Authoring Onward

Hi, folks!  I’ll be scheduling new author interviews soon, but this time it’s just me talking about lessons learned from Comicpalooza. It turns out I had a lot to say about selling books at conventions, book fairs, and festivals. I hope it helps some of you all getting ready to do similar events yourself.

And here’s a link to the podcast that interviewed me during Comicpalooza: Kyle Gets Con’ed

More pics from the show below. Steve is helping me dressed as the Mad Hatter.

Scroll on down for the play button!

Hi! In the longest episode so far (I think), today I chat with Brian Meeks about the importance of copywriting for authors. He’s very generous with his time and provides loads of examples and humor, so we went on for a while.  I hope you listen all the way to the end and get a lot out of it. As children’s and YA authors, we can sometimes be a little resistant to proper marketing, feeling like we have a calling that is “above the commercial,” but if you don’t get people to read your work, it can’t inspire a child to become a lifelong reader. This is an important listen for writers for all age groups.

We talk a lot about Brian’s new book for authors: Mastering Amazon Descriptions. It’s one that I have found very helpful and will be a re-read for me this summer when I’m optimizing my backlist.

In my own update, I just finished running a booth at Comicpalooza here in Houston. It was quite the experience! I’ll be telling you all about it, about selling books at these kinds of shows and hand-selling skills in a solo episode in two weeks.

For now, enjoy the interview with Brian.  Here’s a little more about him. Scroll on down to the bottom of the page to play the episode.

Brian D. Meeks is an author who writes under his name and the pen name Arthur Byrne.

He discovered a knack for weaving tales quite by accident on Jan 2, 2010, and has been writing every day since. Becoming a novelist has changed his life.

As of September, 2015, Brian has written and published eleven novels and one non-fiction title.

His first novels were the books in the Henry Wood Detective series. After that, he wrote a thriller called A Touch to Die For and a YA titled Secret Doors: The Challenge. During this time he also maintained the blog that started it all, ExtremelyAverage.com.

One reader of the blog asked why he hadn’t written anything more snarky, since there were often piles of snark in his blagh posts. Brian didn’t have a good answer and so Arthur Byrne was born.

Arthur Byrne started out as the protagonist in Brian’s first satire, Underwood, Scotch, and Wry. He became a pen name with the release of Killing Hemingway and later wrote the first trilogy in a new science fiction series, The Magellan Apocalypse. Arthur also writes a lot of the snarky newsletters because Brian just can’t be bothered with such things.

Brian lives in a small town in Iowa, plays tennis and golf, and loves gathering data about his books. He’s a data junkie. He is also a huge fan of guinea pigs.

Hi! This week I’ve finally got a fellow young adult author on the podcast. Anna Lacroire talks writing for teens, following your muse and writing shifting perspective novels.

Also, in my own quick update, my first author school visit went well, and I have a few tips for what I’ll do differently to make the next one even better.

So here’s a bit about Anna. Scroll on down to the bottom for the interview.

Anna is from London, UK where she loves to experience and discover the endless realms of the imaginary world through fiction – Why not join her!

Anna has recently released book 1 of the Tower of Glass series, The Queen of Hope which diversifies across a few different genres: young adult, fantasy, science fiction and myth and legend. Dip your toes into a whole new world with Anna.

Connect with Anna on her website and blog: http://annalacroire.com

And grab the first in her Tower of Glass series here!

Hi, folks. I’m a few hours later than usual releasing this episode, but I’m on my own with the kiddos for a bit again and exhaustion happens. I also realized in my intro I wished everyone a belated Happy Easter and Happy Passover… but Passover is still happening. Whoops.

Aside from some small mistakes, I think I have a great interview for you all with middle grade author Laurel Decher about the first in her planned series centered on stepping out of your comfort zone.

Laurel is incredibly thorough as a guest an provided a bunch of bullet points and links if you’d like to read as you listen. If you’d rather just listen, scroll on down to the bottom for the audio player.

And don’t forget to grab Laurel’s book, The Trouble with Parsnips!

 

Questions:

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your books.

I’m from the U.S. but I live in Germany. I write middle grade fiction (for ages 9 to 12). I’m working on a series of “Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales” with a “growth mindset” theme. The first one was published October 2018. It’s called TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, a story about the magic of speaking up.

2. How did you first get started writing?

* Got back into writing fiction when a friend invited me to a writing workshop.

* Started writing after my first child was born when brother-in-law gave me a writing book covered with hand-made paper with flowers embedded in it.

* Went the whole route: short fiction—query—writing conferences to meet agents and editors. Moved to Germany, met The Winged Pen colleagues at the online WriteOnCon conference and joined SCBWI Germany & Austria.

* It’s a cliché but family health issues made me realize time was short. Taking ten years per manuscript and not getting them out there was demoralizing. I felt like I had taken all the available risks at my level.

* What drew you to write for this/these age group(s)?

* 2nd child started scouting, but there was no leader after 1st grade, so I became a leader. My co-leader and I asked ourselves “What has scouting got to offer that the kids can’t get in all of the other fancy after-school programs?” “What if we let the kids lead the meetings?”

* At the same time, I started going to Toastmasters, a club that teaches public speaking. Before this, I thought people who ran meetings were born knowing how. Aha moment!

* So many castles! When I first saw the castle in Cochem, it had rooks flying around the tower and rows of pink cherry trees blooming down by the river. Everything said: “Fairy tale!”

* What is something special that your books offer kids? Why should a parent/teacher/librarian/etc. pick them up?

* For TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, I had two goals.

* Delight the reader in every possible way. I wanted this book to be FUN to read. First manuscript where I asked critique partners to mark whatever they found funny. Aiming for the positive feedback was a huge turnaround. We’re all taught to be tough and take feedback and maybe even get the nastiest feedback possible, but the opposite works surprisingly well. It’s fun too.

* Help the reader imagine their way into a world where speaking up is possible even if they never want to be in the debate or drama club.

* In the book, another character tells the nameless princess to “Say one thing”.

* The idea for the book came out of a conversation with a friend. We were talking about how easy it is to “broadcast on more than one channel” when you’re trying to say something difficult. Anticipate other people’s objections before they’ve had a chance to have any. It leaves a kind of conversation fog in the air and the speaker feels like no one heard them at all. Because probably no one did.

Hi, folks.

Today I’ve got middle grade author Daniel Rowell on the podcast. We talk the special magic of the middle grade age and writing themes of forgiveness and science fiction and fantasy writing.

In terms of my update, right after I recorded my intro, we had to reschedule my author school visit for a couple weeks later, so I’ll give you all the lessons learned from that in the first episode in May rather than next episode.

 

Happy writing!

About D. P. Rowell

I once thought I could take over the world with rock n roll. In 2014, I left my hometown of Elgin, SC, to Austin, TX, to expand the empire via sick riffs and catchy hooks. In 2016, I started writing a novel I’d had an idea for when I was in high school. I knew I loved great stories my whole life (who doesn’t, right?). But it wasn’t until I started writing my first novel I realized I love telling stories. I’ve written many novels now, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. In 2017, I was one of 25 students, selected from a pool of 5,000 applicants, to pioneer an educational revolution in San Francisco that specializes in Data Analytics & Business Intelligence. My journey to becoming an author has led me, by an odd series of interests, from coast to coast. So whenever I’m not writing, I’m either nerding out over data or writing songs. I still plan on taking over the world. Now I just have more avenues.

Find Daniel here: http://dprowell.com

 

Hi! Today on the podcast, I talk with middle grade author Marti Dumas about her wonderful books, writing middle grade, and challenging some assumptions about how children want to read.

In the intro, I went a little longer this week, reflecting on my own writing process and sharing with you all a lesson learned this week. Let me know if it is helpful. It’s also the first time I recorded an intro while giving a toddler a horsey ride. It was tough, but I think it worked out okay!

A bit about Marti:

Marti Dumas is a mom, teacher, and writer from New Orleans. She knows, not thinks, that all kids are smart and does her best to show it in the stories she writes. So far she has written 9 books for children including the Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest series, but her goal is to write 49 or 50. (She can’t decide which. 50 is such a nice, round number, but 49 is a perfect square…) And, not that you asked, but she also makes a killer bean pie and shares the recipe freely.

Find her at http://www.martidumasbooks.com/

 

Today on the podcast, I’m talking with Angela Castillo who has written fiction for kids and adults, and even some nonfiction for busy parents who want to be authors. We talk about her start as a writer, her inspiration for her books, and more.  Have a listen.

 

Angela Castillo loves living in the small town of Bastrop Texas, and draws much of her writing inspiration from life there. She loves to walk in the woods and shop in the local stores. Castillo studied Practical Theology and Music at Christ for the Nations in Dallas, Texas. She was home-schooled all through high school and is the oldest of 7 kids. Castillo’s greatest joys are her little girl and two boys. Castillo has been published in The First Line, Aardvark’s Ark, Heartwarmers, Thema, and several other publications, and also has works available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format. Watch book trailers on my Amazon author page! Find out more at www.angelacastillowrites.weebly.com. Access devotionals, poetry and more at https://www.patreon.com/angelacastillowrites

A fascinating interview today with Deb Potter, writing as D.M. Potter. She writes interactive fiction, choose your own adventure books for the upper middle grade, lower YA crowd. We have a fascinating discussion about second person fiction and the special things it offers to child readers, like the opportunity to take risks without really risking anything and the ability to slip seamlessly into a story, regardless of a child’s gender, ethnicity or other demographics. No matter who you are, the story is about you!

Check out Deb’s books.

And the You Say Which Way website.

Deb Potter lives in New Zealand, which is just above Antarctica, but isn’t quite as cold. It has penguins though! She grew up roaming farmland and forest and in the summers she swam in a huge lake made out of a blown up volcano. She’s one of five authors writing the You Say Which Way books.

Deb is interested in the evolution of stories. When she first played with an eReader she couldn’t wait to make stories that didn’t have to start at A and finish at B.

Potter read her early work in school libraries and classrooms to learn about the cognitive process of choice and get advice and criticism from readers.

“I was really lucky that I could connect with an audience before I’d ever published a book. It was a great way to find out what worked and how readers approach choice.”

She found that simply writing a large selection of choices and endings didn’t cut it with modern day readers. “Kids are smart consumers of story and meaning.”

‘Once Upon an Island’ was the first You Say Which Way book. It’s set on a remote island in New Zealand which Potter visited a long time ago.

“Most kids don’t get to go outside and take risks anymore. The book offers a chance to do that. It’s a bundle of fantasy adventures that start in realistic ways – catching a ferry, going fishing or heading out to explore. Kids take pleasure in making choices and being autonomous.”

‘In the Magician’s House’ allows the reader to explore a house which can change as well as the story.

“I loved writing about the magician’s house, it started out as a small part of a much bigger story but then the house took over and I had to stay and find out more about what was inside,” Deb says. Some of the characters and ideas stayed with her and she is currently writing a companion book: ‘The Magician’s Cat’.

Potter teamed up with writer Blair Polly to create other interactive books including Lost in Lion Country, Pirate Island and Secrets of Glass Mountain.

Potter believes children’s books will become more interactive in time.

“Kids don’t come to books like they used to, TV was a bit of a distraction to me as a reader in the 70s but now there are a lot more distractions. I love games and apps but I also love the pleasure of a good book. I think interactive fiction is a good way to excite kids about story and learn the pay-off from immersion.”

The books are written to be fun first, but using second person also allows them to be gender neutral and to cater for family and ethnic diversity. “A boy came up to me after a class visit and told me how excited he was because he ‘fit’ in ‘Lost in Lion Country’. He explained he had three brothers who lived in one house and a sister who lived in another and that when he was reading it felt like the book was written for him, that he loved feeling like he ‘fit’ with the book. Another time a father rang up to say that he liked the way his daughters could be active in the books.”

Deb has a certificate in Children’s Literature from Chri...

A fascinating interview today with Deb Potter, writing as D.M. Potter. She writes interactive fiction, choose your own adventure books for the upper middle grade, lower YA crowd. We have a fascinating discussion about second person fiction and the special things it offers to child readers, like the opportunity to take risks without really risking anything and the ability to slip seamlessly into a story, regardless of a child’s gender, ethnicity or other demographics. No matter who you are, the story is about you!

Check out Deb’s books.

And the You Say Which Way website.

Deb Potter lives in New Zealand, which is just above Antarctica, but isn’t quite as cold. It has penguins though! She grew up roaming farmland and forest and in the summers she swam in a huge lake made out of a blown up volcano. She’s one of five authors writing the You Say Which Way books.

Deb is interested in the evolution of stories. When she first played with an eReader she couldn’t wait to make stories that didn’t have to start at A and finish at B.

Potter read her early work in school libraries and classrooms to learn about the cognitive process of choice and get advice and criticism from readers.

“I was really lucky that I could connect with an audience before I’d ever published a book. It was a great way to find out what worked and how readers approach choice.”

She found that simply writing a large selection of choices and endings didn’t cut it with modern day readers. “Kids are smart consumers of story and meaning.”

‘Once Upon an Island’ was the first You Say Which Way book. It’s set on a remote island in New Zealand which Potter visited a long time ago.

“Most kids don’t get to go outside and take risks anymore. The book offers a chance to do that. It’s a bundle of fantasy adventures that start in realistic ways – catching a ferry, going fishing or heading out to explore. Kids take pleasure in making choices and being autonomous.”

‘In the Magician’s House’ allows the reader to explore a house which can change as well as the story.

“I loved writing about the magician’s house, it started out as a small part of a much bigger story but then the house took over and I had to stay and find out more about what was inside,” Deb says. Some of the characters and ideas stayed with her and she is currently writing a companion book: ‘The Magician’s Cat’.

Potter teamed up with writer Blair Polly to create other interactive books including Lost in Lion Country, Pirate Island and Secrets of Glass Mountain.

Potter believes children’s books will become more interactive in time.

“Kids don’t come to books like they used to, TV was a bit of a distraction to me as a reader in the 70s but now there are a lot more distractions. I love games and apps but I also love the pleasure of a good book. I think interactive fiction is a good way to excite kids about story and learn the pay-off from immersion.”

The books are written to be fun first, but using second person also allows them to be gender neutral and to cater for family and ethnic diversity. “A boy came up to me after a class visit and told me how excited he was because he ‘fit’ in ‘Lost in Lion Country’. He explained he had three brothers who lived in one house and a sister who lived in another and that when he was reading it felt like the book was written for him, that he loved feeling like he ‘fit’ with the book. Another time a father rang up to say that he liked the way his daughters could be active in the books.”

Deb has a certificate in Children’s Literature from Chri...

In between writing Dead Man’s Jazz and refilling my kids’ bubble machine, I’ve got a great interview for y’all today with picture book author Andi Cann. She’s written numerous children’s books with some truly fun character names. Have a listen and enjoy reading and writing. I’ll be back in two weeks with another awesome author.

Andi grew up in the Midwest area of the United States. Her early life was rich with books, reading, and library visits. Nancy Drew was one of her best friends! Mrs. Gladieux, the town librarian, encouraged her love of reading, allowing her to check out many more books than were allowed! Andi’s stories are about children learning to embrace their uniqueness, find friends, or stand up for themselves. She loves art and architecture. You will find that her books either feature artists or the illustrations themselves are very artistic.

Andi’s memorable characters include Mr. Hoopeyloops, Rex, Alabama Oh, Jojo, Puddles, and MerryLyn, with many more on the horizon.

After a robust career in business, Andi has returned to her first love by creating books that make a difference for people. Andi, the mother of two grown children, lives in Arizona with her husband, chickens, a chocolate lab named Willow, and countless free range bunnies. She loves art, animals, traveling, and reading good books!

Andi’s Amazon page

Andi’s website