Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

Adding Book Marketing to the Equation

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I love to write. You might not know this about me. (I keep it to myself most of the time.) But I freaking love writing. When it comes to putting together a story or scripting a scene, I am all about it. When book marketing comes into play?

I usually run for the hills.

Book marketing and writing is not a good mix sometimes.

Truth be told, I would rather hide in my basement than try to sell you on my amazingly, fantabulous novel.

Unfortunately, book marketing is a fact of life and it falls solely on an author’s shoulders. Unless you’re James Patterson or Stephen King. (Someday, maybe?)

Creative vs. Analytical – ROUND 1 – Fight!

Both sides have to come to play in order to make this work. As Soriya Greystone tends to say (though without a full understanding like my three year old) “Balance is the key.”

Writing full time doesn’t get the word out about your work so eventually all you’re really doing is talking to yourself. Not the worst thing in the world. (I hear padded cells are cozy after awhile.) You have to ask yourself what’s the point?

On the flip side, book marketing can and will take over your schedule completely. And I mean COMPLETELY. There is always going to be some social network to join or a promotional site to list your work with so it gets more visibility. All well and good but there has to be a limit.

Pros to adding book marketing to your schedule.

  1. Book marketing can create an incredible amount of excitement. Putting your work out there in front of other people is terrifying. It scares the holy hell out of me every single day. Talking it up, however, is a great way to build excitement not only for potential readers but for yourself. Delving into the background of a story helps recall why it mattered to you in the first place and why it deserves to be read by others.
  2. A motivating force. Promoting a book tends to come with its own deadline. You’ve talked about a project so it better damn well see the light of day at some point. Knowing there is expectation out there, even if it is just your mother, is the creative drive you need to complete the work.

Cons, the other side of the coin.

  1. Book marketing can stifle the creative process. Worrying about the sales of your last book can hamper your drive to finish (or even start) your next one. Stop refreshing the sales report on KDP (Guilty…) and start writing!
  2. Making story decisions based on the dreaded “what sells” mentality. When creative influences become mired in ongoing trends in the hopes of writing the next bestseller, the project in question tends to end up less than fulfilling on any creative level. Making the almighty dollar, while a wonderful goal that even I hope to attain one fine day, means nothing if what we create is passionless.

Ways to mix book marketing and the writing side of things.

  1. Keep them separate. Write during the week and market on the weekend. Or vice versa. Let your brain stay in creative overdrive during a draft and then focus on boosting sales numbers on older projects. You’re still focused on all aspects of your business (it is a business after all) but not at the expense of future product.
  2. Batch ahead of schedule. Book promos weeks or months in advance. Schedule the hell out of your time. Whatever it takes to keep your mind on the task at hand so you can be as creative as possible and deliver your readers another excellent book to enjoy.

All in all mixing book marketing with your creative endeavors is the ultimate juggling game. Learn it and learn to love it.

Thanks for reading.

A Look Ahead at Greystone

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Every once in awhile there comes a point when the mental conversation that continuously swims in my brain needs to spill out on the page. Or in this case, the blog. I can keep things pretty straight most of the time, tucking little nuggets of information into posts and then keeping the sweet revelations for a later date.

This time I wanted to share what was ahead in the coming year and beyond.

Not only is my hope to whet your appetite so you’re as excited as I am for the upcoming collection, Tales from Portents, but also to add some accountability for myself. A little extra motivation to hit my deadlines (the earlier the better) won’t hurt and give me a roadmap to follow.

2017

February 17th – Tales from Portents. The first short story collection in the Greystone series. A prelude to the events of Signs of Portents, Tales was originally meant to serve one purpose: set up the events already depicted in Signs. As I plotted out the stories I wanted in the collection I realized that it could do much more than that.

It could act as a bridge between novels. Both thematically and in action. A project I was very nervous about publishing has become one of the most influential pieces of the puzzle for what is to come in the first cycle. Trust me, each story plays a part in what is coming.

September 8th – The Medusa Coin. The second full-length novel of the series and a story I have had kicking around my head since 2009. New characters are introduced and a great new threat as well. A few of them actually. When I originally wrote the outline there was a little trepidation.

The Medusa Coin stands as the midpoint for the first cycle of the series. Not only did it need to build on the first novel, there also had to be a path to the final chapter as well. Subplots from seeds planted in Signs start to form a bigger picture without losing sight of the main thrust of this standalone novel.

A tightrope act to be sure, but I think it will work out.

December 1st – Founder’s Day. Much like Resurrectionists, Founder’s Day is a novella offered ahead of the second short story collection. When developing the lineup for the next collection I thought back to Tales for inspiration and realized there were plenty of threads left to pull.

Including a direct sequel to Resurrectionists itself. If you haven’t read it yet, I won’t spoil it here. Suffice it say, Founder’s Day plays off the events witnessed in the novella with a heavy nod to the history of Portents laid out in Signs. The script came together beautifully and I am looking forward to drafting it once The Medusa Coin is set.

2018

February 9th – Pathways in the Dark. The second short story collection plays off the events of The Medusa Coin. It follows our leads directly from the threat posed and builds on the decisions made at the end. Each story stands alone but all connect to the larger framework of the first cycle.

Elements from all the previous books play a role in Pathways. Some of the tales within have been kicking around the old noodle for years so to finally see them come to life is a great feeling.

September 14th – A Circle of Shadows. I’ve been holding back this title for months, waiting to see if someone would ask me about its mention in Signs of Portents. Wondering if people noticed it sitting in the background when they read early iterations of Tales from Portents. This is the big finale to the first cycle.

Every time I close my eyes I see the pieces taking shape. I see each side of the conflict becoming more and more complex and developed. This won’t be like the first two full-length novels. This is bigger in scope and in cast.

There have been threats loose in Portents for longer than anyone has known.

And they are about to come to light.

Get ready.

Get excited. I know I am. Putting this series together (and laying the seeds for the next trilogy) has been one of the best things about the last year. (Don’t tell my kids that though…)

Thanks for reading.

Resurrectionists

Writing Update – January 5, 2017

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Welcome Back! A new year begins. Hopefully everyone is well rested and ready to jump right in. Me? Not so much, but then again, that’s my own fault for working instead of resting.

Has a lesson been learned? Probably not.

Enough with the banter! Your writing update awaits!

Writing

Slowly but surely the final pieces for next year’s short story collection, Pathways in the Dark, are coming together. I’ve had one story, in particular, that I’ve had rolling around the old noggin’ for years but it never went beyond the one line elevator pitch. Finally, over eggnog and gift exchanges something clicked into place and I am very excited to see it come together.

Back in 2017, (yeah, this isn’t going to get confusing quick) I’ve started self-editing September’s release, The Medusa Coin. Feels like I wrote the draft a lifetime ago but it’s only been five weeks. I have this mapped for the next two months so bear with me. I want to make sure this one comes out just right. It is a piece I’ve wanted to put together for years and I want to make sure it comes out right.

First, though, comes Tales from Portents, completing our journey to the present. The order is in for the first proofs! I can’t wait to hold it in my hands while I read through it for the final time. I wrote down the first notes for the project back in April 2016 so I am very excited that it is almost time to put it out in the world.

Hopefully everyone has been enjoying Resurrectionists, the free teaser for Tales from Portents. If you haven’t snagged your copy yet, click on the image below. And if you have, a word of thanks and a small request to not only spread the word through the wonderland of social media but also to leave a review anywhere and everywhere so others can find it to enjoy in the future. Reviews also help me position the books better for promotions. (Something I will be talking about more in a couple weeks.)

Resurrectionists

Reading

I could mention Tales from Portents and The Medusa Coin again but that would seem awfully self-involved, wouldn’t it?  (That Lou Paduano guy is great though, isn’t he?)

Suffice it say, editing and proofing have taken over the schedule so reading for pleasure has been a little lost in the shuffle. Hoping to get back to providing some top notch recommendations soon. If you have any to share with me, please do so. I’m always on the lookout to try something new.

Thanks for reading.

Writing Update – December 8, 2016

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I like to take stock on where I am with my work and I feel it’s important to share that with you here. Every two weeks you can find out what I’m currently writing and what I’ve been reading.

Writing

The absolute best part of my job is breaking story. It’s intricate and it’s messy and it never ever turns out the way you expect. There are non-stop surprises, ranging from the fantastic to the heartbreaking.

If I could I would outline every day for the rest of my life. I love the craft behind building a story. From the inciting incident to the turn to the climax.

That is where I am this month; breaking down the next piece of Greystone’s first cycle, the second short story collection that builds right into the final novel.

The working title is Pathways in the Dark.

My kids hate me right now because they keep seeing me play on my cell phone but it is because I keep finding a new note on the collection. A piece of the puzzle that started with Signs of Portents so long ago. An answer to a question I never thought to ask.

Pathways is about finding your way. Every major and minor player introduced since the start of the series (that’s managed to survive) has a role to play. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out each story. How to weigh in new threats with callbacks to previous tales. Who gets the focus and why?

I should be doing other things. Tales from Portents is two months out. There’s so much work to do on it and the lead-in release of Resurrectionists. I should be resting up after NaNoWriMo and drafting The Medusa Coin.

Soriya Greystone and Greg Loren had other plans for me. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, I hope you’ve enjoyed my pieces over at The Write Life. The last one will be out next week. I am eternally grateful for being given this opportunity to share my experience. There were some tough days in there but I definitely feel like a stronger writer because of NaNoWriMo.

Lots of news on Tales from Portents and Resurrectionists in two weeks!

Reading

I’ve been binging on my stockpile of comics that have built up over the last few months. Novels are still on the backburner for a bit but I’ve picked one out. I’m counting that as progress.

Superman: Lois & Clark – Not based on the 90’s show, though that would be AMAZING. In 2011, DC decided to update Superman. They threw away his marriage to Lois, made him younger and more rebellious. It didn’t really work for the character. This book brought back the Superman from my youth. (“My” Superman.) Dan Jurgens pulled out all of the elements I loved about the character, including his marriage to Lois, and really crafted a heartfelt story about the couple living in a world not their own. The addition of a child in the mix was great as well.

Dan Jurgens pulled out all of the elements I loved about the character, including his marriage to Lois, and really crafted a heartfelt story about the couple living in a world not their own. The addition of a child in the mix was great as well.

Very happy to add Superman back to my reading pile again. It’s been way too long.

Transformers: Drift – Empire of Stone – I confess, I have an unbridled love for robots in disguise. And when handled by IDW’s team of writer’s and artists? They are damn near perfect month in and month out. Shane McCarthy follows up the first Drift mini-series about a former Decepticon (turned Autobot turned neutral) with a buddy cop romp.

Seriously. It is Lethal Weapon with two giant alien robots. Ratchet (Murtaugh) and Drift (Riggs) play off each other to perfection. The action is over the top and chaotic. The character moments flow seamlessly and hit the right note and the right time.

A great afternoon read.

I just started Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory so I’ll hold off on talking about it until next time. (psst, it’s mindblowingly crazy so far…)

Thanks for reading!

Writing Update – November 24, 2016

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I like to take stock on where I am with my work and I feel it’s important to share that with you here. Every two weeks you can find out what I’m currently writing and what I’ve been reading.

Writing

The big news first, of course, is that the first draft of The Medusa Coin is finished! NaNoWriMo has been a tremendous experience all around but seeing the draft set in three weeks is unbelievably gratifying. There were a few days I felt like walking away but I had an incredible amount of support from family and friends. Many thanks to everyone keeping me at the computer and plugging away.

The Goodreads giveaway for Signs of Portents is over! Congrats to the winners. Your books will be on the way at the end of the week. Enjoy them! I’m excited to have some new eyes on the series and hope you’ll stick with the series. Lots of story left to tell.

After a successful challenge with NaNoWriMo, I figured now would be the perfect time to step back and enjoy a small vacation. INSTEAD, I did something stupid. While I was drafting The Medusa Coin, on one of my slower days, I accidentally outlined the next short story collection. (You heard me. Accidentally. Not my fault.)

Rather than leave it as the couple pages of notes it currently is I think I might take my momentum and really have a go at fleshing out the stories involved.

Unlike the upcoming Tales from Portents which serves as a prequel collection taking place before Signs, this new collection will fit squarely between The Medusa Coin and the final novel of the first cycle. I’m dying to tell you more about these next two books, especially the fifth and final in the cycle but that will have to wait a bit longer.

Reading

Not much in this regard again. Apologies. Now that the draft is off my plate I plan to catch up on some reading before I get too far into the next project, including binging on my favorite four-color mags and a novel or two between holiday related festivities.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year including having you here with me on this crazy journey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Drawback of Writing a Book Series

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I wrote about what makes writing (and reading) a book series so appealing last week. This week I want to go the opposite track and discuss the cons of working in the confines of a series.

Seeing a book series through to the end.

There is a level of expectation when writing a series. Especially to the reader. When an author dives into a series there is the belief that they will see it through to the end. Look at the Harry Potter series. Imagine that J.K. Rowling decided halfway through The Goblet of Fire that she needed to work on A Casual Vacancy next instead of starting the fifth book of everyone’s favorite wizard? Imagine the outcry from fandom for that little decision? Think what Warner Brothers would have done if they caught up with the books when making the films?

Writing a series can be freeing in some respects. I wrote about them previously. The level of comfort in living within an existing world. But what if you discover a new world in the telling? What if you feel the pull to something new halfway into your narrative (this being a multi-book narrative not the middle of a single book)? Do you walk away from your current series and the fans of such work to create something new? Or are you stuck?

Greystone’s first “cycle”

I’ve thought about this for some time. By the time the fifth book (three novels and two short story collections) of the Greystone series comes out I will have spent over two years of my life working on nothing else. If I take into account the previous attempts to put together Signs of Portents over the last decade it is more like four years. Quite an extensive portion of time.

And that’s not the end of the story. Not by a long shot. But I’ve created small windows in the narrative to give myself time to create other worlds. Build other stories or series. And then come back to Portents, Loren and Soriya for another couple of years.

Not every writer has that luxury. The pressure of continually working within a specific series can be confining when other worlds beckon.

Spinning your book series in circles

Having a series is a great idea in theory. Growing characters. Seeing them through a journey unable to be contained within a single work. But what if the plot of a book series takes precedent over the growth of those characters?

Excuse the return to the Harry Potter world but my daughter keeps pulling it off the shelf for some reason and it’s stuck in my head. Think about it though. What if Rowling focused so fully on the return of Voldemort she forgot that Harry, Ron and Hermione were living, breathing characters that needed to evolve with each book? What if she knew where they ended up but it was built out so far in the future that she ended up stunting their growth to keep the journey going for book after book?

Spinning in circles is a real problem and finding the hook for a character for their third or thirteenth appearance can be a real challenge. If the character has nothing to strive for, if it is forced upon both them and the reader, is there really a need to continue the series?

A lack of focus

Much like the questions asked above with a book series, there is the fear of losing focus over the life of the series. I’ve read quite a few comics in my day. (You might be surprised to learn that. Don’t be.) Something I always find with writer’s that overstay their welcome on a title is that the focus turns away from the main characters completely for a supporting character that has more room for growth.

Reader’s hate this. They don’t pick up a Jack Reacher book to read about Joe Schmoe in the background that seems to pop up every other chapter. They want to know what the hell Jack Reacher is going to do next. (I totally was going to bring up Harry Potter again. One track mind today.)

If the writer can’t find something interesting to say about their main characters and rely on supporting or even new players to showcase the world of the book series then maybe it is time to button it up. Maybe there has been enough mileage on a single concept.

These are things I constantly worry about, toy with when developing a story into a series to make sure there is enough meat there to keep the reader coming back for more. It is part of the reason for the break from Greystone after book five, to make sure there is something there for the next “cycle” for Soriya, Loren and the rest of the cast. The plot is there to be sure but that is only half the battle. The characters are the rest.

Readers know this and ultimately they deserve the best with each and every installment.

Thanks for reading.

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