Mark Leslie is a writer, editor and bookseller who lives in Southern Ontario. In 2005, Mark joined the blogging bandwagon and started posting random thoughts and musings on writing, bookselling and being a father.
Last week I was back in my home town of Levack, Ontario, helping my mom with painting a few rooms in her home. Because Alexander had a PD day off school, we managed to get up there earlier in the week so I could get the work done.
So when I was in town, I recorded a short video at Levack Mine, referencing a chapter from my book Spooky Sudbury. I did this as part of my ongoing #FreeFridayFrights weekly series of live Facebook videos where I either read a story (FICTION) or relay a true tale (NON-FICTION).
In the short video I recalled, mostly off the top of my head, the tale about an eerie encounter from the 1970s at the mine in Levack that I wrote about in a chapter called "Haunted Level 2650 at Levack Mine"
I was startled to find that, within just a few days of posting it, the video has already had more than 2,600 views. I also, of course, realized I had goofed up and used incorrect terminology when relaying the story. So, when I did the post-live video upload (where I add sound effects, graphics and other enhancements to the video, I thought it best to record an introductory apology for getting the terms wrong and then also a conclusion where I read part of that chapter to share the proper and more full story.
I have been doing the Free Friday Frights videos every week since April 6, 2018, but this one, by far, has been the most watched video of all. I was delighted to see how many folks from my home town area commented, shared and then re-shared the video.
It reminds me of an old adage that my friend, fellow author Robert J. Sawyer said years ago and which stuck with me. He said it was important, when marketing yourself as an author, to define yourself as a big fish in a small pool.
The idea is that, as a writer of thrillers, horror and ghost stories, if I compare myself to Stephen King, I barely make it onto the radar. But if I compare myself to all the other thriller, horror and ghost story writers in the Sudbury area, at least I rank a spot on the charts. (There actually are a few authors who write those same things, but at least my presence, compared to them, is a lot more even than my comparison to Stephen King)
I find it fascinating that my largest success from writing always related back to my home town. When I launched my first book, One Hand Screaming there in 2004, there was a line-up of people, the newspapers and radio featured the release. And then, of course, in 2013, when Spooky Sudbury was released, the support from local media and the local public was truly overwhelming. Jenny and I sold out at both the Chapters and the Coles on the day of our book launch, and the following day, I spent 8 hours at the local Costco and sold most of a skid of books.
And, reflecting back on the comparison to Stephen King, it was awesome to see that, at least in one city in one afternoon in one store, I outsold the master of horror. (Of course, I was there signing copies, and he wasn't. Let's ignore the fact that, if King had been there signing copies of his book the only thing people might be looking at me for would be directions to the restrooms or where to find more copies of his books, because the skid sold out yet again. But best NOT to focus on that.)
Sales on that particular title continue to dominate my annual royalties, even though the local population of the City of Great Sudbury (about 165,000) is far smaller than the cities of Hamilton (550,000) and Ottawa (950,000) where a couple of my other books are set. A smaller community seems to take much more pride either in celebrating the accomplishments of a home town boy, or wanting to read about their home town itself.
For writers, the lesson is important. Focusing on defining a smaller and more focused target audience seems to be a consistent key for larger success.
With the recent release of my latest book, Creepy Capital, I spent some time on the road doing various promotions. I started in Ottawa to launch the book, then hit Niagara Falls with a table at Niagara Falls Comic-Con, then Sudbury for Graphic-Con.
In fact, given my penchant for the paranormal, you might call the recent trips part of visiting three points of The Ontario Triangle, in a "Bermuda Triangle" sort of way. (Am I the only one who remembers the fun late 1970's "In Search Of" TV series narrated by Leonard Nimoy - "In Search of the Great Lakes Triangle"?)
That thought made me think about the content of three of my books from Dundurn. And the fact that they might represent The Paranormal Ontario Triangle.
As I have been reflecting on the past few days, this weekend that just passed was the first weekend in the past three weeks where I haven't been
traveling to promote my books.
You can read about the weekend at Niagara Falls Comic-Con here.
Saturday June 11th was the 2nd annual Sudbury Graphic-Con. And although it was one of the smaller cons that I've been to, it was among the MOST successful in terms of traffic, the amazing people and the absolute enthusiasm that I've come to enjoy whenever I return to my old stomping grounds in Sudbury.
Sudbury might be a smaller city in mid-north Ontario, but it has the biggest heart, the biggest supportive atmosphere and when the people of Sudbury do something, they put their all into it. Sudbury never disappoints.
Sudbury Graphic-Con brought with it all of those same things and, of the three recent promo travel weekends, I declare it the absolute winner. And it was so fun to check out Big Nick, Sudbury's first super-hero (for those non-locals, this is a reference to Sudbury's Big Nickel), as well as chat with Richard Comely, creator of Captain Canuck.
Alexander and I did the trip, enjoying listening to an audiobook together as well as misc father/son chatter on the 6 hour drive up and back. We had some time on Friday to do a few chores at my Mom's, including cutting the lawn for her.
Alexander at the booth after we had it all set up
Alexander posing with members of the 501st Legion
It's always awesome to see my sister Laura
Captain America (whom we saw in Niagara) was also in Sudbury and posed with Zander
This young lady told me it took about 2 hours to do the make-up for her great Two-Face costume
Rogue was enamored with Barnaby
One guy who came through our booth had the COOLEST tattoo on his hand and arm
One of the coolest things was that Alexander appeared on the local CTV news that night. We stayed up to watch the 11 o'clock news, and sure enough, in the short clip about the con, there's a fun shot of Alexander walking by in his Captain America costume.
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.
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.
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)
In early July, Alexander and I took a quick road trip up through Tobermory (where we did some fishing), took the ferry to Manitoulin Island (where I took some photos), and on to Sudbury and Levack (to visit my Mom and where I could take some more photos for use in my new book)
Part of the reason for the trip (apart from a fun "boys adventure) was so that Jenny Jelen and I could get some author promo pictures for use for our forthcoming release, Spooky Sudbury (coming in late Sept 2013)
One beautiful afternoon, Jenny and I met with John and Shelley Robbie (of Joro Photography) to have some photos taken at High Falls (a local tourist attraction in Onaping Falls, the community we all grew up in)
Barnaby, naturally, made it into some of the shots.
Barnaby Bones, Mark Leslie & Jenny Jelen - Photo by Joro Photography
Here is a grouping of some of the great pictures taken by John.
I am delighted and honoured that I get to share the stage with some amazing writers from Sudbury.
Tomorrow night (Thursday Oct 4, 2012), I will be included in a Laurentian University English Department sponsored event entitled "The Power of Popular Fiction" alongside Scott Overton and John Forrest.
I met Scott for the first time back in 2004 when I was launching my story collection ONE HAND SCREAMING at the Chapters there. He had come by the store during my book launch that October to interview me for his morning radio program, and we have since become friends. Scott is a phenomenal writer with incredible talent and I was honoured to have been able to read his hot new novel DEAD AIR and also provide a blurb that is being used on the cover.
Here's what appears on the cover of Scott's new novel:
"Scott Overton is a storyteller of boundless skill . . . a writer to watch."
- Mark Leslie, author of Haunted Hamilton and I, Death
Of course, the cover refers to my forthcoming horror novel which is mostly set in Levack and Sudbury. Perfect to grace the cover of this book by a wonderful Sudbury author.
I was also honoured to be able to publish one of Scott's short stories in the latest TESSERACTS anthology. And speaking of talented Sudbury authors, Sean Costello, whom I've been a fan of for decades, also appears in this fantastic collection of Canadian speculative works.
If you are in the Sudbury area, come check out this free event taking place at Vale Living With Lakes Centre (935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury - across from the entrance to Laurentian University). Doors open at 7:00 PM and the readings start at 7:30.
