Goodreads Giveaway

I recently worked with my publisher to create a Goodreads giveway for SPOOKY SUDBURY.

It works relatively simply. You determine how many copies of a book you want to ship (it has to be a physical book), WHERE you want to ship it and how long the contest will run.  Goodreads then has to approve it and if so, it's live.



When I contacted my publicist about it, he said, sure, Dundurn would ship 5 copies to any address in Canada.  (Spooky Sudbury is a regional title, focusing on ghost, UFO and supernatural creature stories set in or near Sudbury, Ontario).

We had 197 people enter the contest.  The winners were drawn earlier this week.

Yesterday I popped down to Dundurn's office to sign copies of the winning entries and they are being mailed out today.

Laura Harris (editor), Mark Leslie (author), Jim Hatch (publicist)

I had the pleasure of getting to meet my amazing editor (Laura Harris) and awesome publicist (Jim Hatch) in person. One of the things I love about Dundurn is that the people there are wonderfully supportive. Yes, I toil in the indie-publishing world, and also release self-published products. But I also enjoy working with a great publisher, too. I find that there is much to be gained by embracing both traditional publishing and self-publishing ventures.

Laura was a fantastic editor to work with - she helped Jenny and I take the book from a really good original draft to something really great. She made insightful suggestions, asked great questions, pointed out modifications that would make it even better and kept things on track. And Jim has been tirelessly working at various angles to get some spotlight on the book -- so far, I'll be doing two radio spots and one television spot next Friday when I'm in town. And there's more great promo opps coming.

The results of the giveway are that 103 people added SPOOKY SUDBURY to their Goodreads libraries (only 7 of them are Goodreads friends).  Getting your book added to folk's libraries by getting them to add it to their "To Read" and even better, their "Read" library, help aid in the discovery of a title.  Of course, getting people to rate and review the boo, help best of all. But it all adds up.

Banner for Spooky Sudbury - author photos by www.jorophotography.com

SPOOKY SUDBURY is being released officially next week.  Jenny and I will be signing copies at the Chapters in Sudbury from 11 AM to 1 PM on Saturday September 28th.  Then we're heading over to the Coles New Sudbury from 2 PM until 5 PM.  Here's a link to the event on Facebook.

Here are some places you can purchase the book

Print Book - Chapters/Indigo
Print Book - Amazon.ca      Amazon.com
Print Book - Support US Independent Bookstores
Print Book - Barnes & Noble

eBook - Kobo
eBook - Jan's Paperbacks (Oregon) - US Indie Store I'll be at in Nov. (You can search for the eBook at your favourite local indie bookstore to purchase the Kobo book through them and support your local bookstore - http://www.indiebound.org/ebooks)
eBook - Amazon (Kindle)

eBook - Barnes & Noble (Nook)

Amazing Things Do Happen

An amazing thing happened several months ago.

C.C. Chapman visited Kobo's head office and his good friend Mitch Joel interviewed him for a Kobo in Conversation video.

It was one of those serendipitous moments that couldn't be planned, and yet it was likely based on an ongoing stream of constant and consistent community building.

Authors regularly ask me questions about marketing and how to get the word out about their book.

Photo courtesy of C.C. Chapman

What nobody who asks that question ever really wants to hear is that it's hard, there are millions of other books and authors out there and the thing that works best isn't a single gimmick or a quick one shot bullet.  What works best is building and engaging in a community -- in particular a community that can benefit from the type of thing that you are writing.

Working on that, focusing on how you can add value to the community, add value to those who are potentially within your target audience demographic, is the main thing to focus on.  And I'll use C.C. Chapman as an example - particularly since his he seems to exude the principle of giving.

C.C. has been blogging and podcasting and sharing his enthusiasm for life in an open and up front way for many years. He has consistently been giving to the community, and, he hasn't been broadcasting using social media - he has been engaging with them.  He hasn't been using the community, he has become a relevant and desired part of it. He has offered, and given, and shared and connected.

And he has done it in such a generous and honest way that, as James A. Owen said so beautifully in the Drawing out the Dragons talk he gave at Superstars Writing Seminars last week, people can hear it in his voice, see it in his face, and seem to automatically want to help him.

It might have been a single innocent tweet that C.C. sent out which led to Kobo inviting him to come to our office, to bring in his good friend Mitch Joel to interview him, and to make a special day out of it -- culminating in this video -- but that single tweet stemmed from years of engagement by C.C.

Sure, I saw the tweet in which he was asking for some simple advice about Toronto, responded to C.C. and began a conversation with him.  But that conversation never would have happened without C.C.'s initial investment in the digital community he harvested and stays engaged with. 

C.C. might thank others for something like this, but he is really the spark that made it all happen.

But, despite the fun had that day of finally getting to meet him in person, the best part is that I found a great new book (Amazing Things Will Happen) that I can recommend and purchase - one that, along with the Dr. Seuss book "Oh The Places You'll Go" make an excellent gift for any graduate.

Check out CC Chapman's books at Kobo.

Check out Mitch Joel's books at Kobo.

Seen With Seen Reading And Seen On Stage With Julie

I had dinner last night with Anita Windisman, a friend I met through the print on demand and social media worlds.  I wanted to learn more about the awesome work she is doing helping people properly leverage LinkedIn (she runs One of a Kind Marketing) as well as her book (and some forthcoming book projects).

I, of course, had to show her Julie Wilson's Seen Reading and snap a picture of her holding it.

We then remembered that Julie, Anita and I (along with Nina Lassam) had all participated in a panel together at Word on the Street back in 2010, talking about social media for writers.  (I blah blah'd about it a bit on my blog here and in a post entitled Top Social Media Tools for Authors)

Here's a picture of us that I tweeted prior to us going onstage . . .

And one taken from the crowd . . .

Anita is the author of Business Lessons I Learned from Barbie (Kobo eBook, Amazon Paperback).

Successful. Beautiful. Powerful. A role model for every successful modern woman, Barbie loves her work and dares to dream big. She can do anything, and shows that with passion and determination, you can do anything too. Since 1959, when she was introduced by Mattel, Barbie has been a market leader, innovative and in tune with the times. This book offers seven business lessons from Barbie.

Seen Holding Seen Reading

This just in!

I now have an actual physical copy of Seen Reading by Julie Wilson.

Why am I so excited? Check out my blog post about this from last week called Seen Wanting.

I'm going to start digging into it this weekend.  Okay, I'll admit it, I started to take a few peeks. I couldn't help myself.

The book, by Freehand Books (an imprint of Broadview Press) is gorgeous, beautifully designed - from the texture of the cover itself right to the cover flaps, and right through the visual presentation of the printed text on paper. And it's not just the curious geo-tagged map cover that tempts you with spots to immediately jump to within the text, but the layout and presentation of the entries themselves.  There's an overall aura about the book now that I've held it in my hands which reinforces that it is a celebration of something I adore -- the voyeuristic thrill of seeing someone reading in public.

Along those lines, I must show a recent status update that my beautiful wife made the other day . . .

. . . she said "I saw someone reading . . . a BOOK at the bus stop! Not their stupid phone, but an actual book! So nice to see!"  She's a smart cookie, Francine, and often states things this wonderfully.  It falls right into line with this voyeuristic thrill us book lovers get when we spot someone reading in the wild.

And that's part of the meta magic of holding this book in your hands.


Simply, the book feels wonderful in your hands. It fits perfectly, like a glove. And it looks even better to be seen reading.

Speaking of which, I've got a photo of Clare Hitchins, publicist at Wilfred Laurier Press and a fellow book nerd. Seems she rec'd a review copy of the book yesterday as well.  So I'm presenting her picture holding the book . . .

. . . so that I can add her to the Pinterest board called Seen Holding Seen Reading.

Better be careful - I could add YOU to this growing board.

In fact, I WANT to add you to this board.  If you're a book lover and get your hands on the book, snap a pic and point me to it (or send it to me). If you're a bookseller, snap a picture of the book in your store (ideally, merchandised front and center for all your book-loving customers to marvel over)

Go ahead, get seen holding Seen Reading.

HNT - Memories Upon Which A Life Is Built

I'm a fan of social media and quite enjoy the fact that I'm able to connect with so many people as well as connect with friends who are geographically distant. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media platforms have allowed me to be in contact with so many people, meet new people, and even stay in touch with people I haven't seen in person in years, sometimes even decades.

Of course, there's the flip side to consider as well.

Right now I'm reading a book by McMaster professor Nick Bontis called Information Bombardment: Rising Above the Digital Onslaught. The book is a great introduction to the wonders of this digitally connected world and Bontis takes the reader on a trip through the history that brought us here and speculation about how the world is going to look in just a few short years. But more than this, he offers the reader some useful tips and advice on how to work smarter and strategies on how to deal with the massive information that is flooding into our lives. He helps the reader not lose sight of the important things and to prioritize, taking full advantage of being digitally connected while not losing sight of the basic human needs that are important for balance.

"The more time each of us spends giving our attention to various outlets of information, the less attention we have for the important relationships in our lives. Often we negotiate tiny moments every day and every week so that we can check our e-mail one more time, download new software or watch the latest YouTube video clip. Every time this happens we choose to divert our attention from our spouses, families and friends." - Nick Bontis, INFORMATION BOMBARDMENT, Page 224

How true. Even writing this blog post, for example, is time I negotiated away from other important things. (For example, I was diverted from working on a book which has a deadline to be at the publisher in a few short weeks).

Bontis goes on to say that "you still can't hug your children from afar, and you still can't smell the fragrance of your spouse from a different city." I love the way that he uses the senses to illustrate the important and concrete things that aren't replaceable despite the great new technological advances that allow us to connect digitally.

"But no matter how effective these technological tools become, they do not replace direct, in-person time spent together . . . your spouse doesn't need just to get an e-mail update about your personal thoughts or to check in with you by phone to hear about the latest events in your day. Your partner needs to see, feel, smell and hear you in person. These social contacts reveal so much more than information. They provide personal memories upon which a life is built." - Nick Bontis, INFORMATION BOMBARDMENT, Page 225

Nick's book has been a useful reminder to me of the important things. Just the other night, after a long day of work, Francine and I sat on the back deck and just unwound, chatting about little things and sharing some moments from our day. The television, the computer, the iPhone I normally always have on me were all in other spaces and forgotten. It was enjoyable and special just to have that special moment together. I can never get enough of those moments.

I really like my social media connections and enjoy interacting with some many wonderful people in the digital realm - but those in-person, those special, precious and fun moments spent in person with family and friends, those are the truly wonderful moments that I cherish.


And so, this week's HNT post is going to look back at some of the fun special moments, some special summer memories. Interestingly, these are all photos posted to my Facebook profile - earlier this week I was organzing some of them into albums and reflecting on the fun moments and special memories of doing fun things with the two people who are most important to me.

Here's hoping YOUR summer is filled with special moments and new memories of those important family and friends in your life. Happy HNT.

Moose Winooski's - Summer 2010

Another fun day at the beach - Port Dover - Summer 2007

Me, Alexander & Francine - funhouse mirror on Clifton Hill - Niagara Falls, July 2007

With Great Influence Comes Great Responsibility

I haven't been blogging much lately because I'm been channelling much of my creative input full steam ahead into a book project (nearing the "finalize and sign the contract" time) which I'll likely announce relatively soon here on this blog.

But sometimes I come across a single line that makes me think and sends me back to bloggy land where I try to work out the thoughts that bounce around inside my head. (Seems I won't be able to get back to the project at hand until I spend a bit of time tossing and mixing the ideas formulating there)

In this morning's RSS stream, I was reading Chris Brogan's blog and had to chuckle at a line he wrote:

"Worrying about whether or not you’re an influencer by someone else’s measures is like having a toy steering wheel and thinking you’re driving the car." - Chris Brogan

Brogan, author of books such as Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation and Earn Trust (co-written with Julien Smith) and Social Media 101: Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online, has been an influence on the way that I think about and look at digital culture and social media for several years now -- particularly since I first heard him in discussion with a group of amazing techno culture nerds like Mitch Joel and Hugh McGuire on the Media Hacks podcast (which is built directly into Mitch Joel's Six Pixels of Separation podcast feed)

I've had the pleasure of meeting both Mitch and Hugh (even the priviledge of getting to share the stage with Hugh at the 2010 BookNet Canada Tech Forum for a talk called Trailblazing: Leading the Way to a New Kind of Supply Chain), but I haven't yet met Chris. There's no doubt, though, that I pay attention to the many great insights and valuable bits of information that he regularly shares and puts out there for free.

One of the thing I like about Brogan's blog post, and which appears consistently in his messaging, is the importance of using whatever influence a person has for good. Brogan demonstrates that repeatedly through his own social media interactions, regularly pointing out and sharing things he believes will add value to those who follow him, rather than visciously "selling" something of his own.

To me, Brogan is like the Spider-Man of social media, who does his thing to make the social media world a better place while constantly reminding himself that with great influence comes great responsibility. (With apologies to Stan Lee for adapting Peter Parker's penultimate catch-phrase into this new format)

There, all that meandering babble just so I could work out the fact that I think Chris Brogan is an inspirational super-hero type figure and that Stan Lee has likely been a subtle yet significant influencer on me for most of my life.

Okay, I can get back to my book project now that I've got that out on the table.

There's Nothing Virtual About Death

I found out a few days ago that a friend of mine died last month.

Here's where it gets interesting, but isn't all that unique any more - not in today's online and connected society.

I've known this friend for about 5 years, knew her under various names/nicknames as well as her real name. But we never met in person. We were blogger friends. We'd connected via a weekly blogging ritual called HNT (Half Nekkid Thursday) in which people would post photos of themselves, typically taken by themselves, and then visit the other folks who would post the same. The photos would run the spectrum from "nekkid" meaning simple self-exposure shots of a person in their daily lives, or perhaps a simple shot of the paper cut on their finger they got at work that day, a picture of themselves with a dear friend, all the way to racy and less interpretive shots of "nekkid." But, often, the "exposure" wasn't the removal of clothing, but a peek into a person's inner self, an exposure of them. That, in my mind, has been where phenomenal connections and friends have been made.

I made a lot of friends through HNT and blogging (I started blogging in March 2005), some of whom I've established personal connections with "off-blog" and some of whom I've even had the pleasure of eventually meeting in person.

I never met Melanie Elizabeth Phillpott VanWinkle (also known in the blogging community as Stealth Bombshell and Texas Spitfire - perhaps other nicknames) in person. But we connected via blogging, via photos, via comments and silly humorous exchanges, and connected with our real names, later, via Facebook.

So I never knew her in person, but I knew her just the same. She touched my life, she made me smile, made me laugh, made me cry, made me think. I am a richer person for having known Melanie, even in this limited virtual way. And I am mourning her loss, but at the same time, wanting to celebrate her life and the fact that I have gained simply by knowing her.

The joys of the virtual online world exist. You can connect and share and communicate with great people you'd otherwise not have the pleasure of meeting in person. And that experience can enrich your life - because that's what other people do; they enrich your life.

But here's the rub: when that person dies, particularly when there's no "physical world" interaction in which people close to them know you know one another, what is the result? What is the healing ritual?

Typically, death involves ritual, involves a chance for people to say goodbye, for some ritualized sense of closure (even if the pain of that loss never fades away). But in virtual death, what is the ritual, what is the manner by which we can share our appreciation for having known a person, our sense of loss, our grief?

There was a fascinating discussion of this on a recent episode of CBC Radio's Spark between host Nora Young and guest Adele McAlear. And discussions like this help when dealing with this virtual loss. But it's true that we need to figure out a way to handle this all to common situation. A good conversation to continue.

But back to Melanie.

I found out Melanie died through another online friend who has enriched my life but I've not met in person. Osbasso recently posted a tribute to Melanie on his blog - the blog, whose weekly ritual connected Melanie and I, and thousands of other people together.

How do I properly grieve, other than post one of my favourite pictures of her and say something about her?

Thank you, Melanie - thanks for connecting, and thanks for enriching my life. May you rest in peace. May your dear friends and family find peace and comfort in all of the memories you gave them. And thank you for touching my life - there was nothing virtual about the way you enriched my life.

Melanie Elizabeth Phillpott VanWinkle

March 20, 1978 - April 12, 2011

EerieCon 13 Panel (Handling Social Media)

As I promised during a panel this past weekend, as well as mentioning on my blog a couple of days ago, I thought I'd post some thoughts based on notes I took and discussion that took place during one of the panels I sat on during EerieCon 13 in Niagara Falls, New York.

This particular panel was called:

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT!
How do you handle all the social networking: Facebook, Twitter, Blogs? What if someone gives you a bad review? Panelists: Lois Gresh, Stephen B. Pearl, John Harlacher. Moderator: Mark Leslie.

The first thing to note is that none of the panelists (including myself) are social media experts. We are merely authors and creators who use social media to connect with fans, with other creators and with the online community in general - so we were speaking about our own experiences.

That being said, it became obvious from the questions that audience asked us that while we're not experts, we do have enough experience to share some basics. And a lot of the questions were from those writers and creative types who haven't done any of it and didn't know where to start. That's what I'm offering here. A basic look at where one might start. I'll make no claims to be an expert, just someone who is willing to share from his own experience.

Before I get into this topic, I should point out some speculative fiction authors I'm aware of who have a really good handle on social media. Check them out and you'll find tremendous value in what they offer and how they engage in social media.

Michael A. Stackpole (whom I regularly listen to on the Dragon Page: Cover to Cover podcast), continually offers useful tidbits and advice, both on that podcast, and on his own website. Definitely worth checking out both.

My friend, Robert J. Sawyer, also has a plethora of content useful for other writers and is a social media magnate. (His site, with over one million words, 720 documents and 25,000 links, was the first-ever science fiction author website, established June 28, 1995)

Below I'll post some links that I believe will be helpful in understanding the basics of what some social media is, but I wanted to spend some time talking about why.

Marketing guru Mitch Joel (check out his blog and podcast for incredible value when it comes to social media) regularly states to his clients that they shouldn't be asking IF they should be employing various social marketing strategies, but rather WHY? and to what end.  IE, the question isn't "Should I be on Facebook?" but rather "Why should I be on Facebook?" and "What do I want to get out of being on Facebook?" - pose that same question with each social media element you investigate.

As an author, ask yourself first WHY you want to do it and WHAT you want to get out of it. Take the time to seriously explore the details, and here's why - because engaging in social media takes time. As discussed on the panel, it usually takes at least an hour a day.

The issue for writers, of course, is that hour (or more), is most likely going to eat into time you can be spending writing new content or doing the other activities involved in writing: research, market submissions, editing, filing and organizing, planning, etc.

It's interesting to note that for the panelists, most of them (John being the exception, since he is likely the most savy of us to employ social media to connect with customers and fans, given his focus has been through his haunted house business in NYC and LA) engage in social media BECAUSE THEY FEEL THEY HAVE TO. Lois and Stephen are involved in various social media outlets (website, blog, Facebook, etc) but would rather be spending their time writing and focusing on that. This is a decent and important recognition of the time it takes away from actual writing.

I have a slightly different perspective on that - yes, I see social media as necessary, but I have also gotten so much valuable return on that investment of time, that I see it as a delightful necessity. (But yes, a huge time-sucker that takes away my writing time) - Of course, when I first got into blogging, back in 2005, I used my blog as a writing warm-up exercise. I'd blog for 10 to 15 minutes, then kick right into writing or editing projects. But often, the content itself that I've engaged in has led countless people to me and my writing, connecting me with readers (in the same manner that attending a con or book reading/signing helps me to connect with and share my writing with new readers)

My own basic reasons for having a website and being engaged in or having a blog, podcast, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads? Basically, connecting with readers, other writers and friends. But it's also important to be discoverable. So, someone hears one of my works, or reads one of my stories in an anthology or magazine and they like it and want to learn more. They should be able to type my name into Google or other search engines and immediately find out more about the author, more about the person - and potentially learn more about me and my other available works.

Once they find me, is there something potentially interesting for them to read/listen to/learn more about? I hope so. What I write isn't for everybody, but if it is your cup of tea, perhaps you'll get something out of it. That's why I continually offer free content, so people can, without any cost, sample what my writing is about. And if they like it they might either buy something or tell a friend.

But back to some basic advice if you're an author looking at getting into social media:

1) Don't dive in head first into unknown waters. Take a bit of time to first ask what you want out of it, and test the waters. Pick one or two that look interesting to YOU, register for an account, and first, just listen, check out what others are doing, follow some conversations; then, once you become a bit more comfortable, start testing it out.

2) It takes time. You start a blog, a podcast, get a Twitter account, etc from scratch. Don't expect people to come running immediately. You need to invest in and develop a community online. That means not just pushing out blatant self-promotional stuff (although you can't help buy do that once in a while when talking about your upcoming or available work or events, etc), but engaging in discussion, offering and giving to the community. Like-minded people out there will eventually connect with you. But it takes time - a whole lot of patience, time and really hard work (just like writing, which is what you already know about)

3) If it's not working for you, drop it and try something else. Most social media is free in cost (but not free in time) - it's not a mortgage that you have to invest 20 years in paying. If, after a bit of time and experimenting, it's not working, then don't waste your time doing it. (Think, again, of the way you approach a writing project - if the story or characters are not working, you try to fix it, try to change, but sometimes you just tear it up and start something else)

Here are some amazingly wonderful looks at WHAT various social media items are and how they work from the good folks at commoncraft - simple, eloquent introductions you're likely to find useful:

Social Media in Plain English
Blogs in Plain English
Twitter in Plain English
Podcasting in Plain English

Also, Chris Brogan (another social media guru and colleague of Mitch Joel), offers a great step by step suggestion for authors getting into social media - check it out, here.  Also, his book: Trust Agents, is an amazing book to read. Yes, it's for businesses, but writing is a business so books like this are well-worth exploring. You might also check out his book Social Media 101 (You say you don't read. Really? I thought you called yourself a writer. But that, my friend, is a whole other discussion for another day)

One last thing, and this is something I mentioned during the panel, and was a direct response to the question on the panel topic:  What if someone gives you a bad review?

First of all, bad reviews are part of the game, and, in my opinion, perfect evidence that not everything you write is going to be enjoyed by everybody. Get over it. If all you have are GOOD reviews, then people simply aren't being honest. Reacting to a bad review is almost never a good idea. I think the best way to illustrate this is to point to a recent online review in which the author attempts to respond to the review and very quickly the conversation devolves into ridiculous absurdity, with the author coming off looking extremely unprofessional.

Read this review, but, more importantly, read the comments - the author demonstrates (sadly, because I feel terrible for the hole she dug herself into -- no, not just a hole, a gigantic pit) how easily taking the path of commenting on bad reviews can go.

One of my fellow panelists offered this wonderful advice - don't push into social media any comment/content that you wouldn't want posted on a gigantic billboard.  Simple yet very solid advice indeed. I would also caution you not to let social media take over all of your writing time - like commenting on reviews, it's a very easy pit to fall into.

Hopefully, this post has offered at least a bit of info and links to content that you'll find useful and helpful.

Random Acts Of Books

It's been a while since I've paid more than casual attention to Bookcrossing, one of the first book social networking sites that I can remember.

Touted as "the world's library" the premise for bookcrossing is simple: Label, Share, Follow.

You label a book with a unique indentifier and sticker, leave it "in the wild" for someone else to find, and watch it's journey/travels as it moves around.  Bookcrossing was launched in 2001 and is a lot of fun for a book nerd. According to the bookcrossing website, as of today, there are currently 904,699 BookCrossers and 6,753,877 books travelling throughout 132 countries.

I haven't participated in it much in the past couple of years, but still get weekly reports of books that have been released in the Hamilton area. Yes, you can sign up to receive auto alerts -- though I haven't had the pleasure of following an alert to a book.

Here's an example of an alert you might see (this one's from several months ago)

The following 1 book(s) were released in the last 24 hours:

Town House by Tish Cohen
• Starbucks on Locke Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada at 8/13/2010 11:22 AM

I have a few books on my shelves that I'd love to release and see where they end up. We'll see if I have time to get them released, and where - most of my previously "in the wild" releases never resurfaced. Sure, they might have been found and read by people, which is cool, but I never had the pleasure of knowing where they got picked up and who got them.

Of note, Bookcrossing is one of the few social networking sites where I haven't used my own name nor the same profile pic that I use virtually everywhere else.

On Bookcrossing, my profile name is ParnasusHome - I had recently read a class book called The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley. The title attracted me, but there is no supernatural element in the book - rather, the title refers to the "ghosts of all great literature" that haunt libraries and bookstores. It was a fun book, and referred to Parnassus on Wheels (of which The Haunted Bookshop is a prequel to).

How interesting that, since these books by Morley are in the public domain, I can now easily print versions of them on the Espresso Book Machine at Titles Bookstore McMaster University - whereas the first time I encountered The Haunted Bookshop was by chance on a sale table at the back of a bookstore in Toronto - the version I'd picked up was a 2004 hardcover reprint of the classic.

Hmm, that gives me an idea. Perhaps I should print a special McMaster Innovation Press version of The Haunted Bookshop, label it and release it and see where it ends up. Ah, so many fun ideas, so little time.

State Of The Blogosphere

I just took an interesting Technorati "State of the Blogosphere" survey which was emailed to me.  It takes about 15 minutes.  Thought I'd post the invite here for other bloggers out there to discover.

2010 State of the Blogosphere Survey

 
Since 2004, Technorati has been tracking the Blogosphere through our State of the Blogosphere study. The goal of the study is to create a complete snapshot of the activities and interactions that make up the Blogosphere by asking you, the bloggers, to share some information about your habits. The survey includes questions like how, when and why you blog. Is this a side business, full time job or something you do for fun?

Please feel free to send this link to other bloggers you know. And be sure to check back on Technorati.com in November for a summary of the results.
The 2010 State of the Blogosphere Survey: http://research.opinionguru.com/mrIWeb/mrIWeb.dll?I.Project=A17275

HNT - Social Media Week

I started this week on Sunday at Word on the Street, first appearing at the Horror Writers Association booth and then later talking on the Digital Drive stage about how authors can use social media.  Just before we went on stage, Anita took the following picture of the panelists and tweeted it. Somewhat appropriate (and perhaps expected) for the topic we were discussing.

Julie Wilson, Nina Lassam, me, Anita Windisman

Then, last night, one of my social media heroes, Terry Fallis, appeared at McMaster for the Hamilton launch of his new novel THE HIGH ROAD and a special announcement from the Mills Memorial Library about the acquisition of the "Fallis Archives" (a special collection of Terry's writing and memorabilia that will be held at the McMaster Library)

Here's a picture taken of the event, which included a great talk by Terry followed by a book signing and reception which was held in the Lyons New Media Centre.

And one of Terry, his neice Alexandra and I having a bite to eat after the event. (Of course, every time I use "and I" and am unsure of my use, I wonder if Terry's character Angus McLintock would made a snide remark about my use of the language) The picture was taken by library archivist Carl Spadoni.

Top 5 Social Media Tools For Authors

Yesterday I was part of a panel discussion on the Digital Drive stage at Word on the Street moderated by Stuart Woods of Quill & Quire. The panel was called Look at Me! Look at Me! How to use Social Media to Market Your Work!  and was described as follows:

No longer can writers afford to be reclusive geniuses hiding away behind their typewriters. In the digital age, your voice needs to be as arresting as the words in the book you are trying to promote. The world of social media is a living, beathing entity where your message can be spread far and wide. Join Nina Lassam, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Julie Wilson and Anita Windisman as they give you top tips for using social media to market yourself and your work!

A quick panelest photo taken & tweeted by Anita just prior to us going onstage

The first thing that we all agreed upon were the top 5 social media tools writers can use. And although we all thought these were currently the top 5 (with a disclaimer that they are subject to change at a moment's notice), we mentioned a slew of other tools/platforms we use and also had unique perspectives on which of these five worked best in our own experiences.

1) Blogging
2) Twitter
3) Facebook
4) YouTube
5) Linked In

Of course, it's so easy to get hung up on which tools to use and how people are using them and lose sight of what the tools are for or why you're using them.

First of all, social media tools are for connecting with people. The same way in which we were all at Word on the Street to connect with people in person, the same way that doing book signings and readings and talks are ways to connect one on one with people, social media is yet another way to connect with people. Of course, sometimes it's in real time and sometimes it's a "message in a bottle" that you put out there one day and is discovered by someone days, weeks, months or years later.

Second, despite the fact our panel was called "Look at Me! Look at Me!" while you want to use these platforms to promote yourself and your work, the LAST thing you want is to be the annoying person who does nothing more than jump around saying "look at me, look at me."

Think of social media as a party where there are a bunch of people having a conversation. Thing about the blatant idiot who strides into the middle of a conversation at that party, interupts whomever is speaking to hand out his insurance business cards (especially when the conversation currently has nothing to do with insurance at the moment). If all you do in social media is cry "Look at me! Look at me!" without offering any value to the conversation or without being part of the conversation, you're being just as annoying as that guy pushing his cards on everyone. The last thing you want to be is that blantant idiot who is being a pushy sales-person.  You need to be part of the conversation, you need to be genuinely involved in the circles/conversations/areas where your topic is of interest to the people who are connecting.  Yes, it's work. Nobody said that writing wasn't work. Nobody said that using social media to promote your writing wasn't work. (Okay, somebody might have said those things, but it wasn't me)

Anita, Stuart, Julie & Nina chatting just prior to taking the stage

Another bit of advice we had is that there are so many social media tools/platforms/areas to engage in and that you can't be a part of all of them (not without losing time to do important things like actually write) - we suggested that you should experiment, test out one or two of them, see which ones you're most comfortable with, slide in and start listening.  Like a party, perhaps you slide over to a conversation taking place and listen to it, start to understand what's being said, what's going on, then, if you have something that you believe will contribute, you introduce yourself and join in the conversation.  Again, social media is just that -- a social thing, except, you're doing it online or via your mobile device rather than in person.

One of the other things we returned to was humility and making mistakes.  We're all human, and one of the great things about social media is that it's a reflection of who we are in the real world. Sure, it can be a measured reflection, where a particular persona is being portrayed, but it can be an indication of the type of person you are. And most people want to connect with real people, not with slick marketing gimmicks. Showing the fact that you're human, a real person, offers potential readers a connection to you that is unique and interesting. 

We talked about some Canadian authors who have done a great job of connecting with their audiences, such as Robert J. Sawyer who, through his blog and Facebook account has connected with and has ongoing dialogues with his fans.  We talked about how Terry Fallis went from being unable to find an agent and publisher to using podcasting to build an audience of thousands and go on to win an award and secure a publishing contract with McClelland & Stewart.  And we talked about how great it was that a long celebrated Canadian literary icon like Margaret Atwood could show her humility and playfullness so wonderfully through her Twitter account and connect with people on a personal basis.

There was only an hour to talk and answer questions about social media, and we barely scratched the surface of what's available and different strategies for connecting and promoting your work without being that annoying budinski jerk -- but it sure was fun, and I learned a lot from my fellow panelists as well from some of the folks in the audience.

HNT - Word On The Stage

Wow - September blew past so quickly.

I suppose working 12 to 15 hour days for a few weeks straight will do that to a person.  I've even neglected to regularly update my blog as regularly as I normally do.

Oh well, things are going to start to slow down next week.  Of course, my fingers are crossed ever so tightly when I say this in my mind - (in all honesty, I can't say I crossed my fingers while typing this or it would come out like this:  "me nfrinewrew aew dxeossed efne so nrighjlky" and you wouldn't be able to understand what I was trying to say)

I realized that this weekend is The Word on the Street, an annual gigantic book and magazine festival held on a Sunday at the end of September across Canada in Vancouver, Saskatoon, Kitchener, Toronto and Halifax.  This year it's being held on September 26th.

I'll be attending WOTS Toronto.

This year, I'll not only be hanging out at the Horror Writers Association booth where people can buy copies of some of my work and get a cool personalized autograph, but I'll also be on the Digital Drive stage at 4:00 PM to discuss Authors using social media to market their work.

The panel is called:  Look at Me! Look at Me! - How to use social media to Market Your Work and has the following description:  No longer can writers afford to be reclusive geniuses hiding away behind their typewriters. In the digital age, your voice needs to be as arresting as the words in the book you are trying to promote.  The world of social media is a living, breathing entity where your message can be spread far and wide. 

I'll be sitting on the panel with Nina Lassam, Julie Wilson and Anita Windisman. I think it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's a picture of me from last year at the Horror Writers Association booth, with Sephera Giron, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime and Nancy Kilpatrick, three fine ladies of Canadian horror.  Sure, they write scary stuff, but they're all such wonderful people.

When Being Mayor Actually Means Something

WhThere is an interesting article on ReadWriteWeb by Rob Cottingham which talks about Foursquare and mayor-ship.

In a nutshell, Foursquare is one of several different mobile device applications that encourages people to explore their neighbourhoods and other places they travel by "checking in" when they are actually in a particular location (using the GPS technology in their mobile device).  Checking in involves different badges and fun "rewards" such as becoming the mayor of a location when you're the person who checks into it most often.

You can see who else is checked in there and also read comments and tips that other users might have left.  (Tips might be recommendations about a particular product -- at restaurants, it's offen a suggestion about a particular favoured item on the menu)

Cartoon by Rob Cottingham / Noise to Signal

Cottingham talks about giving the mayor of a location in Foursquare real power.  He mentions there are places that offer $1 off coupons for a latte or something similar. But what if a business were to offer something really cool and unique? And this doesn't mean just something monetary based.

If you are a business owner and have a profile on Foursquare, what cool thing would you give to the mayor? Again, it doesn't have to be a physical commodity worth actual $$, but perhaps a cool experience to make people fight over who becomes mayor.

As a bookstore person, I had a few ideas. Sure, a coupon, discount or some other thing could be offered. But people can get great discounts on Amazon. Why not give them something they simply CAN'T GET at Amazon? And one thing you can't get from Amazon, nomatter how broad their selection and how convenient their shipping is, is actual physical presence. (Try checking in to Amazon on Foursquare or another location based application. Oh that's right, you can't --)

Perhaps if the person who becomes mayor is an author (most likely a local author to be able to gain the mayor seat), we might prominently display a feature wall/end unit with their books and a sign saying "Lawrence Hill is the current Mayor of Titles on Foursquare - check in now!" (BTW, Larry lives in our neighbourhood and I'm just using him as an example - in all honesty I'm not sure if he uses the Foursquare app, but he has been to our store enough times that he'd be in the running for mayor)

What if the mayor was allowed to have their own end display/wall display in your bookstore featuring their very own favourite books?

Other fun things we could do at Titles Bookstore that wouldn't cost any money would be to allow the mayor a chance to print their own book on our Espresso Book Machine. Given that the machines are still rare, it's a fun experience that they'd be able to tell their friends about -- they not only watched a book come off the machine, but they got to hit the buttons to make it happen.

What other fun things could a business owner offer to give a Foursquare mayor a real prize?

Connecting With Fans And Editors

Back at the end of May I was fortunate enough not only to get to sit with and introduce Shelagh Rogers, the master of ceremonies for the 2010 Canadian Bookseller Association Libris Awards which were held in Toronto during the annual CBA National Conference, but to also sit down with one of the nominees for an award that evening, Kelley Armstrong.

Kelley was nominated in the Young Readers' Book of the Year category for her novel The Awakening, which was published by Doubleday Canada, a division of Random House.

I took the opportunity to interview Kelley for The Writing Show podcast. That episode went live this week and you can check it out by clicking here.

My initial intention had been to talk to Kelley about the wonderful manner in which she connects with her fans on so many different levels. For one, she is approachable, personable and friendly -- one merely has to meet her at a convention or book signing to discover that.

But she is also actively engaged with her fans online via her website as well as through various social media outlets, truly giving her fans unique and exciting opportunities to connect directly with her as well as access to "never before seen" material and content that she creates for her fans. (Yes, she writes stories meant to be delivered directly to her fans for free so they can get their fill between novel releases)

She has, in many ways, transcended the author/reader relationship without sabotaging her success as an author whose work is available in print form through traditional publishing channels. Instead of replacing the sales of her works, Kelley's efforts add to it, and simply give those fans eager to consume more, more.

But, interestingly, about half-way through our interview, Kelley's editor at Random House Canada came up to say goodnight to her. That sparked a wonderful discussion about the incredible degree of respect and admiration Kelley feels towards her editor, who works with Kelley on all 3 of the different series of books she is writing.

It's refreshing to see such a successful author pause to acknowledge that their work is refined and made better by being paired with a masterful editor. It's great to see a popular author, and one with a huge fan base who might be tempted to pull an Andrew Wylie and try to skip part of the supply chain, recognize the value added to their work by a partnership with a good editor and publishing imprint. [Just a quick aside, but I'm wondering if the phrase "pulling a Wylie" might come into popular use and not refer to the coyote who always failed to get the roadrunner, but instead to the recently talked-about agent and his stand-off with publishers]

Yes, technology makes it easy to cut certain people out of the supply chain -- but it might not always be the right thing for the long-term, wide-reaching life of a book of piece of writing. It's great to have the choice and the option of a decidedly different type of distribution, but one must carefully weight the benefits and value that a distribution system has.  I'm not saying, of course, that all direct distribution is a bad thing, or all traditional distribution is a good thing -- just that there are times when the traditional publishing/distribution supply chain provides a better quality product or service, and there are others where it doesn't.

One must always weight the options available with the proverbial grain of salt.  And Kelley Armstrong, who is intimately aware of all the digital and direct to consumer options available, demonstrates how an author can leverage both traditional publishing and new media at the same time to connect with her fans on multiple levels. She, of course, is connecting with her fans without losing the connection with her agent, editor, publisher and booksellers. I would speculate that this is leading to an increase in overall sales of her books via all channels. (And yes, Kelley does mention in the interview her experience and observations about how her younger readers, especially those of the "born-digital" age, consume both the ebook/digital content and the print content with decidedly different purposes)

The Book Is Not Dead: It Just Had Babies

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about the popular #dearpublisher Twitter tag. I, of course, joked how it was going to give publishers a whack of new unsolicited material to read, but failed to point out some of the really cool statements.

And there have been a number of wonderful comments and questions to come from this tag, but I wanted to pause to mention my favourite, particularly since it talks about the manner in which a new technology adds to the existing ones, perhaps changes the dynamic, but doesn't altogether kill it.

@katrinalantznov: #dearpublisher Combine ebooks with hardcovers, but please don't stop printing books ever. The book is not dead. It just had babies.

This has been among the top tweets that has been re-tweeted, re-posted and celebrated.  (Proof of the type of creative genius you can squeeze into 140 characters or less.)

The Twitter handle belongs to Katrina Lanz who is a writer from Southern California. Her blog and tweets are interesting, well written and thought-provoking. Definitely worth checking out.

Dear Publisher (#dearpublisher): Please Publish Me

Okay, I couldn't resist the cheeky play on words in my title.  But it was amazing to see the #dearpublisher hashtag in Twitter completely take off a couple of days ago, as well as the continued updates flowing into that stream.

And it all started with a publisher (HarperPerennial) via a Twitter response to a writer/blogger/bookseller (jennIRL), suggesting the #dearpublisher hashtag with words reminiscient of Doctor Frasier Crane:  "We're listening."

Check out details regarding this via The Guardian, GalleyCat and BookNinja.

The book nerd part of me is delighted to see such an open and dynamic conversation begin. And on a cool sidenote, publishers not wanting to get all caught up in tension and answering controversial questions that can't properly be handled in 140 characters or less have even addressed many questions, concerns and comments stemming from this popular hashtag on their own blogs.  (See Windmill Books, for a good example)

And there have been some absolutely amazing comments, questions and concerns, many of which have gotten retweeted.

But the flip side of me wonders at the sheer volume of unsolicited advice, suggestions, questions and comments publishers are opened up to via this new channel and can't help imagining that the slush pile of unsolicited submissions on their plates has now doubled or tripled. 

Although the good news for them is that it doesn't take as long to consider 140 characters of text as it does to consider the novel proposal package for someone's magnum opus.  That, and the retweet "filter" allows the less slushy comments to "rise" to the top.

Top 10 Takeaways From Book Summit 2010

I attended Book Summit 2010 yesterday.  This year's theme was "HOT NEW MODELS: The Amazing Transformation of Business and Culture in the World of Books."  Presented by Humber College and the Book and Periodical Council in association with Authors at Harbourfront Centre, the full day conference is a great gathering of people from across the book and publishing industry.

The day started off with a keynote address from The New York Times technology columnist David Pogue whose talk "Reading: The Next Chapter" was interesting, quirky, entertaining and enlightening.  He ended off a great summation of the intersection of technology and culture with a couple of spoof piano songs.  One of which you can watch here (this video is from the TED conference and has a much better sound quality than the recording I made yesterday - oops, I didn't get anyone's permission to record it yesterday, let's hope the Feds aren't going to storm into my house now)

The day split into parallel workshops and information sessions, of which I attended Switched-On Learning presented by David Jolliffe from Pearson Education and Elements of the Bookstore of the Future presented by Chris Morrow of Northshire Bookstore.  Then it was time for lunch and the afternoon session where I took in Robert J. Sawyer's talk on The 21st Century Author.

It all ended with a phenomenal panel discussion summarizing the day led by Mark Medley of the National Post and featuring Anne McDermid (Literary Agent), Sandra Kasturi (ChiZine Publications), Dominique Raccah (Sourcebooks) and Kate Pullinger (Author).  It was one of those panel discussions that could have gone on for several more hours and was the perfect day to wrap up a solid day.

The biggest frustration (which is a fantastic problem for an event like this to have) is that the breakout sessions were so good that you really wanted to attend more than one -- I need to further develop a strategy where I go in with some colleagues where we plan on attending different parallel sessions so we can compare notes afterwards and still get some of the benefit of the sessions we missed.

I thought it might be fun to list, from the notes I took yesterday, 10 of the quotes or points I got a lot out of.  And yes, I titled this the Top 10 Takeaways, but will openly admit that was just a gimmick because it sounds better than "Mark's Goofy Thoughts About A Great Day With Book Nerds."


1) "Things Just Add On" - David Pogue
The concept Pogue is talking about here are the constant predictions made by people that something is going to be the killer of something else, which are usually always wrong. Example, "the iPad is going to be the Kindle Killer" or "the television is going to kill the radio" or "the X is going to be the Y killer" (I'm still predicting that books are doomed due to the advent of vinyl records) - But seriously, Pogue says that things in culture tend not to fully replace things, but rather add on to them. Things splinter. Sure, we lose the common culture effect where everyone gathers around the water cooler and discussions last night's episode of "I Love Lucy" but everyone is better served and we can dip in and out at will.

2) "The only people being inconvenienced by copy protection measures are the honest people." - David Pogue
So true. Those who are going to hack and steal and going to hack and steal regardless of any sort of DRM measures put into place. The main people who suffer when you lock down digital content so tight are the honest people who are willing to pay for content. I could argue on for days about this (hey wait, I HAVE and will continue to do so)  Pogue's hilarous music medly covers the music industry's RIAA suing downloaders here -- funny spoof song but interesting and though-provoking.


3) "Speed + Ego - Privacy = Twitter" - David Pogue
Okay, a short, cute and funny statement. But I loved it.


4) "The ebooks we buy and read today are not likely to be available to our descendants" - David Pogue
Interesting thought. And yes I might sound like a luddite for saying something like this or look like that dinosaur bookseller who fails to accept ebooks and wants to cling to the traditional printed book, but it's a simple matter I have already seen.  Books and comics I bought when I was 10 are still available to be placed into my son's hands 30 years later. But games and software and stories I wrote and save to a 5.25 inch floppy disk on my VIC-20 and Commodore 64 are no longer something I can pass on. So what is to say that the digital files I create or purchase today, which haven't really been around for more than a decade in many cases, will still be here in another 10 or 20 years. At least the books on the shelves across from the desk where I type this will still be accessible in that same time frame.


5) We are seeing just the beginning of interactive assessments/mobile for learning technologies - David Jollifee (Pearson)
Right now my campus bookstore sells a lot of the i (classroom response system) units that are being used at McMaster University. Unlike many other required course materials, these are of a relatively low cost and have a high return on investment. A student can buy one in first year and use it for all their classes for the next four years. Great investment, and a great interactive way to aid the academic environment.  But we're just seeing the tip of that, and this whole area intrigues me greatly.


6) "Right now we're losing a lot of sales because we can't give the customer what they want when they want it." - Chris Morrow (Northshire Bookstore)
Morrow was talking about having an Espresso Book Machine in his store in Vermont. Therein lies merely one key to the bookstore of the future. It's one of the reasons why my campus bookstore invested in an Espresso Book Machine and one of the things that is kept close to my heart every single day as a bookseller. The key, in my mind, to the survival of any bookseller is how to position your offering in such a way that you CAN get the customer what they want when they want it, whether it's a physical book or one of various different digitally available book or book-like products. I have said tons about this and will continue to say a lot about this going forward, so I'll just stop here with that thought.

7) "It's time for real partnerships." - Chris Morrow (Northshire Bookstore)
Morrow was talking about the partnerships between publishers and booksellers and I couldn't agree more. Too often in the past 20 years of my experience as a bookseller there have been too many times in which disagreements or differing points of view have gotten in the way of creating a supply chain that actually does more for the customer/consumer. It will only get better once we're able to determine the common grounds by which (as suggested in point 6 above) we're able to work together to get the customer that critically important thing. One thing clear in my mind is that finding those common grounds are going to be hard and going to involve painful discussions and frustrating changes as we evolve, but, hey, it's all part of Darwin's grand theory. I was delighted to hear the same underlying sentiment from the afternoon panelists and think it was Anne McDermid who suggested there be "more merging between the author, agent and publisher" who, historically might have seen one another as adversaries in the past.

8) "Right now you have all these books sitting in warehouses that should be in front of customer's eyes in bookstores." - Chris Morrow (Northshire Books)
How. True.  Nuff said? Okay, I'll say a tiny bit about that. I was delighted to enter into a discussion with a smaller Canadian publisher at the end of the day regarding trying out the "Consignment Model" that Morrow was talking about in which, just at the beginning of the experience, he and the publisher partner have seen a 22% increase in sales on that particular publisher's titles by testing a consignment model rather than books continuing to be used as cash flow management systems. I'm rather intrigued by this concept and am always looking for solutions in which the customer, bookstore, publisher and author can win.

9) "If we had crowdsourced BAMBI, Bambi's mother would never had died." - Robert J. Sawyer
Sawyer talked about the concept of crowdsourcing for various things such as Bain allowing a particular group of core fans to help them vet their slush pile. He recognized the huge value in that, but also was cautious about the effect on the creative work, that the original novel writer as well as the adapting movie producer both had to make a difficult decision that likely wouldn't have passed a commitee but made for a VERY memorable moment in animated movie history. He also addressed a question from the audience about "product placement" which is commonplace in movies and television but hasn't made it's way into literary works. Sawyer talked about using brand names in his novels for one of two reasons -- either because it was a brand he personally respected or loved, or it was a brand he knew would be recognized. He talked about the limitations to creative freedom when you allow advertising to control the story. (One example he used was for FlashForward, the TV show based on his novel -- he speculative that if one of the sponsors was a car company, would that mean that the "bad guys" in the story couldn't ever turn out to be players from the "big oil" companies?) Sawyer raised a really good point regarding creative freedoms that I hadn't ever really thought much of before.


10) "Some of the greatest joy in my life comes from interfacing with readers from all over the world." Robert J. Sawyer
Sawyer was talking about pleasures and joys from being involved in social media, hosting a web site with fantastic content, participating in Twitter, Facebook and other social media as an author.  (Even during the conference, he dipped in and out of various social media to interact with fans and friends and comment on things, showing the agility required to multi-task in such a dynamic manner) He did caution about how overwhelming spending time in these social media areas could be which take away from what the author originally signed up to do, which was to write. But he talked about all these efforts (including author tours and talks and all the various in person activities he engages in) and said that if you get even a 1% response to all these activities you might just get somewhere -- which is a clear recognition that there is a tremendous amount of effort required to get a very tiny amount of payoff.

So many other great things were said, two of which I'm going to break off and blog about separately (because this blog post has likely gone on way too long already.

But two things I'm going to address in future posts are the statement Robert J. Sawyer made in which he wasn't sure if the profession of being a full-time writer has another decade in it -- that definitely warrants a longer explanation and detailed look (from my own POV as a no-name author as well as a bookseller)  I also want to list out the various great discussion points made in the final afternoon panel featuring Mark Medley, Anne McDermid, Sandra Kasturi, Dominique Raccah and Kate Pullinger.  An "action-packed" discussion, that definitely warrants it's own post.