How to Fall in Love with Your Cover

Is there anything better than a shiny new book cover? Especially when it's YOUR shiny new book cover? Whether you're traditionally published or an indie author, the thrill of seeing that email in your inbox with the subject line: "Cover Draft" never gets old.

The possibilities are endless before you open that email. It's the first visual representation of your book baby. The excitement is palpable.

Then you open the email.

And it's not...all that. It's not even close to what you were imagining, despite the detailed cover form you filled out. Why? Why is this draft cover in your inbox so far from your vision? You filled out the cover form!! You were perfectly clear.

Weren't you?

Chances are, you were very clear. To your brain twin. You know, that person who thinks exactly like you do and knows that when you specify a guy who's kind of a cross between Channing Tatum and Liam Helmsworth, you really mean Henry Cavill. He's not doing book covers (but then again, Beyonce just did a wedding, so anything's possible, right?), but you figured there was a stock photo model who would pass. And this guy...could not be mistaken for Henry Cavill. Ever.

So, what to do?

After you freak out - and send the photo to a sympathetic friend - take another look at the cover and ask yourself:

• What do you like about the following?
• Colors
• Fonts
• Cover model(s)
• Background
• Title treatment
• Title placement
• Author name placement

• What, specifically, do you not like about the following?
• Colors
• Fonts
• Cover model(s)
• Background
• Title treatment
• Title placement
• Author name placement

The more specific you can be about what you like and don't like, the easier the conversation with your cover designer - who is NOT your brain twin after all - will be. If you're traditionally published, the changes you're able to make may be limited, which is why it's even more important to be able to dive into specifics. 

If you're an indie author, though, this is only the beginning. It may be that draft number one of your cover is a starting point for the conversation about everything you do NOT want your cover to be, but chances are, there's something in the existing cover that you'll want to keep and your designer needs to know that.

Of course, they also need to know what's not working for you. A black background on a rom com can work, but only if that's your vision. A swirly curly font on a sci-fi novel probably doesn't work very well. As for that cover model...

You can save yourself a world of frustration by diving into stock photo sites yourself, to give your designer some options. Deposit Photos, iStock, and Shutterstock are the favorites, but there are others. It's a minefield, but also your best bet for communicating your vision.

Speaking of vision...there's a lot of differing opinions about providing a cover mock up to your designer. *I* think this isn't a bad idea if you've got a very specific vision. But I also think the cover mock up is best provided in the early stages, not after a first draft. I've given my cover designer a mock up and gotten a much-improved version of said mock up, but I've also provided a mock up and never heard from the cover designer again, so this is definitely a "tread carefully" area.

At the end of the day, the cover designer is an artist. Just like you. His/her vision for your cover might not match yours, but you both want the same thing - a cover that will sell the hell out of your book. Chances are excellent you'll get there - as long as you're clear in your communication through the drafting process. 

What's your top tip for working with a cover designer? And, while you're at it, who do you recommend?

Interview: Marie Landry, Bookstagrammer, Talks Creativity, Hashtags and Connecting with the Bookstagram Community as an Author

Who loves #bookstagram? *Raises hand.* I stalk a lot of bookstagrammers over on Instagram. Like, a lot. The bookish love. The bookish photos. The bookish community. It all makes my book-loving heart ridiculously happy. One of my favorites is Marie Landry, who's a romance author and a bookstagrammer, and if you're a romance lover and you're NOT following her, you absolutely should be.

Marie was kind enough to sit down and talk with Across the Board this week and talk all things #bookstagram, including hashtags and how authors can connect with this vibrant, book-loving community.

First of all - the photos! The set up is amazing. Do you actually have all of the things you use in your photos or do you use stock photos? What kind of equipment do you use to take your photos?

Everything you see in my pictures is mine; I collect props - regular household items, bookish merch like candles and bookmarks, flowers, FunkoPops, etc., and of course the books, both physical and ebooks - and arrange the setup myself. They’re all taken in my bedroom/office either on my bed or on a table. I do a variety of flatlays and ones that show my bookshelves in the background. Some bookstagrammers have fancy cameras and lighting (I’m envious!) but I just use the camera on my 3-year-old Samsung phone and make sure to take pictures when the natural light is good.

Has your process changed now that you've been bookstagramming for a few years? If so, how?

I’ve learned a lot through trial and error, and from other bookstagrammers. Last year, I discovered the mobile app version of Lightroom and started using it to edit all my photos. It was a complete game changer, especially in the winter when the natural light was terrible. Lightroom can take a poorly-lit or dull picture and turn it into something bright and vibrant. I’ve also started taking as many photos ahead as I can; I try to spend one morning a week taking a bunch of pictures so I have a stock for the week and don’t have to haul out all my books and props every day.

The bookstagram community seems really creative, but how do you keep coming up with new ideas?

I’m constantly inspired by my fellow bookstagrammers. I love to look at other people’s pictures and I save my favourites to refer to for inspiration. I also participate in monthly challenges (and even co-host one) that give you daily prompts. They’re great for helping you think outside the box and keep things varied.

Your posts always have a fox in them. Is that your signature?

It is! A friend made it for me last Christmas because I love foxes. I used him in a few photos, then realized he’d make a great signature prop and now he’s in all my photos. A lot of people have told me how much they love Foxy, especially when he’s peeking out from somewhere. Oddly enough, having him in all my photos has helped me get even more creative.

I always pay attention to bookish hashtags. Which ones are your favorites?

First, for those who don’t know, you can use up to 30 hashtags per post, and I always use the full 30 for maximum exposure. (If you don’t like how it looks, post the hashtags in your comments with 5 lines of dots first so the comment collapses and hides itself.) You want hashtags with under a million photos, otherwise yours gets lost quickly, and with more than a few thousand so people actually see them.

A few of my favourites are #booknerdigan #booktography #bookcommunity #coverlove and #bookgeek. I also use hashtags for genres and categories, like #contemporaryromance and #yalovin, plus sometimes the name of the author whose book I’m posting. I have a list that I copy and paste, and I try to mix in at least a few different ones each time because apparently Instagram can flag you for spam if you always use the exact same hashtags. Also, be sure you’re not using banned hashtags because they won’t show up in searches - oddly enough #books is banned, so don’t use that one!

To authors who are hoping to connect with the bookstagram community, what advice would you give?

Bookstagram is a great place for authors to connect to readers AS readers. Talk about other people’s books at least as much as your own. Nobody likes people who are all about self-promo and that applies to bookstagram as well. I talk about my own books sparingly; I find Instagram stories and highlights are a great place to share information about my writing and my books so it doesn’t feel like I’m filling my feed with self-promo. To me, bookstagram is about building connections, and that takes time, especially if you’re an indie, newbie, or unknown author. Build a rapport with people, like and comment on their pictures, ask questions in your captions that will engage people.

Unless you’re attempting an actual bookstagram account (which should be all books all the time; I learned this the hard way a couple years ago when I tried to add in non-bookish pictures and had a lot of unfollowers, so I started a separate account), be sure to post some personal things too. People want to feel connected and they want to know the person behind the keyboard/phone. Give them little snippets of your real life - hobbies, travel, fashion, writing updates, whatever - and they’ll come to care about you and be invested in your personal story, which will hopefully lead them to being invested in the stories you write as well.

I love all of this advice. Also, time to stop using #books in my IG posts. Are you part of the bookstagram community? Any tips to add or questions for Marie? Post them in the comments!

Questions for Your Beta Readers

Your novel has been edited within an inch of its life, gone through to your critique partners and developmental editor, been edited some more and you're ready for the final feedback loop. You're ready to send your book to your beta readers.

It's tempting to send your manuscript along with a "what do you think?" and leave it at that, which totally works for some people, especially those with whom you have a long history of sharing your writing. But with others, you're going to want to provide more direction about the type of feedback you're looking for.

I always send the below list of questions to my beta readers with the caveat - I know you're not a professional editor so I've provided the below questions as guidance to frame your reading. Do not feel compelled to give detailed replies to each! You're my last reader before my book hits the virtual shelves and I'd rather know what's not working before piling up bad live reviews!

A.    Opening:

• Were the first paragraphs and first page compelling? Did they make you want to keep reading? If not, where did you stop reading?
• Did you get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is, what’s going on, and where and when it’s taking place? If not, what were you confused about at the beginning?
• Did the story hold your interest through the first few chapters? Or is there a point where your interest started to lag?

B.    Characters:

• Could you relate to the main character? Did you feel her/his pain, joy, fears, worry, excitement?
• Which characters did you connect to and like? (or love to hate)
• Are there any characters you think could be made more interesting/developed more?
• Did you get confused about who’s who in the characters? Are there too many characters to keep track of? Are any of the names or characters too similar?

C.    Dialogue:

• Did the dialogue sound natural to you? If not, whose dialogue did you think sounded artificial or stilted?

D.    Setting

• Were you able to visualize where and when the story is taking place?
• Did the setting pull you in, and did the descriptions seem vivid and real to you?

E.    Plot, Pacing, Scenes:

• Was the story interesting to you? Did it drag in parts?
• Which scenes did you really like?
• Which parts were exciting and should be elaborated on, with more details?
• Which parts bored you and should be compressed or even deleted?
• Was there anything that confused, frustrated, or annoyed you?

F.    Writing Style/Tone/Voice:

• Do you think the writing style fits the story and genre? If not, why not?

G.    Ending:

• Was the ending satisfying? 
• Was the ending believable?

H.    Grammar, spelling, punctuation:

• While you were reading, did you notice any obvious, repeating grammatical, spelling, punctuation or capitalization errors?

Do you use beta readers? What kind of guidance do you give them, if any? Are there additional questions you'd add to this list?

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I was walking my dogs the other day and the neighbor kid came out to tell me he was burning his English papers.

I think he told me this to shock me (I wasn't shocked) but he was also pretty keyed up because HE WAS BURNING HIS ENGLISH PAPERS. According to other friends' posts on Facebook, this is A THING.

Over the top? A little. But what's more alarming is the fact that these students think that just because their English GCSE is behind them that they're never going to have to write a paper again. Should I be the one to tell them? Can I?

(Some background for any non-Brits reading here. Basically, GCSEs are standardized tests that students in Years 10-11 (mostly Year 11) take across several subjects of their choosing in core subjects like maths, English (both English language and English literature), Science (a minimum of 2 exams), at least one language, History and Geography. Students may also opt to take additional exams in PE, ICT, Art, Design Technology, etc. Depending on GCSE results - and interest - students can then pick subjects to study for A levels, which then determine what they're going to study in university.)

In other words, if you don't choose to study English at A-level, you may (mistakenly) think your essay-writing days are behind you. MY OWN KID THOUGHT THIS. Granted, he's only finishing Year 8 and his GCSE's are still a couple of years away, but he was already gleefully looking forward to the day when he won't have to write another essay. Spoiler: he's not anymore.

"I'm going to burn my English papers when I'm done with GCSEs too," he said.

"That's fine. But you like history and you know that if you study history for A-level, you'll still have to write essays?" I asked.

"It's still not an English essay." He smirked a little.

"And science. All of those lab reports. Guess what they are? Essays." My turn to smirk a little.

"Still not English essays." Smirk faded because he really likes science.

"And university applications all require essays."

Smirk turned into a grimace. "Next you're going to tell me I'll be writing essays even if I go into technology."

"You'll be writing emails, which are often a person's first impression of you." I shrugged. "But, you know, they're not English essays."

"Will you stop if I promise not to burn my English papers?" he asked.

"No, you can burn them. It won't make any difference." I laughed because actually, the kid is pretty good at English. "Writing is the gift that keeps on giving, really. Once you learn the core skills, you can carry them over to anything!"

"Yay." The Boy rolled his eyes and left the room. I let him because he's thirteen and eye-rolling is as natural as breathing at the minute. And my point was made.

I'm still waiting to see the neighbor kid again. Rumor has it he's going for science at A-level. I can't wait to talk to him about his lab reports. :)

Interviewing Your Characters and GMC

Show of hands - who here has filled out a character interview sheet before they start writing? I definitely have not - yet. But I've been reading Debra Dixon's GMC: Goals, Motivation and Conflict (which is brilliant, by the way - even for someone 10 books into this whole writing thing) and she talks a lot about building the character interview into your writing process. According to Dixon (and I agree), it helps to give you a firm grasp the characters' goals and motivations, and how they're going to respond to conflict -- all of which help you build a great story.

The foundation of every great novel, regardless of genre, is conflict. If you have a weak conflict, readers feel like they're being led along a path for no real reason. Even in romance with its guaranteed happily-ever-after, your main character (MC) must face conflict - whether it's accidentally falling for her brother's roommate or an off-limits office romance.

Ok, I see you nodding and thinking, "But how does knowing whether my MC likes dogs add to the potential for conflict within my story?" Well, let's just say you're writing science fiction and your MC had a dog back when he was kid, which was a very long time ago. He and his friends are being shot at by rebel forces and about to board their space ship to escape the hostile planet, when MC sees a dog limping into a cave twenty feet away. MC makes a split-second decision to grab the dog and take it with them, but doing so means he's under enemy fire. And the crew now have a dog onboard - who's limping along and definitely worse for the wear. Imagine the conflict this can create amongst the crew! Now, the dog isn't the central plot point or conflict (it could be, but in my imaginary story it's not), but it can be used as a plot device to help drive the main conflict - which in this case might be something along the lines of: MC is a rogue and his superiors expect him to fall in line b/c he's putting everyone in danger otherwise. Case in point? You guessed it. Dog.

Here are 25 more great character interview questions:

1. It's Monday morning. Are you excited to go to work/school or sad?
2. What do you normally eat for breakfast?
3. Do you call your mother or text? How often?
4. Do you iron your clothes? Who does your laundry?
5. Do you exercise or are you happy to sit on the couch? If you exercise, what's your favorite way to exercise?
6. Have you ever played a team sport? If you no longer play, why not?
7. What is your favorite TV show?
8. How do you typically spend your Friday night?
9. What do you do when you're bored?
10. How many hours/day do you work/go to school?
11. What would you be embarrassed for people to know about you?
12. If you go to a party, do you prefer to talk to people you already know or meet new people?
13. What do you drink during the day? Water? Coffee? Ice Tea? Beer? Nothing?
14. What kind of books do you read? If you don't read books, do you read magazines, newspapers, or online content?
15. If a stranger rings your doorbell, do you answer it or do you wait in the kitchen until they leave?
16. What is your favorite food?
17. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
18. How many siblings do you have? Are you close or estranged?
19. Do you have a pet? If so, what kind?
20. What would be your perfect gift to receive?
21. What do you like best about yourself?
22. What do you like least about yourself?
23. How long have you known your best friend?
24. You're stuck waiting in an unexpectedly long line. How do you react? What do you do while you're waiting?
25. What is one color you think looks great on you and why?

These are only the tip of the iceberg of questions you can use to "interview" your characters, so I'm curious -- if you do a pre-writing character interview, what kinds of questions do you ask your characters?

How to Write a Review of a Novel You Didn't Like

I don't know a single person alive who's enjoyed every book they've read. I know a lot of people who try really hard to like a book because "everyone else" has loved it -- me included. But it doesn't always work because reading is super subjective. And that's OK.

Faced with a book you don't like, you have a myriad of choices. Easiest? Close the book (or switch off your e-reader) with a sigh and move on to the next. Life is too short to hate-read and your TBR is out of control anyway. But say you finished the book? Also super easy? Go mark the book as "Read" on Goodreads without giving it a rating or review. (You get credit towards your yearly reading goal this way, too.) 

But I don't want other readers to fall down the same trap I did, thinking this was a good book when it's not, you say.

And that's where the slippery slope gets slippery.

"Good" books are subjective, just like "bad" books. Yes, there are some things that make one book stronger than another -- clear goals, motivation conflict; character development; proper editing; progression of plot -- but even a book that has all of these things isn't universally loved. And I totally get wanting to warn others because friends don't let friends read "bad" books. So, if you must, a few suggestions:

1. Focus on the BOOK and what you didn't like about the STORY or even the WRITING. One 2-star review of my recent release, A BRIT COMPLICATED, says: What a disappointment this book is. It started well enough, but the writer couldn’t refrain from going down the sex route. Being a little older than sixteen I found it unfortunate to say the least. Perhaps the author will grow up one day. I think of myself as quite grown up normally -- except for those times I'm dancing around my living room lip-syncing Taylor Swift with a wooden spoon microphone. But unless this reviewer is my neighbor, that kind of comment takes away from the overall point of the review. (Which is that there is sex in a contemporary romance book, but that's another thing altogether.)
2. Remember, the story is FICTION. I just finished reading WARCROSS by Marie Lu, which is a YA fantasy. I loved it. The Boy loved it. But there are over 300 people on Goodreads who've given it 1 star, including someone questioning whether Lu knows anything about gaming, herself (she talks about her love of gaming in her acknowledgements) and another reader who questions in detail the whole virtual reality scenario she's created in the book. Um, it's her book and her world and just because she's set it up differently than you, the reader, would have done it doesn't make it invalid. Inconsistencies are one thing, but the glorious thing about writing/reading fantasy is that it can be way outside the proverbial box.
3. Reconsider your 3-star review. I've read 3 star reviews where the reader absolutely LOVES the book and 3-star reviews where the reader HATES the book, which proves everyone has a different rating scale and 3 stars is confusing. On my scale, 3 stars is kind meh. If you genuinely don't like a book, give is 1 or 2 stars and own it. Likewise, if you enjoy a book, 4 stars is always better than 3.
4. Whatever you do, do NOT @ the writer in your bad review. Most writers stay away from their reviews on Goodreads because GR is a platform for readers, not for authors. Avoiding reviews on Amazon is a little harder because the only way to know if your promo dollars are working is to keep one eye on your sales/rankings. If you put a bad review on a retail site, eventually we'll see it. Keyword being eventually. In other words, go ahead and write a bad review as you must, but for the love of God, there's no reason to tweet or tag the writer so he/she knows it's out there. 

Pretty simple, right? Anything you'd add here as either must-do or seriously-please-don't etiquette?

How essential is your writing life?

I'm taking a class this month, WRITE BETTER FASTER, taught by Becca Syme on www.margielawson.com. So far, it focuses on the psychology of what keeps you from meeting your writing goals and helps to identify your distractions and the key ways to keep them from derailing you. It's a month-long class and this is only week 2, but yesterday's exercise really resonated with me and I have a feeling it's going to be an a-ha moment for you, too.

Becca has asked us this week to keep a notebook, detailing how we spend our time. She's broken it up into:
1) Essentials; 2) Priorities; 3) Desires; 4) Nonessentials. Basically, Essentials are things we have to do -- like day job, feed the dog, wash the dishes. Priorities are things we don't have to do, but probably should -- vacuuming up the dog hair, talking to our spouse/kid/mother, etc. Desires are things we love and want to do, like social obligations, coffee with friends. And Nonessentials are things we may or may not want to do, and the world won't end if we don't do them. Like Facebook and watching Netflix.

So, revelation. On day 1 of doing this. Aside from getting The Boy out the door to school (which is Essential), my entire morning today was taken up with Priority items -- running, dog walking, showering, vacuuming up dog hair. By the time I sat down to write, which I consider Essential, as it's my JOB, it was 11:45. I *could* argue that dog walking is essential -- and running, too, for that matter because it makes a massive difference to my mental and physical health -- but is it really? If I were reporting to work in an office, would 11:45 be an acceptable time to show up? Um, probably not.

So why is it acceptable when I'm working for myself, making my own hours? Add to that an inadvertent software update (Essential, but I didn't mean to click to start it when I did) and going to see The Boy play football/soccer for his school team (Priority. They won in a sudden death penalty shoot out. It was crazy intense.), my hours spent on my actual job today are about...3. And that's generous.

Again, would this be acceptable if I were working for someone else in an office? Definitely not. Would it be acceptable if I were the boss and my employee was only giving me 3 good hours/day? I'm lenient, but not that lenient. Part of my motivation for writing full-time is flexibility, but managing my time well within that flexibility needs some serious work.

I'm going to continue to track my time for the next week, at least, to see if I can identify a pattern. I suspect it won't be that different from what I've noted today, which means I need to work on making those writing hours count or making more writing hours in the day. Or maybe even both?

How would your day look if you were to break it down the same way? And where does your writing fall on the scale from Essential to Nonessential in your daily life? Writing it all down is an interesting exercise, especially if you struggle with productivity, because the reason becomes glaringly clear. And proves that the struggle, although real, is sometimes mostly with ourselves.

Working With a Freelance Publicist

Authors who love doing marketing raise your hands? Anyone? Anyone??

I feel like a lot of my posts here at Across the Board are about marketing/publicity -- and about what NOT to do. But today I'm taking a slightly different turn and talking about outsourcing marketing/publicity. Yep, it's a thing. And while it may not be the answer to all of your prayers, it can help a lot. 

When I was preparing to launch The Castle Calder series, I decided to work with a publicist to help me maximize the exposure on the release of my new series. I got the marketing all wrong with the release of The Truth Series the first time around (hence a recent rebrand and relaunch, but that's another story altogether), but I didn't know how to do it right. So...I did what anyone else would do. I asked author friends for recommendations, reviewed websites and set up interviews with three different publicists.

(For the record, I ended up working with Linda Russell from Foreword PR (formerly Sassy, Savvy Fabulous) and she is, in fact, sassy, savvy AND fabulous. She specializes in new adult, contemporary and erotic romantic fiction and she's helped me a lot. So much that I've stuck with her through three releases and my rebranding.)

I see you over there shaking your head. You interviewed publicists? What on earth did you ask? Lots of things, the most important of which I'm going to list out here. Remember, you're hiring this person. You're going to pay them (we'll talk more about that in a minute). Pretend it's for something less personal You'd ask questions of the guy who's going to renovate your bathroom, right? When you're hiring a cover designer, you want to see samples of his/her work. Same with a publicist. Some "standard" questions I ask:

1. How far in advance of release date do you prefer to start working with an author?
2. Do you have a different monthly rate for release month vs. pre-/post-release? What is the difference in level of "service"? What is the minimum term you'll contract for?
3. Can you give any data on how your efforts have worked in the past?
4. Will you handle ARC sign up and distribution? How many ARCs will you try to give out before release? 
5. What big blogs do you specifically target?
6. Is any graphics/branding work included in the monthly fee? If not, is this something that can be arranged separately and at what cost?
7. What is your preferred method of publicity? Facebook, newsletters, etc.
8. How far in advance of release date do you need material from me for this to be most effective?
9. Will I have access to the contacts and data related to my release?
10. How do you prefer to be contacted and what should I expect from you in terms of level of contact? (If your publicist never checks email, but is on FB messenger like it's her job, you want to know that!)

I've seen people lament, "I hired a publicist, but this last book just tanked." There may be reasons for that (Hello, natural disasters and world politics) that have nothing to do with your publicist. Or it may be that your expectations aren't quite realistic. So, about that...

1. You're going to have to work just as hard as your publicist to get the word out about your book. Working with a publicist is a team effort. She/he will guide you, but at the end of the day it's not a hall pass to escape marketing altogether.
2. If you're not sure what to do that works, ask your publicist. She/he probably has tons of ideas about what you as an author can do to promote your release.
3. The more prepared you are before you start working with a publicist, the better.
4. It takes time to build an audience. Everyone wants to have that magic unicorn book that will hit a list and gain all the buzz, but most of us aren't magic unicorns.
5. You're not your publicist's only client. Emailing ten times/day "just to check in" is distracting. Or annoying. Or probably both.

There ARE some horror stories out there and big, waving red flags. This list is by no means comprehensive, but I'd think twice (or six times) about:

1. Companies that ask you for a large lump-sum deposit upfront. Paying for a month in advance is expected. Paying for a year? Not so much.
2. Companies who don't have experience promoting in your genre. Linda, for example, is amazing, but if you write horror, she's probably not the right fit for you.
3. Companies that contact you post-release after seeing your book mentioned somewhere. Their interest may be legitimate and it may be a great fit, but poaching a client from someone else doesn't feel like the right way to do business. If you DO go this route, at least make sure to do the above due diligence.
4. Companies who won't/can't give you a written plan with measurable outcomes tied to your goals. If you don't have it in writing, you have no recourse. And if you don't have measurable outcomes (e.g., distribute 50 ARCs, increase Facebook author page likes by x%) that you're both working towards, you have no recourse if things go badly.

Is your head spinning yet? One of the reasons I've made each list progressively shorter is because it's a lot to take in. Working with a publicist is a big decision and an investment, so it's best approached like the revolving sushi counter -- with eyes open and chopsticks out so no one sticks any unagi on your plate when you're not looking.

Has anyone here worked with a publicist? Additional recommendations for any of the above or things we haven't covered here? I'd love to hear them all in the comments!

#TeaserTuesday: Branding Your Book Launch

Full disclaimer #1: I don't know if other genres do the whole #TeaserTuesday thing on social media like the romance genre does. I read mostly romance and write romance exclusively, so that's where my main focus lies.

Full disclaimer #2: My "method" isn't scientific or even proven. But it is what I see lots of successful romance authors doing and why re-invent the wheel?

Full disclaimer #3: Even if you don't embrace #TeaserTuesday, branding your book launch doesn't seem like a bad idea?

I have a new book coming out October 11. Yay! It's called A BRIT COMPLICATED and it's the third book in my rom com series. I have high hopes for this book because I have such a crush on the hero, you guys. (Weird, but you get it, right?) But, I'll be honest, I'm also way more nervous about this release than I was about book two. A lot of series tend to fizzle -- and/or intentionally end -- at book three, and I'm not ready to stop living in this rom com world.

So, I've been thinking about branding. A lot. My series covers are branded really well and the third one fits in perfectly with these two:

(I can't show you yet, but my cover designer is on it, trust me.) So, opportunity #1 for branding -- that box is checked.

Then there's the whole #TeaserTuesday thing, another opportunity to brand my book launch pre-release. I realized pretty quickly I'd done a crap job with my past two releases. As in the branding and consistency in my graphics was nonexistent. I started branding the teasers of my last release, A BRIT UNEXPECTED, but when they didn't gain traction, I switched it up. Now when I look at my teasers collectively, you wouldn't even realize they were for the same book.

Bleh, right? Where's the branding? Let me answer that one. Aside from the book title, is none.

Seven weeks out from my next launch, I know I need to do things differently. So, I started looking at some of the best sellers in my genre. And guess what they do really well? They brand their teasers on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram! They all match!

Look at Emma Chase's teasers for ROYALLY ENDOWED, her latest release:

You only need to glance at them to know they're for the same book. They all have the same white background, red writing and the book cover. 

Lauren Layne also does this well. Look at her teasers for READY TO RUN, her book that came out this week:

She does one better -- all of her teasers have one of two backgrounds. Only the blocked text changes! How cool -- and effective -- is that?

As I said in the beginning of this post, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, so I'm focusing on consistent branding with my upcoming launch. I spent last Friday night making picture teasers and ALL of them are similar to this:

Same fonts, same colors, same logo (which I'll switch to the book cover after my reveal). When I look in my Google Drive and see all the images side by side, I see consistency. I see the same look and feel, and the same font combination, which hopefully will help readers associate with my upcoming book. 

Will it make a difference in sales? That's still TBD. But it can't hurt, right? I'll report back post-release and let you know. In the meantime, I'd love to know more about your branding in the comments. Is this something you think a lot about? How do you brand your book launch?

I'm Terrible With Names

I saw a post on Facebook yesterday from a writer friend looking for name suggestions for a character. She gave a few details about the character's personality, and her friends and fans filled her feed with suggestions. Sixty-eight and counting last I looked! Pretty impressive-- especially since I can't come up with sixty-eight possible names, period.

Which got me thinking about naming characters, in general. I use the ultra-scientific method of going with "what feels right." In my first book, my main character is named Zosia, which is the Polish equivalent of Sophie. It was important for her to have a Polish name (her mother was Polish), but that was my only requirement. A Polish friend of my grandmother's when I was little was named Zosia, and when I looked up the name and found out it means "wisdom" I was sold. Also, it conveniently shortened to "Zo". Again, super scientific.

My hero in that book was originally named Liam Flanagan. He was Irish and I LOVED his name. Until my editor said, "Liam seems to be a really popular name right now. I think you'd be better off changing it to something else, especially since Zosia's so unique." What??? I'd written and edited this book as Zosia and Liam's story and now I had to make it Zosia and Random Guy's story? I didn't, of course, but that's how it felt. And when Liam became Finn, the readers of my then-unpublished book were none the wiser, but it took me awhile to get on board.

Fast forward four more books and my method is pretty much the same. There are names I'll forever avoid because of various associations. (Lucy, although a lovely girl's name, is the name of my dog. She's blond, friendly, very outgoing...and a Labrador retriever.) Surnames are hard and I get a lot of inspiration on this front from Facebook. I'm very much against names that are hard to pronounce just for the sake of it, so taking a syllable or two of an existing name sometimes works. Or even borrowing a first name. 

Of course, there are authors who choose their character names carefully, looking at meaning, historical usage and popularity. I'm always super impressed when I read an interview with a writer and he/she is asked, "How did you name this character?" and their answer is well thought out. As in, they have an answer and can give reasons. (I also thank my lucky stars that I'm never asked that question.) 

Which leads me to my question for you: if you were asked, what would your answer be? Do you have a very unscientific method or are your character's names deliberate?

Preparing For a Book Launch -- A Checklist

My new book, A BRIT ON THE SIDE, releases a week from today! Cue all of the flails -- and the to-do list! Here's a peek at mine:

1.  Create final-final version of e-book. I use Vellum to create my e-book files, which is SUPER easy. No coding or fiddling involved, and it even reminds you to include your "Also By" pages in the back of the book.

2.  Proofread final-final version of e-book. Again. For the 1,437th time. Just to make sure nothing's gone wrong in the file conversion.

3.  Upload to retailers. I upload to KDP directly and use Draft2Digital for the rest. Some vendors take longer than others (looking at you, iBooks), which needs to be taken into account when uploading files. Hint: uploading files on a Friday for a Monday release is NOT enough time for the book to be live on all vendors. I'm NOT doing a pre-order for my upcoming release, so this timing is key for me.

4.  Update author website with buy links. In theory, you've already updated your author website with the cover, Goodreads link, blurb and teasers, so all that's left to do is add those all-important vendor links.

5.  Create teasers. I'm not sure if this is a thing in genres outside of romance, but #TeaserTuesday is a BIG thing. Teasers start at least six weeks prior to release, but the week before calls for a flurry of teasers. Again, in theory you can create these anytime but if you're like me you're squeezing them in amongst everything else.

6.  Experiment with graphics for Facebook ads. I'm a big fan of Facebook ads and now Facebook has a new ad option called "Brand Awareness," which is a relatively low-cost way to experiment with graphics for ads before you're paying big bucks for clicks. I say relative because, well, even $3/day adds up. Basically, Brand Awareness delivers your ad to your target audience and you pay per estimated ad recall lift (EARL). You can read more about EARL here. Brand Awareness is a new advertising option on FB and I'm using it for the first time now, so I'll report back post-launch and let you know if I thought it had any impact.

7.  Create graphics and copy for launch-day Facebook ads. There's a lot of debate about direct-to-retailer links in ads vs ads leading potential buyers to your webpage, which then has all retailer links. My own practice is to go direct to Amazon and include links to other retailers in the ad copy. I've already tested my graphics (see #6 above), so now all I've got to do is wait for my retailer links and set my budget.

8.  Make a list of additional advertising venues. Books cannot be sold via Facebook alone and having a list of quality sites for advertising is key. This again requires buy links, but doing the research gets you more than half-way there.

9.  Create a release-day launch kit. Assume friends/bloggers/your weird Aunt Sally will want to share the news of your release. Better to have a bit of input into that, yes? I suggest creating a document to have at the ready that includes: your book cover, blurb, link to Goodreads, link to retailers, a few early review quotes.

10.  Reach out to blogger/author friends to gently remind them of your upcoming release. If you've had author friends blurb your book, offer them last-minute ARCs for their reader groups. If a blogger loved your book, offer ARCs for a giveaway. If you're active in a FB reader group, reach out to the owner of the group and ask if you can publicize in the group on release day. I HATE asking, but I've learned that it's definitely not the worst thing and often your offer is met with a "Yay! I don't have to plan a post today" sigh of relief.

11.  Draft email to send to ARC reviewers thanking them for advance reviews and asking them to post on retail sites. Goodreads reviews are fab, but let's face it -- we al want reviews on the 'Zon. Include retailer links to make this as easy as possible.

12.  Plan a celebration. In my opinion, the WORST thing to do on release day is to sit alone with your computer and continually check rankings and reviews. Much better to plan lunch/dinner/drinks with family or friends. Even better -- plan all three! You've just published a book and if that's not cause for celebration, I don't know what is!

In the name of shameless self-promotion, I've got my favorite teaser from  A BRIT ON THE SIDE to share with you! I've also got an ARC  to give away to one lucky blog reader. Just comment on this post and I'll pick a winner later this week. 

BJHJ -- Bridget Jones's Diary 2016-style

I saw the preview for Bridget Jones's Baby the other day, which looks like a fab movie for a girl's day out -- and completely different from Helen Fielding's third Bridget Jones novel, Mad About The Boy, a book I loved at first but ended up skimming so I could see how it ends.

But, the whole thing got me thinking about the original Bridget Jones's Diary and how very 1990s the whole thing is. The original blurb even mentions programming the VCR! (Hands up if you had a VCR. Two hands up if you actually learned how to program it.) And then I started thinking about how different the book and the blurb would have to be to appeal today...which brings us to today's Back Jacket Hack Job -- Bridget Jones Diary 2016 style!

Meet Bridget Jones -- a thirtysomething Singleton who is certain she'd have all the answers if she could:

• Lose 7 pounds
• Quit sugar
• Develop a more interesting Instagram profile

Weight: 123 lbs. (How is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Check sodium content of Luna Bar. Also skip caramel in venti extra hot soy caramel macchiato) 
Alcohol units 4 (Excellent. Bonus points for red wine antioxidant properties.)
Minutes vaping: 121 (Poor but will give up totally tomorrow)
Facebook selfies posted: 2 (Better, but nevertheless. Facebook.)

Bridget Jones' Diary is the cringe-worthy, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's quest for self-improvement — a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, go to spin class three times a week for the cardio benefits, not only to ogle the hot (gay) instructor, form a relationship with a person that's as meaningful as the one she has with her phone, and catch up on her Hulu queue once and for all.

Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 272 followers on Instagram, but gains 274. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and — like millions of readers the world round — you'll find yourself tweeting, "Bridget Jones is me!"

The Reading Slump

As readers, there's always the risk of ailments we'll suffer. The book hangover, one more chapter syndrome, the ugly cry, spoilers, etc. Right now, this reader is suffering the reading slump. As in, I can't get through a book.

Oh, I've tried.

I made it a few chapters into The Martian before gently and temporarily setting it down for a book more appropriate of my mood at the time. Given, I did finish Paper Towns by John Green, but I dragged it out way longer than I needed to because, well, reading slump. I've tried listening to an audiobook, the next in a series I've really enjoyed. I'm also most of the way through Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, one of my favorite authors, most of which was read through in one day. But I just can't find the final push I need to finish it out for no other reason than reading slump.

I think it's possible the last book I read before this reading slump was Truths We Tell, book two in the Truth series by our very own Brenda St. John Brown. That was back in November, which should stand as an example of how bad of a slump I'm in. November. Of last year.

Usually, the reading slump is treated with the right book at the right time, but my book choices and timing haven't been matching up. There is hope, though. While catching up on my shows and sewing this afternoon I saw the trailer for The 5th Wave and it caught my interest enough that I'm contemplating jumping into it before the timing escapes me. Wish me luck!

In the event the next book is also a bust, what is your go-to to pull you out of a reading slump?

--Brianna Lebrecht