Facebook Groups - Not Just for Cat Pictures!

How many of you who are writers belong to Facebook groups? Show of hands?

Hmm, ok. A little difficult to do virtually, but my unscientific results show Facebook groups are an under-utilized resource for writers and if you're NOT using groups, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you should.

There are 2 ways to use Facebook groups as a writer. Today I'll talk about using Facebook groups as a member of a peer group (vs using them as an author to share exclusive content, excerpts, giveaways, etc with your readers. Which is also cool and a great subject for another post. Note to self.). I'll also illustrate with screen shots b/c I used to work in training and development and how-to habits are hard to break.

There are groups for everything! Are you a middle-grade writer? Type middle grade writers in the handy dandy search box at the top of the screen and press Enter.

Your results will default to Top, but if you look over at More (all the way over on the right) and click on the drop down, you'll see Groups as one of your options to filter.

Lo and behold! Results!

Admittedly, a search for middle grade writers yields about five results. But, search for MG authors, middle grade fiction and your list expands. Search just for writers and the results are seemingly endless. You can scroll for ages!

Advantages to belonging to a genre-specific group vs a larger group? In my opinion, it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for input specific to your genre, whether it be craft-specific or publishing-specific, a genre group is probably what you're looking for. If you're looking for exposure to a wide variety of authors at various stages in their publishing careers, a larger group works well. You can get both in one group and it doesn't hurt to speed date a few groups before deciding which ones work for you. (And by speed date I mean, get notifications for all groups before you decide which ones you don't want to receive notifications for EVERY single time.)

One note -- size matters. I belong to 37 Facebook groups (yikes!), but I'm only really active in 4 of them. The others I sift through when I'm procrastinating, uh, I mean, catching up on social media, but the 4 I belong to are, in a word, ace. Of those, 3 of them are small groups (less than 20 members) and one is 770 and climbing. For me, the small groups work better, but I love scrolling through the feed of the large group because the amount of knowledge shared there is unbeatable and, well, the more you know...

Lots of groups are public, meaning you can join on your own. But don't be put off by the Closed Group status! See that handy dandy Join button there? You can click it and request membership. I'd recommend clicking first on the name of the group b/c it will likely tell you what the joining criteria actually is, but most groups aren't closed to be exclusive, but they're closed b/c they want you to read that criteria and make sure it's the right place for you. Also, be warned, a lot of groups state they're NOT promo groups (with exceptions like release days, price drops, etc) and admins don't hesitate to kick people out who violate the rules.

Once you decide to become a joiner, the best way to acclimate is to scroll through the posts and then dive in. Introduce yourself. Ask a question. Share a link. Check the files section to see if there are any docs where you can add your info to the group. The huge group I belong to has a doc listing everyone's Twitter ID, website and FB author page, which is a great place to promote without being all promo-spammy. 

And, the more you reap, the more you sow. Cheesy but true. A few weeks ago I attended the RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference in NYC and met lots of the virtual friends I'd made from a couple of the small Facebook groups I belong to. I actually shared a room with 2 girls I'd never met IRL, only via FB groups. It sounds like the premise of a bad horror movie, but it was great. Really. I also met a bunch of people from the big huge group I belong to and every time I read their badge we'd both be like, "Hey! I know you!" It felt like one big happy reunion -- but with people I'd never actually met before.

I'll close by saying I know FB, itself, isn't for everyone and Groups can absolutely be yet another time suck in the never-ending vortex of social media. But, for me, it allows a level of interaction not possible on Twitter and I value the connections and the knowledge I gain there so much, it's worth it. I'm really curious what other people's experiences are with FB Groups for professional reasons -- writing or otherwise? Do you think they're worth it or more trouble than they're worth? Looking forward to your comments!

Back Jacket Hack-Job #4: Day Four

So here’s my attempt at the Back Jacket Hack Job! For the last three days I’ve agonized over which book I would do my hack job for. I didn’t want to do something obviously easy to tear apart *cough*Fifty Shades*cough* (I kid. I read them all and I can see the appeal. Please no comment flames) and I didn’t want to do something that might be considered sacrilegious like To Kill A Mockingbird or something and... clearly I was really overthinking this. So I decided just moments ago to do the last book I finished: Day Four by Sarah Lotz. Full disclosure: I really enjoyed this book. Not as much as I loved her first in this kind-of-series (The Three) but Ms. Lotz is a fantastic writer and really knows how to write a page-turner! So since I liked it so much I figured it would be ok to poke a little fun. OK here goes!!...

Buy me!

Are you afraid of ships? Stranded ships out at sea? Do you “hate people” and maybe find it difficult to be in a secluded area with them for any length of time? DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.

Just imagine being STRANDED on a cruise ship full of NEEDY people who completely LOSE their MINDS and revert to the most depraved versions of themselves when they no longer have access to electricity or fresh running water. There’s also a (psychotic?) psychic, a murderer, and *gasp* possibly children on this 21-and-over only cruise. Is there no end to the madness?!

Told from multiple points of view and over the course of a few days, Day Four is a mystery, I guess? A paranormal mystery? What would you categorize this as? There’s some weird dialogue and slang. I think the author is from somewhere other than the US and maybe wrote another book before this that might possibly tie into this one. Oh… that would explain a lot…


So there you have it! Can I give you my real review now? It’s really good. If you like mysteries that have a weird “Twilight Zone” twist to them then this, and the previous book “The Three”, are ones you should check out. Read The Three first. You don’t HAVE to, but there are events that happen in this book that allude to events from the first. The writing is really well done. As (poorly) stated above, there are multiple points of view and each is unique and distinct. Both are great books for when you are on the beach, or just want to pick up something that is compelling and won’t take you forever to get through. You’ll fly through them. Enjoy!

Eek! Put Some Pages Up For Criteek!

A Post By Jonathan

 In a recent post about his harrowing run-in with a rogue tornado, fellow Boarder Steve Kozeniewski mentioned that we here at Across the Board are more than just a bunch of bloggers: We are a community. I found this out big time when, in a recent fit of desperation to achieve my dream of becoming a published author, I reached out to all the accomplished writers here at ATB, asking for editing help, general guidance, and any other advice they had about the writing life. I received a flood of support-filled responses in return and couldn't be more grateful... Thanks again, everyone!

One of their responses included a suggestion to put some of my writing up on the blog so that other writers could see what they thought... Being the brave soul that I am, I said okay. What do I have to lose, right?

So, without further ado, I present what we hope will be a regular segment here at Across the Board: "Eeek! Put Some Pages Up For Criteek!" You hereby have my permission to shred/praise/toss/tout/completely rewrite the first two pages of my MG WIP, currently titled Mac Magellan and the Gathering of Galaxies.Happy reading. And be gentle!

Chapter 1  

     Okay. I’ll just come right out and say it. My name is Mac Magellan and I hate outer space.
     Why, you ask? How could anyone possibly hate the moon, the stars, the entire Milky Way? Well, I bet you’d hate them too if you had astronauts for parents and they had crammed all-things-outer-space down your throat 24/7/365 since the day you were born. And you definitely wouldn’t like it if you got shipped off to nerd camp —AKA, Space Camp— every time they had to go on some useless space mission, like the great ISS zero-gravity toilet install of 2015.
     I know my mom and dad keep sending me to Space Camp because they hope all that junior astronaut training will eventually rub off on me, that one day I’ll want to explore the universe just like them. Well, Mars and Venus (they hate it when I call them by their NASA code names), it just ain’t happenin’ (they hate it when I talk like a Texan too, even though, as I always like to remind them, we live in Houston, Texas and are, therefore, Texans. I mostly do it to annoy them these days).
     Even if I had any interest in outer space (which I don’t), I like baseball way too much to give it up to float around in a tin can for the rest of my life. Plus, I’ve been known to lose my cookies on more than one Space Camp training simulator… and on more than one Space Camp counselor. Who knows what would happen if I actually left the atmosphere? No thank ya ma'am. I’ll take green grass, fresh air, and a bat and a ball in my hands any day.
     Of course, Mars and Venus wouldn’t know a baseball if it hit them upside the head— a theory I’ve been tempted to test out on more than one occasion. Needless to say, they weren’t happy at all when I told them I wanted to be a professional baseball player when I grow up. Sure, I’m only twelve now, but I figure if I get enough practice in I could easily be the starting pitcher for the Astros by the time I’m twenty-four.
     If my parents knew that all I pretty much did at Space Camp these days was sneak away to play baseball, they’d probably take the first space capsule off the International Space Station and remove me from the premises themselves. Then again, probably not. They hadn’t made it to any of my Space Camp graduations, and I wasn’t going to start holding my breath now.
     But what I was going to do was start working on my curve ball, and thankfully I had some friends to help me out in that department.

#TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter

Another quality post brought to you by Steve!

Some of you may have noticed the hashtag #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter trending on Twitter earlier this week.  (Even though with Twitter being limited to 140 characters - and that hashtag alone taking up 27 - it's nearly impossible to fit one entry into a single Tweet, let alone ten...but I digress.)  So's I thoughts to myself, "Self, you can do this.  But in a better forum.  Blog it, Cochise!"

And so blogging it, Cochise, I am.  I hereby present to you the official* Across the Board list of Ten Things Not To Say To A Writer:

10.)  Where do you get your ideas from?

Suggested response:  Aliens and/or God.

9.)  If you published a book, why are you still working a day job?

Suggested response:  As appealing as pauperhood and starvation sounds, I phoned the local debtor's prison yesterday and they just don't have space for me right now.

8.)  You're going to give me a free book, right?

Suggested response: Yes, after you provide me with your professional services for free.  Say, a dental cleaning, right now.

7.)  You should write one of those FIFTY SHADES OF GREY/DA VINCI CODE/HARRY POTTER/other recently popular books.  There's money in that.

Suggested response:  I said author, not hooker.

6.)  Do you know Stephen King?

Suggested response:  Hell yeah!  Just last night we discussed Wittgenstein over a game of backgammon.  All right, we ate mustard packets in the back of his car.

5.)  I've got a million dollar idea for you!

Suggested response:  Don't share that shit, then!  Just remember me after you've made your million!

4.)  I can't pay you, but it'll be great for exposure.

Suggested response:  How about you expose yourself to this great, big, fat pile of turds I just shat out?

3.)  Jeez, I don't think I've read a book since high school!

Suggested response:  Get behind me, Pazuzu!  Quick, somebody get me an old priest and a young priest!

2.)  Boy, the shenanigans me and my co-workers get up to would make for a great book, let me tell you!

Suggested response:  There's nothing about that idea I don't find appealing.  CC me on all your interactions from now on.  Legally, I can't make any guarantees, but just between you and me, I 100% guarantee HOUSE OF A THOUSAND ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE will be on the NYT Bestsellers List a year from now.

1.)  ...

Suggested response:  Quiet desperation. 

Seriously, we had a little fun today, but please reach out to your favorite writers on social media, and in reviews, and at cons, and, heck, any old way you can find them.  Even if you ask some of these questions, they'll probably be gracious and polite and answer you anyway.  Everybody loves a nice conversation with a fan.

How about you, authors, and or author-talker-toers?  Anything you hate hearing?  Let us know in the comments!

*in no way is this list official, nor does it in any way represent the views or opinions of anyone associated with this blog, to include the author of this piece

5 tips for getting to know your characters

Characters are essential to every good book, and the stories that really stay with you are the ones with

A post by Mary Fan

complex and well-developed casts. The more a reader cares about a character, the more eager they'll be to find out what happens to him/her. But creating characters that spring off the page and take on lives of their own isn't easy, especially when you have a lot of them (and you don't want to neglect the minor ones). Well, as the famous line goes, you can't really know someone until you crawl into their skin and walk around in it (paraphrasing here). That goes for fictional characters too.

Here are five tips to help you get to know your characters.

1. Ask them about their childhoods 

Nothing comes from nothing, and one good way to get to know your character is to figure out what made her the way she is. A person's childhood is instrumental in shaping one's personality, and whether it's a huge event (like the death of a parent) or a little nudge (such as a teacher's words of wisdom), all these factor act as hammers and chisels that carve a human being out of a previously shapeless block of life.

So for each of your characters, try scribbling a few words about their early lives as an exercise. Don't worry about getting too in-depth or detailed (unless you want to!). Just jot down a few notes, like "Devin Colt was one of those kids who was plenty smart but never did his homework, and even fancy private school teachers couldn't turn that around." You might learn something new about them!  

2. Picture what their homes look like

A person's home, whether it's a house, apartment, or pirate ship, is a reflection of who they are. An ambitious, high-achieving Ivy League graduate might have a neat, well-designed apartment even if they're still in the "penniless assistant" part of their careers, whereas a free-to-be-you-and-me artist might have clutter in every corner, despite having been born to hedge fund managers and having plenty of money for a housekeeper.

Jane says her favorite
make-up is eyeliner

Even if it's never a setting in your book, it's helpful to picture what your character's dwelling looks like (for instance, "Riley Winkelpleck spends his life on the computer and barely notices the rest of his apartment exists, so he's got sparse furnishings and candy wrappers all over the floor."). It'll give you further insight into who they are.

3. List a few of their favorite things

What kind of music does your character listen to? What's her favorite book/movie/holodrama/virtu-game? What's her favorite color? What kind of outfits does she favor? Does she like animals, and if so, what kind? These are all pieces of your character's unique personality, and it taking a moment to answer these questions from her perspective is a great way to walk around in her skin. You don't have to mention them all in your final novel (in fact, you probably shouldn't), but once you have the answers, little pieces here and there will trickle in and give your character added dimension. 

4. Imagine the in-between moments

Every book has time jumps. Most go unnoticed because they're little in-between moments that you wouldn't want to read about anyway (for instance, your character's trip to the grocery store... unless she runs into an axe murderer there or something, no one cares about that). And sometimes, as a writer, you'll need to skip over parts that are boring in order to keep up your pacing, even if they're significant enough to get mentioned later (for instance, no one wants to read the snooze-fest of details about how Agent Adesina made her way back to the secret base after the space battle - all that matters is that she made it).

But imagining what happens during those in-between moments, which can also be considered preemptively deleted scenes, can tell you something new about your character (Adesina was upset about losing a team member in the battle and was forced to re-think her methods). Though these are things that would bog down your pacing if you included them in your book, they're good for you as a writer to know about.

5. Psycho-analyze them

You don't need an official psychology degree to psycho-analyze your characters. The University of Wikipedia will do just fine for getting-to-know-your-character purposes. Pretend you're a pop shrink and ask your characters how they feel, then try to get to the root of why they feel this way. Or try figuring out their personality types based on things like the Myers-Brigg chart (here's the test).

Speaking of which, I may have gotten a little carried away with mine...

Which character from the Jane Colt trilogy are you? Click here for character descriptions :-)

It Pays to Promote

First, let me start off by saying I am not throwing myself a pity party. I'm not. But this post might sound pitiful nonetheless.

I put my novella, The Lady in Blue, on a Kindle Countdown Deal (KCD) for this week. I dropped the price from $2.99 to $0.99. I needed a bump in sales. The last sale I had before July 20th was TEN DAYS PRIOR. Anyway, I decided I wasn't going to pay for promotions as 99-cent runs don't usually get a decent return on investment. I was going to book as many free promotions as I could. Since the book went on sale on Monday, I've had 13 sales with only two or three promotion sites running the book. I wasn't able to secure promo spots on too many places. No sales today, yet. Clearly, I'm not ecstatic over this, but it's to be expected.

From what I've read from various indie author communities, you're better off paying to promote a free book. And visibility from promotions on free books boosts sales on your other titles. It's really a numbers game. If 1,000 people download your book, maybe 300 people actually read it. Of those 300, maybe 10 review it, but perhaps 150 buy your next book in the series. This is all arbitrary as I have no data to back this up. Unfortunately, I only have one more title out, but a free run on The Lady in Blue should drive readers to my other book, Grunge Gods and Graveyards -- in theory anyway.

So, I'm going to start creating a budget for my next free promotion and plan accordingly -- in advance. I'll let you know how it goes.

What is your experience with paid promotions? Best for free books or 99-cent books?

A game world for my fictional characters? Yes, please!

A couple weeks ago my daughter asked me if she could get the game Sims FreePlay. While I usually unwind at the end of the night by spending some time on one of the Candy Crush Saga games, I’m not what you’d call a gamer. I had never played any of the Sims games, but from the advertisements I’ve seen it seemed a bit too mature for my almost nine-year-old. She thought differently so she had me look it up in the App Store (on her Kindle --UPDATE: see reply in second comment below for more information), and the information told me it was rated “for all ages”. Still—I wasn’t convinced and I told her I had to think about it.

Later that same week my daughter and husband left for their annual Daddy/Daughter trip to King’s Island. I figured that was the perfect opportunity for me to download the game and check it out without my daughter knowing that I had it on my phone. Because once she knew it was on my phone, then I’d get nothing but a constant, “Can I play? Can I play?”

It started off all innocent enough. While I figured she might get frustrated with the time it took to complete tasks, I thought she would enjoy making her own people, building houses, planting food, etc. I was cruising along in my Sims world, completing my tasks, and all seemed OK for my daughter.

Until it was time to WooHoo.

After two Sims are romantic enough times (hugging, chatting, kissing), their relationship elevates to the next level. Once that happens, you're given a task to have the two Sims WooHoo. Yep, WooHooing is exactly what you’re thinking it is. The two Sims did this amazing hover spin which made their clothes disappear (except their underwear), and then they went in for an embrace and a large pixilated circle covered them up. (Note: my Sims now WooHoo in the bed, under the blanket, with little dancing hearts all around them... unless other Sims are already in the bed then they just WooHoo wherever they are. I know this because I was curious enough to find out!)

Two of my Sims WooHooing in the kitchen...

Ummm... I’m not ready to answer the questions my almost nine-year-old would ask about WooHooing, so it’s a big fat NO on her playing the game. My time is coming (soon I expect), but I don’t exactly want to have the conversation based on Sims gameplay action. (Don't worry though, I think I can make up for it by finally giving her Minecraft.)

However, I’m having a blast in my new Sims world because it’s become my literary world!

When I had to create my first Sim, a gender and name was suggested. Ironically, it was a female with a last name of Mitchell. Well, the protagonist in Kingston’s Project is Sarah Mitchell. And that’s how it started. My Sims world now has Sarah, Elijah Kingston, Marcus Kingston, Miles Morgan, Tina Morgan, and Brandon (Van) Vanderlink from Kingston’s Promise.

It has been a blast trying to make the personalities of my fictional characters come alive and have them interact with each other. For example, one of my recent tasks was to send one of my Sims to a neighboring Sims town and have them WooHoo with a Sim there. Well, Van being the player that he is was perfect for the task! Now he’s busy trying to set someone’s oven on fire. Yep, sounds like Van alright! Although Sarah has a secret past with a grill she won’t discuss, so maybe I should have sent her instead...

I love to get notifications that tell me things like, “Elijah Kingston has finished cooking!” It’s a great way to keep these characters that I love close to me at all times.

Elijah Kingston distracting a mummy in the park. Quite the change of pace from his CEO life in Kingston's Project!

I recently unlocked a mysterious island. I might have to move in some characters from a different book to live there... I think Angel would love an ocean view home!

Well, it looks like Sarah and Tina are done with their fashion designs (I’m trying to earn some long hair this week), so I’m off to the next task!

Which literary characters would you move into your Sims town? Would you try to keep to their original story plot (who they marry, what they do, how they look, etc.) or put your own spin on it? Would you be in it, maybe WooHooing with your favorite book boy/girlfriend? (wink, wink)

~Carrie