained in karate, kung fu and kick-boxing. So I like to think I know my action scenes inside out. Clara, in The Glasshouse, was based on a friend of mine. In fact we had an argument and I was moved to write a picture book as a metaphor. But as a rule I don’t base my characters on people I know. I usually compile traits for my main characters. Maximus was mostly bad, for example, so he’s dark, brooding, despicable, ambitious and he lets nothing get in his way. His driving ambition is to rule the universe. And why not — his background was a good breeding ground: his parents were slain and he was forced into slavery. He wants revenge. Once you have these things in your mind, your character will come alive.

Mole Hunt is told from the point of view of two major characters? When using multiple points of view, how do you keep each character’s voices distinct?

I had no problems here. Maximus Black is diametrically opposed to Anneke Longshadow. He’s bad. She’s good. He commits to an action and she responds. I think authors could get into trouble if their characters share similarities. But Max and Anneke only share one — they were both made orphans at an early age.

Why have you made the emotional stakes higher for Anneke than Max?

If you mean by that Anneke’s rescue of the young girl Deena, I think every book needs some sort of emotion. Max’s only emotion is hatred. Without Anneke’s interest in Deena, I felt she lacked something that made her stand out. Her uncle also gets killed, and she shows great emotion there, but really, that’s only revenge.

These all sound like really great tips, Paul. Thanks for visiting and sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

Mole Hunt is published by Ford Street Publishing and more information is available at their website. Mole Hunt is reviewed at Kids’ Book Capers.

HOW TO FINISH A SERIES – TUESDAY WRITING TIP

Today’s great tips and guest post were provided by popular Australian author, Ian Irvine. Ian is visiting on a blog tour to celebrate the release of The Calamitous Queen, the last book in his Grim & Grimmer series.

HOW TO FINISH A SERIES

By Ian Irvine

1. Tying up all the loose ends

There’s nothing more annoying than getting to the end of a series and discovering that half your questions remain unanswered, either because the author forget that he’d raised them in earlier books, or didn’t know how to answer them and hoped no one would notice.

One way to keep track of all the plot threads is to simply read the book through, note down all the questions raised and tick them off as they’re answered. A more visual approach, because you can see how all the threads interact, is to mark them on a huge wall chart. You can also keep them on index cards or in a spreadsheet or database. It doesn’t matter what system you use, as long as you have one.

And this isn’t always easy. My epic fantasy quartet, The Well of Echoes, is 910,000 words, and itself forms the middle section of the 11-book Three Worlds sequence which all up is over 7,000 pages. It would have been impossible to keep track of all the questions raised and loose ends without a good system. More about these books, and the first chapters, here: http://www.ian-irvine.com/threeworlds.html.

When you’re writing a series, remember that you have both story questions and series questions to answer. The story questions must be answered at the end of each book, but the series questions can’t be fully answered until the climax of the final book. The series questions (e.g., will Harry Potter finally defeat Voldemort, and can Harry survive it?) create the suspense that keeps your readers reading to the end.

In Grim and Grimmer, the key story question in Book 1, The Headless Highwayman, is: can Useless Ike overcome his name and nature and make up for accidentally betraying Princess Aurora by rescuing her, or will the Fey Queen kill the princess first? This question is answered at the end of the book (though not to Ike’s entire satisfaction. In the great storytelling tradition, this victory actually makes things worse).

There are three series questions: Can Ike free the Collected Children from the wicked Fey Queen? Can he clear his parents’ names? And can he discover the secret of the Gate Guardians in time to free Grimmery? Despite striving with all his might, Ike makes little progress on any of these goals until well into the final book, The Calamitous Queen. He can’t make better progress, because if he did it would destroy the suspense and readers would feel so let down they might not bother to read on. Covers, blurbs, reviews and first chapters can be found here: http://www.ian-irvine.com/grimgrimmer.html.

2. Deciding when and how to end a series

I normally know how each book and the series is going to end before I begin writing, though I rarely know how I’m going to get to the ending. I do a lot of planning for the first book in a series, but when I start writing I have little idea what will happen in the remaining books. This is deliberate. Planning a book can be a dry and largely analytical process, and for me the story never seems real at this stage. It only becomes real once I’ve written the first draft. In writing it I often have much better ideas than I could have in the planning stage, and I create new characters whose individual choices take the story to places I could not have imagined in advance.

This is an important point to bear in mind – different characters must, necessarily, make different choices in difficult situations, thus taking the story in different directions. Therefore, for me, detailed planning of later books at the beginning is a wasted effort. I only plan each book as I’m about to write it.

But a series isn’t always under the author’s control. I originally planned Grim and Grimmer as a 6-book series, but when I sent my proposal in, in the middle of the GFC, the publisher was concerned about the economic situation and reluctant to commit to more than four books. If I’d planned the series in detail I would have had a lot of cutting to do. Also, it’s not common, if a series is not selling well, for a publisher to suggest that it be cut short. Sometimes the author feels burnt out and can’t bear to write any more in the series, and pulls the plug.

On more felicitous occasions, if a series is doing brilliantly, readers and the publisher will be clamouring for more. For all the above reasons, it pays to not close off the story options too finally, as Conan Doyle did. He killed off Sherlock Holmes when he couldn’t bear to write about him any more, then, after being deafened by the clamour for more Holmes stories, had to find a plausible way to bring the great detective back to life.

3. Deciding outcomes for your characters

Though they’re relatively short books, the Grim and Grimmers have a considerable cast of wild and zany and outright mad characters, and because these were humorous books I wanted to bring all the key characters back at the end (at least, all those who have survived) so I could devise suitably humorous farewells or ironic fates for them.

In The Calamitous Queen there’s a gigantic feast and honours night at the end, after Grimmery has been saved (and most of the story questions resolved), and everyone is there. Not just Ike’s allies, but also his enemies Emajicka the Fey Queen, Grogire the firewyrm, the vicious little imp, Nuckl, plus a host of demons and other villains. This gave me the opportunity to show what happens to each character – such as the fateful romance between the disgustingly unwashed hermit, Gorm, and the violent but fussy old granny, Fluffia Tralalee, each manipulating the other to try and get what they want, and each doomed to failure.

And I wanted to send Ike off with full, humorous honours. He does achieve all his goals in the end. Then, in what is supposed to be Ike’s proudest moment, he’s about to come down the stairs from the upper stage, to be honoured by a grateful princess, when he’s waylaid by our old friend Creepy Cripts the hunchbacked troll. Creepy Cripts demands that Ike fix the troll-bum door he created at the end of The Headless Highwayman. And the only way it can be fixed is from the inside, in front of the assembled nobility and Ike’s gleeful enemies.

4. What happens to the author once the series is finished

I’ve been known to finish a big fantasy series in the morning and start another one that afternoon, though that was a while back and I dare say I’m not so obsessive these days. I know writers who immediately go down with the flu (or total immune system collapse) and can’t get up for days. Others spend a week grieving for the world and the characters they’ve spent years and thousands of hours immersed in. Or run amok. Or get drunk.

I can’t say I’ve ever felt the need for any of the above, but it is important to both celebrate the ending of the series, and punctuate your writing career. Celebrate the ending with a night out or a trip overseas, a massage or a special little reward for all your hard work. And punctuate your career by having a total break from writing for a day, a week, a month or whatever is needed.

Finally, don’t forget to look after the friends and family who have been neglected in your single-minded drive for the perfect ending. They deserve some thought as well.

Then, while you’re waiting for the final book to appear, start work on the next series. And if you have some free time, do pop by to my Facebook author site, where I’m giving away 10 of my books a week all year, plus there’s plenty of other fun things going on: http://www.facebook.com/ianirvine.author.

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Here are the other great blogs Ian is visiting or has visited already on his tour.

CATRIONA HOY’S TIPS ON WRITING OUR GAGS

Catriona Hoy is the author of many wonderful picture books including My Grandad Marches on ANZAC Day, The Music Tree, Mummies are Amazing, Daddies, Puggle and George and Ghost.

Her latest book, Our Gags is her first venture into longer works and it’s published by Walker Books.

Today, Catriona is kindly sharing her tips on how she made the transition from picture books to Walker Stories.

Catriona, your other titles so far have been picture books, while ‘Our Gags’ is an early reader, comprising three short stories. Tell us about it’s journey to publication.

Thanks for having me here today Dee, to talk about my new book… it has had a long journey to publication.

I originally wrote the first of the three stories as a picture book. I submitted it to my editor at the time but sadly it didn’t make it past the aquisitions meeting, so it went back to languish in a bottom drawer. The feedback that I got was that the voice was too old to be a picture book.

After a while, I took it out again, looked at it with fresh eyes and sent it off to another publisher. Again, it got all the way to aquisitions but was ultimately rejected.

However, that publisher soon folded and the editor, Sue Whiting, moved on to Walker Books. I sent Our Gags to Sue again at Walker after another revamp and….then we had an interesting conversation.

Sue told me that she didn’t think it was a picture book either and that in fact, she had probably thought more about my book and analysed it than I had. She thought that it would actually work better in the format that Walker was bring out for early readers, with three short stories. I was asked to submit two other stories about the same characters, with a central theme. And eventually, that’s how it ended up.

So it’s always worth revisiting some old stories in a bottom drawer but also important to listen to feed back

How did writing ‘Our Gags,’ differ from writing a picture book?

It offered more flexibility in terms of the writing as I didn’t have to think so visually. I listened to the voice of the character in my head but didn’t need to be so conscious of pagination and whether or not there were the right number of pages and illustrations.

When I write a picture book, I’m very much thinking in terms of 16 openings and possibilities or opportunities for varied illustrations.

It also offered more opportunity for character development and plot.

Did you experience any difficuties in writing this book, particularly since it had started as a picture book?

At first, I found it difficult to get back into the character’s head. When I first wrote it, I really was almost in that position of being a mum with a new baby. By the time I had to write the second stories, the ‘baby’ was at school.

By the time the revisions came around, we had moved overseas and my girls were quite big! This isn’t unusual though, as often writers need to put works away until they can look at it with fresh eyes.

I also had to have a consistent style and that was something that I had to work at with the three stories. There had to be progression and development over those stories, while still keeping the same overall feel. 

The author and her family featured in the book

How true is the story and do you think that this is important in writing?

I like to write about things that I know, so my family often features in my books. This is the story of how my Mum used to come to help when I had a new baby and struggled with breastfeeding and juggling an energetic toddler. Caitlyn was sometimes babysat by a video, however, my Mum was great and would come and play with Caitlyn, while simultaneously managing to get all my washing off the floors, into the machine, onto the line, dried, folded and put away.

It’s not just about the cleaning though, it’s about the wonderful relationship that my mum formed with her grandchildren. They still love to go to their ‘Gags’ for a sleepover, grab a movie and have a girl’s night in. My mum is getting a bit tiredr but she can be a crocodile, or a horse as needs be for my little niece.

What’s important about all this in writing is that I am familiar with my characters and I’m writing about something I love.

Were there embellishments?

Mum did play great games at the park, including pirates and billy goat’s gruff.

However, she didn’t actually ever have a man think she was having a heart attack when she was pretending to be sat on by an elephant. Although she could do a great ‘death scene,’ complete with flailing arms and groans if the occasion demanded.

How do you find your ‘voice’?

I think you have to know your character from the inside out and be in their head. You have to hear them talking…although I don’t read aloud, I’ll repeat it in my head to see whether I think this is how a child would talk. Although I’m in the book as the mother character, I never actually saw myself as her funnily enough. I was always my little girl Caitlyn.

In terms of the voice for this book, I can now see what those early comments meant in terms of the age of the character. It is very important to own your character and see life through their eyes.

Thanks for sharing your Our Gags journey, Catriona. It’s a wonderful book about the grandmother every family needs. Some great tips too about voice and character.

 

FOR YOU MUM – PEOPLE YOU LOVE CAN INSPIRE YOUR BEST WRITING

Travelling Mum in WA on our "Around Australia Trip"

Mother’s Day is always a bitter sweet time for me. I love being a mum and spending special time with my family, but it also reminds my how much I miss my own mother who never got to know my children or see my first book published .

We used to go on writing retreats together and apart from sharing  a special mother/daughter bond, we shared our creativity and love for storytelling.

That’s why I could really connect with Alison Reynold’s new book, For You Mum, released just in time for Mother’s Day. It’s a collection of pieces that reflect who mums are and what they mean to us.

For You Mum takes you on a journey from conception, through pregnancy, morphing into your mother and even how to feng shui your house against mother-in-laws.

I’ve never had to deal with the ‘evil mother-in-law’ syndrome because my MIL has always been wonderful, but I love Alison’s diagnosis of Pentheraphobia which is the “profound fear of the mother-in-law.”

Apparently, this reasonably common condition manifests itself in the following symptoms: dread, air hunger, elevated or irregular heart rates, trembling, irritation, anger, nausea and sweating.  If you want the cure, you’re going to have to read Alison’s book.

Understandably, housework also rates a mention. My favourite quote on this subject from For You Mum is probably an anonymous quote, “My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance”.

In this book there are even Mum’s household tips on how to get rid of cockroaches and mice and even how to use tin foil to sharpen your scissors.

I guess my favourite section of For You Mum would have to be the one on Remarkable Mums because that’s what mums are. There are the mums who save their children, those who save other people’s and the mothers who never forget.

For You Mum is also full of great Mum and child rearing tips

Some pieces are moving, some are surprising and some are just downright hilarious. There’s everything from how to guess the gender of the baby you’re having to what to buy your mum for Mother’s Day (apart from Alison Reynold’s wonderful new book).

For You Mum is a beautiful looking hardback book published by The Five Mile Press. Author, Alison Reynolds dedicates it with love to her own mum, and this affection shows through in her writing.

Many years after losing my mother I wrote a short story about what she meant to me, and it was highly commended in the Cancer Council’s Daffodil Day short story award.

Don’t be afraid to allow the people you love and have loved to be your inspiration. You might find that the words that flow from your fingers are the best you’ve ever written.

Are there people who have inspired your writing? We’d love to hear about them. Feel free to share your comments and stories at the end of this post.

Happy writing:)

Dee

CATRIONA HOY TALKS ABOUT THE BEST BITS OF HER BLOG TOUR

Today we are pleased to welcome a guest poster at DeeScribewriting.

My good friend and writerly colleague, Catriona Hoy is here to talk about her experiences with blog touring. Catriona is currently on her second blog tour with her beautiful new picture book, George and Ghost.

WHAT BLOG TOURING IS REALLY LIKE

by Catriona Hoy

I’m fairly new to the blogging world myself and only blog sporadically so the thought of starting a blog tour last year was something that was fairly daunting. I am in awe of those bloggers like Dee, here, who have the dedication and drive to come up with new and interesting things to talk about.

So the first thing about starting a blog tour was to get over the guilt… that I myself wasn’t a great blogger.

Next, I had to conquer the fear that I people wouldn’t be interested or that I wouldn’t find anything to say. Eventually, as with many of those non-writing aspects of being a writer, I just had to decide to jump in with both feet.

By the end of my blog tour for my picture book, Puggle ,  I’d learnt a lot. Firstly that there are lots of bloggers out there and lots of people who read blogs. I really enjoyed some of the questions that were thrown at me and I found the comments interesting that other people made about my book.

So this year when I start my blog tour for my new picture book, George and Ghost, I’ll be doing so with renewed enthusiasm. I’ll make sure I publicise as widely as I can. I’ve also organized for the publisher to include a few give aways.

All in all, I still like a book launch but a blog tour is a way to reach many more people and meet new people along the way.

Things I’ve tried to think about have been varying the type of blog that you visit. While it’s great to generate interest amongst the writing fraternity, it’s important to reach a wider audience.

Also I’ve made the tour shorter as last year I was exhausted by the end. I’ve tried not to repeat myself too much, although inevitable there are some types of similar questions.

In the week before the blog tour, some of the bloggers that I was going to visit put up tasters on their blogs, so that also helps to advertise. So…when I self-googled (we all do, don’t we?) there were a lot more listing for the book. It also creates an opportunity to refer to older titles and hopefully generate some re interest in those.

Thanks for letting me ramble on Dee. I’m no expert but I certainly see the value in blog tours. I’m on a learning journey like everyone else.

My next foray will be into the world of book trailers…I think!

Thanks for visiting, Catriona and sharing your experiences with us.

Catriona is now popping over to my other blog at http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/ where she’s going to be talking about ghosts and you can win one of FIVE copies of Catriona’s fabulous new book!

TUESDAY WRITING TIP – STREETS ON A MAP – DALE’S DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING A NOVEL

Today, I’m pleased to welcome Dale Harcombe to Tuesday Writing Tips. Dale is a writer friend and a woman with many words of wisdom who has generously agreed to share her writing tips with us.

I had lots of questions for Dale about writing and about how she created her new novel for adults, Streets On a Map.

You have a large cast of characters – all with separate voices and roles in the story. How do you keep them so distinct from each other and stop them from getting out of control?

It’s a matter of getting to know your characters so well they are real people. I have lived with these characters for a long while both inside my head and on paper. Early on in the piece, I started to write a dossier or notes about each of the main characters as I discovered them. I say discovered because I’m not a person who plot and plans everything out. I start with a character or two and go from there and see what happens.

For the person who likes to plot everything out in advance I would suggest making a dossier of each of the characters, family, likes, interests, description, hobbies, personality type etc first. It helps to have those notes so you suddenly don’t change eye or hair colour or forget names of the husband or children of a character.

If nothing obvious comes to mind or when stuck for a name I consult a baby name book and I always try to not have two names starting with the same letter, unless there is a reason for it, e.g. mother and daughter perhaps. There is a site where you can find out which names were popular in what era. http://au.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkzQcqCJNbRwB09IL5gt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWgwN285BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkAw–/SIG=11ic3n5s6/EXP=1294203292/**http%3a//www.babynamewizard.com/

The character of Abby came from a woman I saw once in Centrepoint Tavern years ago plus a whole lot of imagination and asking what if? Of course sometimes that means past observations and experiences also come into play

Laila and most of the other characters just stepped into the pages as I started to write. I’m always interested to see what the mind throws up and how they fit into the jigsaw that is a novel.

I love the title of your book, Streets on a Map. I find titles one of the hardest things to get right with a book. Can you tell us how you decide on a title…and this one in particular?

I often find titles hard to arrive at too, whether it is the title of a book manuscript or of a poem. It is often the last thing that is added. But in this case it was always Streets on a Map. It came like a gift. That’s always special when that happens instead of having to rack my brains, as I have had to with some other titles. The title reflects the way that people are interconnected especially in a small town and it also occurs in the text.

Your setting descriptions are very vivid. Have you been to the places you describe or do you just have a great ability to visualise? Is Astley based on a place you know?

Setting is an important aspect of any story, almost like another character itself. I lived for a number of years in the Central West of NSW in a village of 650 people and in Orange which has a population of 38000. During that time I spent a lot of time travelling around to various country towns and villages as a sales rep for Macmillan Education. The town of Astley is a fictional town. It is not based on any one town but a combination of observations from some of the towns I saw during that time and a combination of characteristics of a few. There is a certain commonality to country towns.

There are lots of story threads and themes in your book. Can you give us some tips on how you went about plotting it?

Now there’s the rub. I don’t plot.  I start with a character and then start to write. I’m often as surprised as anyone, as to where my characters take me and the things they say and do.  I let them guide the story where it wants to go. In the course of the story then certain themes come out because of the characters and their personality traits. I find it impossible to sit down and plot a story out. I tried it once or twice, but once it’s plotted out I have lost all impetus to write it. It’s the same as talking about a story while I am working on it. Again it is something I never do, because then I lose interest. I am happy to talk about it after it is published but not before. I write to find out about my characters and what I want to say. It’s perhaps not the most efficient way to work but the only way I can do it. I think that’s where writers fall into two categories. Some are plotters and others of us fly by the seat of our pants, so to speak. I find if the characters are real to me then they will take over and dictate the story.

Can you tell us a bit about the writing process for Streets on a Map? How long did it take from start to finish?

Streets on a Map was started some years ago and has undergone a number of drafts and edits in the meantime. Because I don’t plot that sometimes means things will need to be cut out is they are not revealing more about a character, of they are not adding something to the plot, or the dialogue is not telling the reader something about relationships. Or a scene might need to be moved to another more dramatic position in the story.

As to how long it has taken, again hard to say as it has been around a few years and other writing has been happening in the meantime. After I complete the draft on the computer, which is by then the second draft, as I always write the first draft longhand, I put it way for a few weeks at least and work on something else before I go back and start to revise and edit.

What is the word length of Streets on a Map? Do you have any tips for writers trying to sustain a story of this length?

It is now around 90,000 words, though it started off as over 110,000 words. The easiest way is to work in scenes. Each scene needs to advance the story, the end of each chapter needs a hook to make the reader want to turn the page and see what happens next.

I never just work on one manuscript at a time. I always have either poems or a children’s manuscript happening as well. That way if I get stuck I simply move over to the other piece of writing until the brain has worked out whatever the blockage seems to be. Going for a walk often helps clarify thinking of the story too.

Keeping a journal is good too for descriptions. Not that I ever go back and re-read them but just the fact of having written down a description of a person or a place etches it in memory. It’s like writing a shopping list. I often write them out and leave them at home. But the fact of having written it imprints it on my mind – mostly. There’s the odd glitch.

Another trick I found and it is and one I often used when teaching creative writing classes is to leave off in the middle of a sentence. That way when I come back the next day I am not staring at a black page. Yes, I did mean page not screen. All my manuscripts are written long hand first and only after the first draft is complete transferred to computer. This is because not being a touch typist I can’t type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts. But I can scribble that fast. Plus I need the feel of the actual pen in my hand to get the thoughts flowing.

If I’m writing an article as I do for www.famlies.com where I write for the marriage blog and home and a couple of other areas, then I write straight on the screen but fiction or anything more creative definitely needs to be pen in hand as the old Bobby Goldsboro song said.

Thanks, Dale for sharing your amazing journey and tips with us. Find out more about Dale’s fantastic new book, Streets On a Map by coming back here this afternoon to read my review. Hope you can join us then.

Happy writing:)

Dee

TUESDAY WRITING TIP – MARKETING A SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK

Today at DeeScribe Writing, we welcome Tania McCartney who has successfully self-published a number of books. Tania is here to share her tips on how to market your new self-published book. She is joining us on her blog tour to promote her new book, Riley and the Curious Koala.

There are many challenges that face the self-publisher, but, without question, the toughest is marketing and publicity. I’m not the best saleswoman in the world but I do love marketing, and thank goodness I do, as my Riley books would never have succeeded if marketing was a bane for me.

When you’re only one person, marketing a self-published book is pretty much full time work. There’s no team of professionals behind you, no well-established network of media and book seller contacts. It’s all down to you – and you need to work hard and ceaselessly.

Many self-published authors set up a website and sell directly from there. They don’t even approach book sellers or distributors – and if they do, many are put off by the sky-high percentage cut.

But selling a book isn’t about what kind of percentage return you make. It’s about carving a niche into the market for yourself… and getting your name and work known and respected. Money, if it ever comes at all, is certainly secondary (and on that note, if you want to self-publish to get rich, you might as well bow out gracefully now).

There’s a wonderful saying: if people see your name once, they may notice. If they see it twice, they wonder where they’ve heard that name before. If they see if three times, they often think “this must be important, I’d better take notice”.

I live by that mantra when I market my books. Selling copies, frankly, is a bonus – and people often make the mistake of allowing marketing and sales to blur into one. Sure, sales are a result of clever marketing, but these two elements are actually totally independent of each other, and if you can detach them, you will be far more successful in marketing your work. Marketing often has no immediate or direct financial payback. It’s a slow build.

MARKETING

Marketing is, of course, multifaceted, but there are several things I do to approach the marketing machine when it comes to my self-published work.

The first thing I do is make sure I have web presence. I have an author website, a personal blog, Kids Book Review and also a blog dedicated to my small publishing company, that features only book information. I keep these sites meticulously updated and I also refresh their look quite frequently. Not only do the sites feature info on my work – they also offer the reader something, like lesson plans and fun activities for kids.

The second thing I do is network within the industry – online and in person (say – at events or conferences). This is absolutely vital because not only do people get to know you – you learn an incredible amount, and you’ll truly reel at the incredible support from a plethora of amazing people in the industry – from authors to publishers.

But networking is reciprocal and you also need to offer others your support. I do that with great pleasure via Kids Book Review (http://kids-bookreview.com) which is dedicated to supporting literary talent and offering a site stacked with fun and resources for our readers. Forming Kids Book Review has also allowed me to get to know publishers and marketing professionals in the industry – which has been priceless for my own self-published work.

For me, employing a distributor is the smartest thing I ever did. Sure, I earn less money on each book sold, but we’re not talking sales here, we’re talking marketing. Dennis Jones & Associates have helped me saturate my books all over the country. I could never have achieved this saturation without their well-established aid, and it’s been worth every dollar lost… a) because I’ve sold more books and b) because I’ve managed to connect with so many more potential buyers.

My first Riley book – Riley and the Sleeping Dragon – was featured in the Australian Booksellers Kids Reading Guide 2009/2010 thanks to Dennis Jones; something I could never have achieved without them.

HOW TO MARKET A NEW RELEASE BOOK

These things form the basis of my presence as an author, but when it comes to actually marketing a new release book, there are several things I do.

I create events for my new book. I don’t spend a fortune, but I spend a lot of time on a really sensational book launch. I approach local businesses to sponsor by offering prize giveaways or services (like a photographer or entertainer) or food. It’s amazing how supportive people are, especially if you showcase their logos on your marketing material. Sponsoring is great exposure for them, too.

I write a really good press release (google how to do it professionally) and send it to anyone and everyone I can think of. I contact local media with it and also offer book giveaways, which they love. You can contact newspapers, local free mags, radio, even television to say you have a new book out. As you get to know these contacts, they will be more willing to support subsequent books.

I send copies of the book to media, Australia-wide, mostly magazines. Think outside the square when it comes to who to send books to – it doesn’t have to be just kids or parenting magazines. If you do this, you cannot expect anything in return. You have to just cross your fingers and if you get lucky enough to have your book featured, that’s a bonus.

I approach like-minded websites and blogs and send them review copies or ask them if they would host a blog tour. I have never been knocked back – people are so supportive.

I support charities by doing free readings or donating books. I always give books to people who ask – for fund raising events. Not only is it important to support charities, but it’s also great exposure. I rarely say no to any event that asks me to attend – either with my books or without, like when I was asked to judge the Miles Franklin Writing Competition at a local school. I even do local market stalls and often sell loads of books – and if I don’t, it’s still great exposure.

I set up heaps of school and library visits and read my new book. I never charge for these, as I do feel they are a marketing technique and schools should not have to pay for them. Many schools are willing to send home a flyer offering books for sale, so kids can have books signed by a visiting author. Some won’t do it but many do – and it’s a really lovely bonus. Don’t expect it (but there’s no harm in asking).

If you have the time, you can extend your ‘brand’ by offering educational courses or workshops, either through schools or writing centres. I did a writer in residence programme with one school that was very successful and was great exposure, not to mention an enormously rewarding experience.

I contact local bookstores about hosting a reading and signing, plus I always give away a book or two and hand out goodie bags to the kids who attend. Most bookstores are really proactive and will help you advertise the event. Unless you’re Andy Griffith, you can’t expect masses of kids at these readings and sales may not be huge, but once again, it’s the exposure that counts.

I always create posters for any event I do, and make sure the host has some to put up at their school or in their bookstore. I send out emails to everyone I know announcing any readings or launches.

As you become more well known, it’s a good idea to start expressing an interest in speaking at writer’s festivals and events. This can be great exposure for your books. Also, join your state writer’s centre, the Children’s Book Council of Australia and other writing groups like the Australian Society of Authors. Ask the CBCA in your state about becoming a visiting author for Book Week.

Of course, I blog, facebook and twitter my heart out when I launch a book – I have book giveaways on my blog, too.

If you do or can write elsewhere or in other genres, use that exposure to help your books. I am a senior editor with Australian Women Online who really support me with exposure, and of course, Kids Book Review is a great platform for getting my news out there.

The last bit of advice I have about marketing your self-published work is to do things with quality, all the way. I know this sounds like a given but trust me, I review plenty of self-published books and it’s NOT a given… self-published authors need to produce excellent, major-publishing-house-quality books because anything less will bomb, no matter how great your marketing expertise.

Of course, the books also need to be well-written and beautiful! But quality is vital – from the book’s storyline to the printing and all your added extras like websites, business cards, auxiliary products – even the way you deal with people.

For example, if an author sends me a generic review request without a direct salutation or is not polite, I would never consider reviewing their book. Be professional and gracious every time – and if someone reviews your book, why not send them a thank you note? This is how relationships are built and authors are remembered amongst the staggering mountain.

BUILD A BRAND FOR YOURSELF

Building a brand for yourself via clever marketing is the way of the future for authors – or those who want to stand out from the rest and/or don’t have a major publishing house and millions of dollars behind them. Get active, stay involved and build your name rather than spend your time hocking book copies. If you can build that respect and renown, selling book copies will be a breeze.

www.taniamccartney.com
www.kids-bookreview.com
www.australianwomenonline.com

Riley and the Curious Koala will be available Australia wide from 21st November.

About Riley and the Curious Koala: A journey around Sydney

Riley and the Curious Koala is the third in the Riley travelogue series of picture books, taking young children on a journey to far flung destinations. Riley’s first adventure began in Beijing with Riley and the Sleeping Dragon, continued on through Hong Kong with Riley and the Dancing Lion, and now enters home turf, with a fun-filled adventure through the beautiful city of Sydney.

Will Riley find this terribly elusive and quite curious fluffy creature amongst the gorgeous watery vistas of one of the world’s most beautiful cities? Panda, Dragon and Lion from earlier books join this little aviator on his sensational Sydney search… and their discovery is a curious (and funny!) one, indeed.

Tania’s new book features stunning black and white photos, pictures of a real life tin aeroplane and hilarious illustrations by illustrator Kieron Pratt.

Part of the profits for Riley and the Curious Koala will go to the Australian Koala Foundation https://www.savethekoala.com/.

On tour, Tania and Riley are stopping at lots of other great blogs.

Riley and the Curious Koala Blog Tour Schedule

Monday 15 November

Writing Out Loud http://writingloud.blogspot.com/

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Monday 15 November

The Book Chook http://www.thebookchook.com/
Crafting a Book Using Photos

Monday 15 November

Handmade Canberra Blog http://canberrahandmademarket.blogspot.com/

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Tuesday 16 November

Dee Scribe http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

Marketing a Self-Published Book

Tuesday 16 November

Reading Upside Down http://www.readingupsidedown.com/

A CURIOUS LIFE

Tuesday 16 November

Australian Women Online http://www.australianwomenonline.com

HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH A CHILDREN’S SERIES AND REMAIN SANE

Wednesday 17 November

Little People Books http://littlepeoplebooks.com/

Reading to Little Ones

Wednesday 17 November

Miss Helen Writes http://misshelenwrites.wordpress.com/

TRAVEL, BOOKS AND CHILDREN

Wednesday 17 November

Retro Mummy http://retromummy.blogspot.com/

FAVOURITE CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Thursday 18 November

Soup Blog http://soupblog.wordpress.com/

Story Writing Ideas

Thursday 18 November

Bernadette Kelly’s Blog http://www.bernadettekelly.com.au/news/

ILLUSTRATING THE RILEY SERIES

Thursday 18 November

Posie Patchwork: The Blog http://posiepatchworkblog.blogspot.com/

EXTENDING YOUR BRAND and BOOK GIVE AWAY!

Friday 19 November

Sally Murphy’s Writing for Children Blog http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Approaching Publishers

Friday 19 November

The Little Bookroom http://littlebookrm.blogspot.com/

A Conversation with Leesa Lambert on Great Picture Books

Saturday 20 November

Sue Whiting’s Blog http://suewhiting.blogspot.com/

The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing

Saturday 20 November

Sheryl Gwyther’s Blog http://sherylgwyther.wordpress.com/

FROM BEIJING TO CANBERRA

Saturday 20 November

Kids Book Review http://kids-book-review.blogspot.com/

LIVE QUESTION TIME WITH TANIA!

Sunday 21 November

Sandy Fussell’s Blog http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com/

An Interview with Riley!

Sunday 21 November

Kids Book Review http://kids-book-review.blogspot.com/

RilEY AND THE CURIOUS KOALA BOOK GIVEAWAYS!

Sunday 21 November, 6pm

Tania McCartney Blog http://taniamccartney.blogspot.com/

Book Launch Party