Spilling Your Heart on Social Media

freedigitalphotos.net by nokhoog_buchachon

As aspiring authors, we strive to gain a following on social media. To be honest, there are many times I have wanted to step away from it for a good long season and the only reason I don't is because I care so much about connecting with the writing community, and my future audience.

So social media is not just a place of goofing off, throwing out your opinions and rants, or sharing family pictures... it is a place of impressions, a measure of your heart, really. In Jesus' day, the measure of a heart was what came from your mouth...and in present day, our mouths have multiplied to not just speaking with the tongue, but speaking with speedy fingers on a keyboard.

Yet, the same concept still applies--from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

When was the last time you typed something on social media without thinking it through, and then tossed and turned all night wondering how someone took it?

I do it...too much.

How about finding yourself convincing YOU of a stance you took, realizing that you just debated for
debating's sake?

Ugh! Guilty!!

While the pressure gets stronger as we try and use social media not just for play but for dream-building (aka professional networking), it is not only something that can trip us up, but something that can refine us in the most personal, non-work-related way.

Remembering our audience (Facebook friends, twitter followers, future readers and critics), is just as important in that social media post as it is while we write our stories.

Now-a-days, our hearts literally can bleed all over a page...and we need to be sure that they are pouring out truth and not deceit, life and not ego. And I am not talking about posting a Bible verse every 30 minutes...I am talking about authenticity. Be YOU...but do it in a clear, Christ-centered way. And think before you type.

I'll try to take my own advice, too!
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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written five Historical Romance novels, has a Historical underway, and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one-sheets, selling Jamberry, and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check out her author page at www.facebook.com/dicken.angie and her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com 

How to Best Communicate with our Audience

Early in March, when snow still covered much of the United States, the movie Frozen won an oscar for best animated movie. 

Somewhat based on Hans Christian Andersen's story, The Snow Queen, this delightful tale captured my attention from the beginning and held my attention to the "Easter egg" which followed the credits. You did stay to watch it, right?



Those of us who have experienced the joy (or trials) of this snowy winter found a haven in this delightful story. And not only a haven, but fantastic, creative party ideas. Hah! I've seen those Frozen kid sleepover pics on FB with ice cream and other icy treats. What fun times.

BUT

Did you know, in Tucson, Arizona, and probably similar typically toasty settings, the story didn't communicate the same meaning to young audiences. 

My adult daughter went with a friend and her child to a theater in Tucson, where a room full of children and their guardians packed the seats. The opening scenes, which told a fun story of sister play, delighted the children. However, when the snow fell and the ice coated the landscape, the young audience wrestled with questions. The interesting and amusing blurts of child misunderstandings peppered the storyline. 

The main issue: how can something as light as cotton candy be hard enough to walk on? Great question. On the few occasions snow sprinkles in Arizona, it melts almost as quick as it falls. Who could possible walk on it, or sink to their knees in it?

When my daughter told me what the children said and described their perplexed faces, I realized this audience did not share the same experience as those who've lived through frozen winters. Especially this year.

Though entertained, the young summer state audience may have been so consumed with the strange white substance that their take home thoughts of the story were different. Nothing wrong with that, of course. 

Ah hah, I thought. The perfect concept to address on the Alley. (Please keep in mind the movie Frozen ranks tops in my mind and this following simply is a springboard from the kids response).

All genres from science fiction to historical, fantasy to contemporary, romance to thriller/suspense need to grab their audience on page one and clutch with the claws of an eagle to the last page.

Unlike the children who became fascinated with a new perspective of snow and ice, adult readers will endure only a few perplexing questions as they turn the first pages in a story. Oddities in an adult story jeopardizes believability. If not satisfied in a page or two, the book will be closed and left to collect dust. 


How can we best insure communication with our audience?

1. 3-D storytelling. Whether the story takes place in a fantasy world, in days long ago, has characters who are more than eccentric or personified, each page must contain vivid storytelling. This is best done by incorporating sensory clues so realistic the reader can't help but live the moment with the character even if one is propelled in a rocket soaring to the sun.

2. Dialogue. Spoken words need to reveal more than conversation. Questions of the heart and mind, when said out loud, insight rebuttals, emotions, and other questions. Don't be afraid to put a thought inside the quotes and open the door for other characters to verbally respond with their emotion.

3. Pacing. There are moments when readers need a chance to process and other moments when pages need to fly. If our books were musicals, a song would be inserted. For example, in the movie Frozen, Anna (the younger sister) was lonely. She met a handsome prince at the coronation. To speed up their attraction and marriage proposal, the song, Love is an Open Door was inserted (A hilarious song). The words and actions clarified and even justified Anna's reasons for saying yes so quickly. For books, an anecdote could be inserted. What else could be done to give readers time to process or fast forward?

4. Reasonable components of reality must be integrated.  Winnie the Pooh, though a toy, was hungry and thirsty. True to history, Confederate soldiers died and plantations burned in Gone With the Wind. Harry Potter was bullied. Dracula could die. The snowman in Frozen saw the world upside down when his head wasn't on right. Each of these examples serve as a key to open the door and welcome the reader/viewer into a believable story world.

Here is a brainteaser. If you were the screenwriter for Frozen, what would you have added to the script to help children living in strictly summer climates to identify with the story?


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This blog post is by Mary Vee

Mary has moved to Michigan with her husband, closer to her three college kids. She misses the mountains of Montana, but loves seeing family more often. She writes contemporary and romance Christian fiction, is honing marketing and writing skills, and loves to pen missionary and Bible adventure stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids.

Visit Mary at her website and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

Branding: An (Almost) Simple Explanation with Jim Rubart

Had the chance to meet Jim Rubart at ACFW 2011!

Want to confuse yourself? Ask ten friends—or marketing people— to define branding. I predict eight to ten different answers.

My mission—which I’ve obviously chosen to accept—is to give a brief definition of branding you can keep in your head after you’ve read this post.

Branding has been a hot buzzword in the publishing world for at least ten years, but I want to go back farther than that. In 1904 Ivan Pavlov won the Noble prize for his research into branding. You’ve heard about his dogs. That’s branding. Ring the bell, give the dogs meat. Do it enough and the dogs salivate without the beef.

Psychologists call this planting an associative memory.

“I’m Tom Bodett for _______ and we’ll leave the light on for ya.” Most of you instantly inserted Motel 6 into the blank. Some of you even hear the folksy music in your head and are thinking about a “clean comfortable room” and “the lowest price of any national chain.”

Rooms

Mention Stephen King and we think horror. Nicholas Sparks equals romance (and tears).

How do we plant an associative memory into the mind of a reader, agent, or editor?

Consistency, frequency, and anchoring.

Consistency: Give people the same message every time. Did you know Pavlov did his experiment again with circles? Show dogs the circles then give them the meat. It worked. Then he changed the circles to ovals. It stopped working. The consistency wasn’t there. This is why it’s tough—but not impossible—to brand yourself as a nonfiction writer and a fiction writer at the same time. Or to switch genres. Once you get into the mind with a strong associate memory, it’s difficult to change it, or even add to it. For example, when you hear Harry Houdini, you think magician. But who can remember that he was the first person to fly an airplane in Australia? Even most Australians don’t know that. Why? He already was in there mind with a different brand.

Frequency: This is easy. Keep your message out there. Often.

Anchoring: This is the tough one. Many people think by throwing together some potent colors and coming up with a catchy tagline they’ve branded themselves. Huh uh. Anchoring is divided into three parts:

Book of Days

1.      Anchor to something no one else has anchored to. You must be unique. Telling people you’re the “Passionate author who shares the deep love of Jesus” will not be remembered. Showing up in your kilt at the ACFW awards dinner will. I’m serious. Agent Chip MacGregor knows what he’s doing when he goes each year in his kilt. Who is he promoting/branding himself to? Editors and writers. Do you think he makes an impact when he wears his kilt? Is it memorable? Unique? Yea verily.

2. Anchor to something the public wants. Picking on Chip again, people want entertainment, they want to be surprised. Are they, when he steps out in his MacGregor tartan? Of course. They love it. Randy Ingermanson has branded himself as the Snowflake guy to writers and editors. At an ACFW conference a few years back I smiled as I saw his branding had become so successful it was parodied from the stage during the opening session.

3. Anchor to something you already are. Anchor to something you already are. No, that wasn’t a typo. It bears repeating because this is where more authors stumble. Many try to create a brand out of nothing:

“Suspense that sucks you in and won’t let you go! Never! Ever! Really!”

“Making you hyperventilate after every chapter!”

“Romance that makes you a mush cake every time!”

The Chair

This is not branding. You can’t create or make up a brand. You can only discover and promote what already is. I worked with an author recently who claimed she didn’t have a brand, and there was no coherent theme connecting her three novels. She was wrong. She has a powerful brand/theme, one with universal appeal. She was thrilled after I showed her what it was. But I didn’t create her brand, I simply pointed out what was already there.

Branding is taking the unique elements about you and your writing that already exist and exposing them to the world. Your brand is there; your job is to uncover it.

Yes, it’s a challenge pinpointing what your brand is. Often we’re too close. Most people have trouble reading the outside of the bottle when they’re standing inside. So ask people close to you to describe your uniqueness. Brainstorm with other authors about what sets you apart. Ask your editor, spouse, kids, agent, and others.

Yeah, I know, we’ve only scratched the surface. That’s why Amazon is packed with books on branding. And why marketing people like me have jobs.

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I  love God, my wife, my sons, writing, speaking,
 playing guitar and golf, in that order.
And I dabble in photography.
(and yes that's me in the ski shot above)
www.jimrubart.com  

Now does that not make your brain stretch and swell just a little bit? But such helpful info for the beginning author, because NOW is the time to be figuring and discovering and finding our brand. I know from personal experience, taking the bit of time each day or week to learn something about marketing myself is a great way of getting the learning curve and overwhelming amount of "stuff" out there to do, out of the way now will better prepare me for the time when I do get to have a book on the shelves.

What do you think? Does Jim's comments open up a new understanding...and hopefully less daunting amount of info to consider while you do the preliminary marketing?

Consider your audience?? Don't! - By Michael Snyder

Week Four of:

Tips from those who have gone before us

CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE?

By: Michael Snyder

I recently stumbled into a conversation between a gaggle of writers who all seemed to agree on the necessity of “considering their audience” as they write. As a lifelong contrarian, I felt obliged to chime in.

My one-word morsel of advice was simply: “Don’t!”

Now let me say right upfront that I have a great love and appreciation for anyone who takes the time, attention, and emotional energy to read one of my books. It’s an honor that I hope I never take for granted. That said, I didn’t write the book for those people. And I won’t write the next one for them either.

My one rule of writing is to amuse myself.

That may sound prideful, myopic, or even narcissistic. Heck, it might even be prideful, myopic, and narcissistic! But I don’t think so.

Here’s my logic. There is an entire industry that’s been around a lot longer than me. It’s filled with people a lot smarter and more savvy than me. If publishing experience were a cornfield, I’d be one little niblet on one little ear struggling to survive until harvest. With all those people possessing all that knowledge and experience and the tools to publish and sell books, you’d think they could predict with pinpoint accuracy what the buying public wants. But they can’t, not really. And neither can I.

When composing a story, my advice would be to forget that "audiences" even exist. Just write your story. Again, write to amuse yourself (or thrill or frighten or romantically tweak or whatever gets your literary motor running). Forget the critics (both inside and outside your head). Our job as storytellers is to tell the truth. If we skirt the truth in any way it will show up in the writing. And the writing WILL suffer. So don't blink. Get it all down on the page in that first draft. Do it exactly the way you want to do it. And don't feel the least bit guilty about it. Writing takes courage. If it's not emotionally draining, it's probably not going to be worth reading anyhow.

When it comes to editing our job is still to tell the truth, but now it's time to turn a more objective eye to the process. We have decisions to make, hundreds of them, maybe thousands. My opinion however is that each of those decisions should serve the work, not the potential whims of potential readers. At this point in the process we're turning raw material into art. So it's still not time to think about the audience. In fact, if you consider your audience during the editing process you will drive yourself mad.

Finally the work is done, the book is “finished,” and it's time to submit. So, now is it time to consider the audience? My answer is a resounding Maybe. I will admit that I am starting to consider an audience at this point. However, it has become the proverbial "audience of one" (which is really a handful or two depending on where you are in the process). I’m talking about agents, acquisitions editors, a pub board, marketing people, or some combination. Realistically though, any “consideration” at this point has less to do with the content of the story and more to do with how best to present it.

And I think that’s really the point.

My primary job is to write a compelling story with all the truth and beauty I can muster. Secondarily, my job is to market the finished product. And all that really means is providing a compelling reason (or two or three or ten) to give the story a try.

The reason I think considering an audience doesn't work is because there is no consensus. Don't believe me? Just click over to amazon and see if I'm right. Find a book you've read, one you have an opinion about, but one that has 20 or more reviews attached. Read each one carefully. Obviously, ALL of these folks found themselves in the "target audience" for this book, because they all read it, right? Are they all pleased? Did they all appreciate the book in the same way? Would any amount of “considering” all those reviewers have helped make the book better? I don’t think so. Not unless you have the time and resources to publish nine or ten versions of your story. Even then, there’s no accounting for the tastes of the masses.

A quick example: my novels have been criticized for being "too Christian" by some, and "not Christian enough" by others. Who's right? Who cares? I can't prove it anyway. And frankly, I have a life to live and more writing to do.

I should point out again that although I don’t routinely consider audiences, it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Of course I do. But if I write true to myself and my convictions (both spiritually and artistically) I'll get more work done. And it will be work I can be proud of instead of obsessing over.

Michael Snyder writes. He is the author of the novels My Name Is Russell Fink and Return Policy; both (at least according to his lovely wife and his regular-looking publisher) are worthy of your time, attention, and hard-earned dollars. Michael’s debut novel was one of three finalists in Christianity Today’s 2009 Book of the Year Award. He is also a regular contributor for the Master’s Artist blog. His third novel, Stand-up Guy, is now in the editing stages and will be available wherever fine books are sold (and sometimes stolen) in 2011.