Cross Genre
Cross-genre. You’ll hear the term a lot in writing circles. But what is it? It’s book that melds the elements of more than one genre together. Books are coded by something known as a BISAC code that allows libraries to appropriately shelve a book and search engines to find it. The list is extensive and usually books can have two BISAC codes. (You can check out the list for fiction here: bisg.org/page/Fiction But be warned—it’s extensive!)
My forthcoming book Shark’s Hunt, book #3 of the Shark Santoyo Crime Series, can appropriately be filed under FIC031010 FICTION / Thrillers / Crime, but it’s possible that it could be filed under FIC027260 FICTION / Romance / Action & Adventure or FIC022000 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General. Or I could just go for a broad category and label it: FIC044000 FICTION / Women. Am I the only one who finds it odd that women are a category of fiction? There isn’t a category for Men. Or is all fiction assumed to be men’s fiction and we need to let people know that this book over here is just for women? Seems odd, but we’ll just leave that one alone for now.
But beyond the BISAC codes, which while useful, are not the end all definition of a book, there is marketing and that’s where things get persnickety. An author and a marketer need to be able to tell and sell someone on a book in 30 seconds or less.
The Shark Santoyo Crime Series is a witty, romantic saga about a violent suburban underworld. Shark Santoyo and Peregrine Hays are the Romeo and Juliet of the criminal set and they are determined to find justice, revenge, and true love. There’s just an entire mob and a few dirty FBI agents in the way.
So from my “elevator pitch” you should know that there’s going to be violence, romance, crime, and a touch of humor. But all of those things are hard to encompass in a single book description and a cover. Which is why you’ll see cross-genre books “pushed” toward one genre. There’s a girl in the book – make it sexy on the cover! Don’t mention the humor – humor doesn’t sell! On the other hand, when a book succeeds you’ll hear people knowingly say, “Well, it’s really cross-genre.” Of course, it’s cross-genre! No book is ever one thing entirely. It’s as though an author just can’t win.
On the other hand, if you think cross-genre witty, romantic saga about a violent suburban underworld sounds fun, then check out Shark’s Instinct and Shark’s Bite and pre-order Shark’s Hunt today.
Promo Blues
Yesterday, AB Plum talked about the woes of promoting. She’s not alone in finding that the grind of “getting yourself out there” is not fun. Most authors find that to be the hardest part of the job. We’re the kind of people who invent people to talk to. Talking to real people is just so, so, so much harder. Real people rarely say what we tell them to say for one thing. She also mentioned that she’s working on her marketing plan.
I see your hands coming up. “What is a marketing plan?” you ask. Excellent question.
A marketing plan is a comprehensive document or blueprint that outlines a business advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year. It describes business activities involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within a set time frame.
So for an author a marketing objective would be something like get more people to sign up for a mailing list, or have more people review your book. (Side note / Public service Announcement: if you love an author, review their books. It’s the nicest thing you can do!) To accomplish those goals, you have to take steps like advertise, blog, and/or hound your friends. A marketing plan collates these steps, ads assigned dates, and at least takes a stab at figuring out how much they’ll cost so that a budget can be created.
I don’t know how AB feels about marketing plans, but my thoughts are two-fold. My first thought, upon completion of a plan, is incredibly smug. I’m soooo organized. Who wouldn’t want to be as organized as me. My second thought is usually about two seconds later. How did I miss that deadline? Why is this going down in flames? What do you mean the cost of that ad went up? Ahhhhhhhh!!!!
All of which is to say that behind every successful book there is an author who is using a wet blanket to try and put out the dumpster fire of her marketing plan.
COMING FEBRUARY 13: Galactic Dreams – When Stars Take Flight
When Stars Take Flight takes the story of Thumbelina into space and reimagines the fairy tale for a new age—the future.
Kidnapped by the To’Andans, tortured by the Moliter, and rescued by Sparrow Pandion—a spy who hides a secret pain—Alliance Ambassador Lina Tum-Bel is up against a galaxy full of trouble as she attempts to rebuild the Interstellar Alliance. Her training says that she can’t trust her handsome rescuer, but maybe together, she and Sparrow can learn to fly.
Virtually IRL
I laughed when I read AB Plum’s recent post about unhooking from the virtual world. It has been a long time since I didn’t enhance my RL (real life) experience with some sort of virtual interaction. Photos on Facebook, the occasional witty comment on twitter, blogs and websites, they are all part of my life. Partially this is simply a function of my life and jobs. As a graphic designer and a writer, social networking is part of the must do list. As a designer, it’s important that I be able to design ads for Facebook and other social media platforms and understand how the platforms function. As a writer, it’s important that I use those platforms to reach an audience.
Which is not to say that I’m an expert. As a designer, I get to create content and simply walk away. The writer half of me definitely has it harder. I have to remember to post (you wouldn’t think this was hard, but…), to come up with valuable and interesting content, and then not waste all of my writing time on marketing and social media. On the other hand, for the last six months I’ve been swinging very much the other way. I have not been doing a lot of marketing. I have in fact been writing. A lot. A ton. Lots of tons. So much so that I’ve planned out my releases for 2018 and 2019.
So, stay tuned for tons of updates later this summer. Crime, sci-fi, a touch of fairy tales, and of course more than a little bit of romance are heading your way. And strangely, I can’t wait to start marketing ALL of it. If you want to get in on early give-aways (print and digital!) and announcements, join my mailing list at: bethanymaines.com/connect/
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ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE STILETTO GANG 6.14.17
Market Research
As I have been exploring the question “Who are you like?” this month, I’ve also been exploring what other books in my genres look like. This is sometimes gratifying on the base level of my fonts are so much better than yours and also sometimes mystifying on the level 
of why are there so many bared midriffs in contemporary fantasy? On the topic of midriffs, and purely for example’s sake, I’ll put the cover of Shifting Jock in Love here. The cover is obviously… uh… fully functional, because I can’t stop staring at the uh… weight lifting bar. Now that we’ve covered that topic (no, we haven’t covered anything?), let me move on to my point.
Market research, which is what I call shopping and (gently) making fun of book covers over a glass of wine, is important. It’s hard to review my own book cover submissions if I don’t know what the trends are. Not that trends should inform every decision, but I like to know how far out of the current I’m swimming. In addition to finding the occasional good idea that I could be copying, I also find really interesting authors. Research shows that most people buy books based on word of mouth, but in this online age, that can’t ALWAYS be true. From Facebook to google ads, to the wonders of Amazon, we get a lot of recommendations about authors and books online. And without a person to ask, readers are stuck trying to answer “so who are they like” question based on the marketing surrounding the book. But as we all learned in grade school, you can’t always judge a book by it’s cover.
One great resource I’ve found in my wading around the internet is a great website – www.literature-map.com Simply type in an author you like and it will produce of an animated cloud of similar authors aka a handy new To Be Read list. And you can click on the question mark in the corner if you want to add authors to the database to improve results. And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go enjoy a little more market research and a Riesling.
Originally published on 8/24/16 at the Stiletto Gang
Who are you like?
One of the most common questions a writer hears is: Who are you like? In other words, what (famous, more talented, richer, that I would have heard of) author are you like? Of course, as authors we would always like to respond – I am like no one! I am a unique snowflake of infinite genius! Bow down before my staggering work of novelistic achievement! Possibly at this point is where we also start investing in a parrot, flowing robes, and a pencil thin moustache to twirl. I’m not saying all authors would go full Disney villain. Clearly, the eyebrows and make-up require a more high-maintenance lifestyle than most of us are cut out for. I’m just saying, nobody likes to think of themselves, as “just like” somebody else.
However, temper-tantrums and eyeliner aside, it is a useful question. It does let people know where they should look for you in the library and where you fall on their reader spectrum. For the record, I usually answer this question with – Janet Evanovich. My series Carrie Mae Mysteries is female centered spy series, with plenty of hunks, humor, and huge action scenes. However, I also write in another genre – contemporary fantasy. I write modern day fairy tales about fairies, vampires, and what happens when a mermaid meets a SEAL.
Writing in multiple genres used to be very “not done” because the publishing houses found it hard to market. The prevailing wisdom was that readers don’t read multiple genres (uh… say what?), Self-publishing has opened the door for authors to write whatever their unique snowflake heart’s desire, but it’s still a risk, and a challenge for those doing the marketing, to figure out what to say to the question – who do you write like?
I guess for now, I’ll have to go with this answer – I write like my fingers are fire with sheer greatness and my mascara is totally, totally on point.
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Originally posted on 8.10.16 at The Stilettog Gang
My Toddler Works for James Patterson
My dad says he invented the skateboard.
He says that he had never before seen or heard of a skateboard when he put a plank on skate wheels. Of course, his invention went no further than a backyard of summer fun, but he still likes to claim his invention when some youth sails by on a long board.
Well, now I feel his pain. James Patterson, Mr. Prolific himself, is in the process of releasing what he’s calling “Book Shots” — novella length works, penned with co-authors, that cost less than five dollars.
You have no idea how annoyed this makes me.
Because it was MY idea. This month I’m releasing Wild Waters, a novella length paranormal romance (sex scenes!) story. The genre is outside of my usual brand, but I thought the structure and topic were interesting (reporters, SEALs, Vietnam!). I also thought my readers might enjoy something at a lower price point, but in my style of writing. I examined the options. I had the thoughts. I came up with the plan.
And then James Patterson stole it out of my brain! How dare he use his larger amounts of money, time and fame to launch my idea! It makes me want to march right over to his house and give him a toddler. Let’s see how fast he can type then. Toddlers should be like weights for jockeys. If Vegas gambled on writer’s turning in manuscripts on time, I’m sure that they would have developed some sort of toddler distribution system by now. Fortunately, for Mr. Patterson and for me, there’s plenty of room in this world for novella’s and writers of all kinds, with or without toddlers. Good luck to both of us with our tiny books.
Originally Published at the Stiletto Gang on 06.08.16