Unveiling the Mystery of Marketing

By Pamela Crane

Been there, done that. I’ve been on all sides of the publishing coin—worked as an in-house editor for traditional houses, edited for self-published authors, self-published my own book, and traditionally published a book. So for you fellow writers, I know how grueling and frustrating the publishing industry can be!

If you can write a book in a week and hit the NYT best seller’s list the first week your book hits shelves, then this article isn’t for you. This message is for the feast-or-famine writers, the ones trying to make a living writing but can’t figure out what’s holding them back. Over the course of my editing and writing career, I’ve learned a few things and am here to share some insights based on my publishing venture with my psychological thriller The Admirer’s Secret.

My biggest word of advice is to consider your book an investment. You gotta give some to get some…I’m using that dirty word here: Money. I can imagine you flinching as I say that, but the worst thing that can cripple your book is poor editing and a mediocre cover. I’m an editor and even I paid another editor to edit The Admirer’s Secret. As the author, you’re too close to your work to do it justice. So do yourself a favor and save up the cash before you plan to publish and do it right, because the goal is to earn back what you’ve spent and then some. You can’t do that if critics spread the word about the low quality of your book. Set a budget for what you can spend and pay out to get a beautiful, quality book.

Assuming you have a good story, quality edit, and eye-catching cover, how do you spread the word? It’s the publishing world’s greatest mystery, like discovering the Ark of the Covenant. I remember when one publisher I worked for bought several thousand of their own books to manipulate sales needed to hit Publisher’s Weekly best-seller status. But not all of us can afford to spend $40,000 on our own books! So here’s some affordable ideas that have worked to sell The Admirer’s Secret:

1. Get reviews. I don’t care how embarrassing it is to beg for reviews—do it! And do it about 6 months before your book release.
2. Try Amazon’s KDP for three months. The gist is that you make your book exclusive to Amazon for 90 days and you get 5 “Free Days” where you give the book away for free to help boost your rankings. Spread out those free days over 3 months—2 free days one month, 2 another month, and 1 the third month. Publicize the hell out of those free days on your Facebook groups so that you get plenty of downloads. I hit #9 in my genre in actual income-producing sales after my first free day, so I can tell you it works.
3. Give BookBub a shot. It costs money, but they give your book coverage with their huge following.
4. Consider a book blog tour. While I didn’t see a significant number of sales from my blog tours, it got my name all over the Internet. A small price to pay to get exposure.
5. Autographed book giveaways are always a treat for fans. Goodreads hosts drawings for free print copies, and you’re sure to win a few new fans this way.
6. Enter contests for Indie publishing, such as Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Award and Los Angeles Book Festival Award (among countless others you can find online). The submission cost is minimal considering what winning an award could do for your book.

Before your eyes start to glaze over, I want to emphasize the biggest sales factor: Keep writing, keep publishing. Books sell books, and the cross-marketing gives you twice the chance of sales. I know it’s hard to justify writing and spending money on another book if one isn’t selling well, but remember—this is an investment. Keep investing and eventually you’ll see results.

Pamela Crane is a North Carolinian writer of the psychological thriller The Admirer’s Secret and wannabe psychologist, though most people just think she needs to see one. She’s a member of the ITW, ACFW, and EFA, and has been involved in the ECPA, Christy Awards, and Romance Writers of America. Along with delving into people’s minds—or being the subject of their research—she enjoys being a mom and riding her proud Arabian horse, when he lets her. She has a passion for adventure, and her hopes are to keep earning enough from her writing to travel the world in search of some good story material. Visit her at http://www.pamelacrane.com or follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pamela.crane.52 .

The Admirer’s Secret :

Westfield, New York—both home and prison to Haley Montgomery, a woman crippled by the death that hovers over her. After the loss of her father and best friend, Haley grapples with the loneliness of her small-town existence. But when her solitary life is upended by the man of her fantasies—the handsome, charming Marc Vincetti—her dreams quickly twist into a nightmare. A secret admirer’s eerie love letters threaten to uncover Haley’s dark past, unraveling a haunting childhood secret that consumes her. Soon the quest for the letters’ source sends her on a dangerous personal journey that could cost her life. As the layers of her troubled existence peel away, everything Haley thought she knew about love, and herself, testifies to the brokenness that lurks within the human psyche. A “masterfully written, raw psychological suspense novel.”

Trademark Is Not A Verb: Useage Guidlines From A Trademark Lawyer

By Bradlee Frazer

I bet I get one call or email per day from someone wishing  to “trademark” something.  “Hey, Brad,” they will say, “I want to trademark my new logo. Can you help me with that?”

As has become my new mantra, I explain to them that “trademark is not a verb. It is a noun.” Depending on my mood, I will sometimes then go on to discuss common-law trademarks versus trademark registration, and the “Circle R” symbol versus the small superscript “TM.” But not always. After explaining it several hundred times, my patience sometimes wears thin, especially if the call or email comes late on a Friday afternoon. 

The true nature of trademarks is, admittedly, confusing, especially when they are so often confused with copyrights and patents--two completely different forms of intellectual property protection. In a broad sense, “intellectual property,” as contrasted with real property (dirt) and personal property (cars and computers), has four main subgroups: patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. They are all different, and they all do different things.  Hammers and saws and cement mixers are all tools and they all help you build a house, but one would not use a cement mixer to drive a nail. 

In like sense, one does not use a patent to protect the name of a product or service, and one does not use copyright law to protect an invention. Patents protect inventions and processes. Copyrights protect books and movies and sculptures and photographs. Trademarks are that broad category of intellectual property that performs a commercial identification function--they tell you about the source of the good or service you are consuming.  You know that a Big Mac®-brand hamburger comes from McDonalds, that a shoe with a Swoosh on it comes from Nike, and that insurance being sold by a gecko comes from GEICO.

When I finished the first draft of my novel The Cure, I asked a beta reader to look it over. Her reaction was favorable, but I remember her asking me why there were so many trademarks in it. Her point was that I, as a trademark lawyer, had gone overboard taking care to identify goods and services referenced in the book by their trademark: one character sported a Rolex®-brand watch, and another wore Gucci® shoes.  I even had the little “Circle R” symbols right there in the manuscript, next to the trademarks.  (By the way, “Circle R” is used with trademarks that have been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  “TM” is for those that have not.)  Those symbols and most of the trademarks were all removed in subsequent revisions of my novel, but the point stuck with me--there is a feeling that one must somehow obtain permission or genuflect or pay money or something when one uses a third-party trademark in a manuscript.

For example, assume that you wrote this sentence: “Marjorie picked up her Marlboros® and slid one from the pack, then flicked her Bic® lighter and inhaled, silently thanking Blue Cross® for her excellent health insurance.” Stylistic conventions aside, do you need permission from Marlboro, Bic and Blue Cross to use their trademarks in this manner? Must you use the “Circle R” symbol, or risk getting sued? The answer in both cases is, as a general rule, no.

Trademarks are a form of commercial identification and only gain life and viability when used in a commercial context to sell goods or services. Now if we change the hypothetical and assume that the prose you wrote is part of a short story being used to sell Zippo lighters, then Bic might arguably have an objection! And the only time a third-party can force you to use the Circle R or TM symbols is if you have a contract of some kind with them that compels you to do so.

Same thing with band names (as opposed to “brand” names--I get a lot of questions about using the name of a band in manuscripts). A band name, e.g., “ZZ Top,” can function as a trademark, but as a general rule you may use the name of a band in a manuscript as long as it is in a noncommercial context. Sometimes a client will ask if the fact they are selling the book for money means it is a commercial use, and the answer is no.

Trademark law is concerned with the selling of related goods or services using trademarks in manner that will confuse consumers, and contextual use in a manuscript is not serving to sell competing services or goods (outside of our Zippo hypothetical). But be careful with lyrics—lyrics are protected by copyright law, not trademark law, and so wholesale appropriation of lyrics into a manuscript may get you into hot water for copyright infringement, and the fact you are selling the book for money IS relevant in a copyright context! 

Candidly, I have not found that using actual trademarks brings much life or verisimilitude to a manuscript, but if you choose to use them, and if you use them in a manner not designed to sell competing goods or services, neither permission nor marking (the Circle R and TM) should be required.

Please email me at bfrazer@hawleytroxell.com if you have any questions.

About Bradlee Frazer

ITW Member Bradlee Frazer’s debut novel The Cure: A Thriller is available through links on his publisher’s website. And yes, he has registered his copyright in the book.

This article originally appeared here on Jane Friedman’s blog. 

First Thursday

Hi there.

Were you expecting to see the new releases for this month?

That's what we normally do here on The Thrill Begins. First Thursday means releases from the current debut class. In one of those wrinkles of publishing time - you all know about those time distortions, right? - we don't have any debuts this month.

So this seemed like a great time to remind you about some of the advantages of being in the Debut Author program.

First, of course, is your brand new baby - that book you sweated blood over - could be showcased here on the blog.

In addition, your book news will be a part of our Big Thrill email blast which is sent to over 14,000 thriller fans around the world including readers, booksellers and librarians. Interviews in The Big Thrill; mentor events; special debut author events online and at Thriller Fest - the list goes on. Check out the details on the ITW website.

Ready to join? Have friends releasing their debut novel? Contact Anthony Franze about membership.

Advice From a Debut With Multiple Books

By Adrienne Giordano

Like most authors in their sophomore year, I can honestly say my debut year taught me more than I can possibly put to paper. A few of those things surprised me. The first being that I was shocked at how much I didn’t know.

And I’m not just talking about editing lessons. Nope. I’m talking about non-craft related things that ever so slowly caught up to me and clubbed me. What are some of those things? Here are my top three:

1.     Time is Sometimes the Enemy

During my debut year, time was my enemy. I was lucky enough to be a debut author who had five releases in thirteen months. My first book launched in July of 2011 and by August of 2012, my fifth book had been released. Of course, I didn’t have to write five books in a year. When I sold the first one, I had two others written and had an idea for a fourth. In between, I was asked by my publisher to write a novella for an anthology.

I remember one month where I was in three different rounds of edits on three different books while writing a fourth.  I literally carved my day into time chunks. I worked on one book for a set period of time, then the next, then the next. And I was brutal about my start and stop times. If I said I’d work on Man Law for two hours and two hours came, I stopped and moved on to A Just Deception. It was hard, and I didn’t like having a hard stop, but it was the only way to get all the edits done on time.

Let me just mention that in between all of this, I had to get my website revamped, get my Twitter and Facebook pages up and running, create author accounts on all the various social networking sites and create a newsletter. Prior to signing my first contract, it never occurred to me that the marketing end of being published is a full-time job.

When I added the time I spent on marketing to my writing related tasks, I realized I needed to clone myself. With cloning out of the question, I forced myself to decide how much writing time I was willing to sacrifice to complete my non-writing related tasks. My initial thought was that I would never be done with marketing. Ever. Based on my limited experience, it seemed there would always be something marketing related to do. Once I gave in to that idea, I was able to allocate a timeframe that would protect my writing time.

After all, the best marketing will only go so far when there’s not a next book to sell.

2.     Stop and Smell the Roses

With all the insanity leading up to my first release, I realized I’d forgotten to take a moment each day to absorb the fact that I was about to become a published author. I was so busy getting my work done, I hadn’t slowed down enough to take it all in. Sure, I’d have more releases, but there would only be one debut.  I’d waited years to be a debut author and I was letting it slide by in a blur.

From that day forward I took time every day, even if it was only a minute or two, to close my eyes and savor what I’d accomplished.

Which leads me to the third and what I think just might be the most important lesson I learned during my debut year.

3.     Recharge

After my hectic year, I plowed right into two new single titles. I kept telling myself I could pound out another two books while doing the marketing for my latest release. No problem. If I survived the previous thirteen months, I could do anything. Right?

Wrong.

I wouldn’t necessarily call what happened to me writer’s block. I’d categorize it more as self-doubt. In short, I became convinced every word I put on the page was utter crap. My critique partners all assured me the work was good, but that self-doubt, it’s a nasty sucker. It kept whispering in my ear and tearing me down.

Finally, while on the phone with my agent one day, I told her what I was feeling.  She spent the next hour convincing me to take some time off. To put the manuscripts aside and let myself rest. She told me to go to a movie or do something that relaxes me.

I may have been skeptical, but I was also desperate to enjoy writing again, so I did what she advised. I read a few books, went to the gym, met friends for lunch and enjoyed time with my family minus my laptop and phone.  I lost precious writing time on a contracted book, but I considered it something I needed to do to reclaim my writing confidence.

Within a week, the writing itch returned and I took to my desk again. What I learned from this experience was to make sure I’m giving my mind time to rest.  Sometimes simply going for a walk or standing in the sun for a few minutes is all it takes to recharge and keep my creative juices flowing.

And when you’re a writer, keeping those juices flowing is a fairly important thing.

What about you? What do you do to keep your creativity soaring?

Bio:
Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and mystery.  She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog and Lady Jane's Salon-Naperville, a reading series dedicated to romantic fiction. For more information on Adrienne's books please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com. Adrienne can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor and Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano. For information on Adrienne’s street team, Dangerous Darlings, go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/dangerousdarlings.

So Many Conferences, So Little Time (and money!)

As a debut novelist, one of the things that has helped me has been attending conferences.

I’ve learned so much about craft, the publishing industry, and marketing, but the networking is always amazing. I never leave a conference without a stack of contacts and having made at least a couple new writer friends. Don't limit yourself to just conferences in your genre. You can learn from all of them, and that diversity will inspire innovation.

Last week I attended Book Expo America.

Now, BEA is actually geared to booksellers and librarians. That didn’t stop me though. Publishers, big and small and self-pubs, too, gathered at the Javits Center in New York City for three days of networking, booksignings, and information sharing. I’ve heard that over 25,000 people were in attendance and it felt like more than that. Free books were flying like meteor showers and lines wrapped as far as you could see as people waited for the chance to get a free autographed copy and a few words with their favorite authors.

Never been to the Javits Center? Oh goodness. I now wish I’d thought to bring my pedometer because I know I put some miles on my shoes last week. In fact, it’s probably a pretty good idea at any conference. Which reminds me...always wear comfortable shoes to these events!

To be such a large event, BEA was very well organized. Locals were staffed and armed with “CAN I HELP YOU” signs to get you pointed in the right direction, and even the registration lines moved smoothly.

I made some memories, like getting my picture taken with Florence Henderson (Yes! Mrs. Brady! Who by the way loved the title of my book!! ), autographed ARCs of David Baldacci’s ONE SUMMER and Leanna Renee Hieber who was out of books by the time I got anywhere close to the front of that line. Doug Lyle’s new book had a corner booth. I got HOT LIGHTS-COLD STEEL along with a pretty awesome ink pen that looks like a syringe full of blood that I worried about getting through security with! No worries, though, I made it through just fine.

Harlan Coben was autographing his audio version of his new YA, SHELTER.

On Wednesday afternoon I attended the “Afternoon Tea” which wasn’t exactly much of a tea but even as a tea-lover I could have cared less because ITWs own Karin Slaughter and Brad Meltzer rocked that session.

In case you hadn't already notices, ITW authors were well-represented!

My debut novel, SWEET TEA AND SECRETS, was displayed in the New Title Showcase. The New Title Showcase is one of the few places that the general public can check out without paying admission. It was pretty exciting to see my book face out among the others. Oh yeah, it was on page 80 of the catalog, too.

I met so many wonderful booksellers and librarians. I’d planned ahead and had plenty of bookmarks and business cards in case I had the opportunity to share, and boy did I have the opportunity to share. It was fun to make connections with others who truly love books as much as we do and share in the excitement of “what’s new” and coming soon.

CALL TO ACTION:: Let’s give each other a helping hand and share the news from the conferences we attend. Who knows what will inspire one of us to the next big thing. Just give me a shout and I'd be happy to put you on the calendar to recap your experience.

NEXT BIG THING:: Thrillerfest is just a few short weeks away and I can’t wait to hear all the great news from it right here on The Thrill Begins.

May the networking begin!

Hugs and high 5s~

Nancy Naigle


Nancy writes love stories from the crossroad of small town and suspense. Visit Nancy at http://www.nancynaigle.com/ on facebook and twitter (@nancynaigle).

A visit with Barbara Vey from Publisher Weekly:: BEYOND HER BOOK

I'm delighted to share a Q&A with Barbara Vey from the wonderful blog over at Publisher Weekly, http://www.beyondherbook.com/ Grab a beverage and join me as we catch up with Barbara between her jet-setting during this conference season.

Nancy:: So, Barbara, how did you first get involved with Publishers Weekly and get your wonderful BEYOND HER BOOK blog?

BV:: My beginning is truly a Cinderella story. I was on an Authors at Sea cruise when I met Karen Holt, deputy editor of Publishers Weekly. I thought she was from a publishing house and told her to sit down so I could tell her everything I thought was wrong with publishing from a reader’s point of view. She ended up putting it in an article in the magazine with my picture. A few months later Karen contacted me about writing a blog about Women’s Fiction. I said no, that I’m a reader, not a writer...send books.

After a few phone calls and my son explaining what a blog is to me. Well, I offered to try it for 3 months and here I am 4 years later.

Nancy:: You had a rocking 4^th anniversary bash on the Beyond Her Book blog the first week of March. You had an average of 3750 posts per day and a stagger 6,194 posts on the final day. WOW! What lesson can you share with writers as a take away from that awesome event to aid in their own promotions?

BV:: I truly believe that you have to make it all about the readers. After my anniversary blog, several readers got together and formed a Friends of Beyond Her Book Party Facebook page (You can join by searching Friends of Beyond Her Book Party. This way they could all keep in touch after the bash. It has grown from a dozen readers to 122 readers and authors. They are forming a community that, by it's very nature, will continue to grow to bond readers and writers together by having them connect to talk about books. They also feed each other information about contests and new releases and send others to new authors websites. For example, I recently guest blogged at Seekerville and my readers followed me over there. The authors welcomed the readers with lots of giveaways and a real party atmosphere by being available to comment with the readers, answer their questions and talk about books and what readers are looking for. We ended up with over 500 comments which is pretty impressive for a one day guest blog.

Nancy:: You've got a birdseye view of the industry. The publishing world is changing right before our eyes. How do you think this impacts our readers? Do readers even notice?

BV:: I don't think the readers know or care about the changes. The only thing they really care about is the story. If you write a good book, they will read it and tell others about it. Word of mouth is the biggest way to sell a book. While a number of people use eReaders, the majority of readers don't own one. They still rely on traditional books. And, believe it or not, not all readers are on the internet. When I approach people who are reading books and ask them if they go online to find out about books, about 1 in 3 say they don't. They get their books ideas from friends, libraries and bookstores. They have no idea about all the hoopla going on in publishing. Some do notice that they can't find certain authors anymore, but are quick to move on to someone who writes like it.

Nancy: Wow! I'm surprised by the fact that 1:3 don't go online. Being online can definitely skew your perception of the whole population. That's a good thing for us to keep in mind.

You attend lots of conferences. I know they energize you, but just how many are you going to attend this year?

BV:: So far I have about 13 events scheduled for this year, but I'm always looking for more to attend. Although I keep in touch with many online, I find that face to face contact the most satisfying. I can meet new authors I've never heard of before and see old favorites. I love attending the workshops and learning new ideas and processes that have worked for others as well as hearing about new projects in the pipeline. I also travel to writing groups around the country offering workshops in Social Marketing/Networking and Building Reader Loyalty. And I'm already booked for 4 events in 2012. I've also found I have a new calling as a keynote speaker. Who knew? :)

Nancy:: I've had the privilege to hear you talk about social marketing. You've got so much great information to share.

What advice do you have for writers when they attend conferences?

BV:: Park your shyness at the door. You are there for business and to learn. One of the first things to learn is how to network and market yourself because you are selling a book and by extension yourself. You have to brand yourself so when people are looking for that next book to read and they see your name they say, "I've seen that name before...I know her/him from Facebook or Twitter. There's that connection they've made and feel they know you. Just going online when you have a book coming out and saying, "Buy my book," just doesn't cut it anymore.

Be open to meeting new people. You never know who that person is in front of you in the registration line is or at the buffet. Start a conversation. You could be making a valuable connection to someone in publishing, a bookseller or a reader and they are all equally important.

And whatever you do, don't be negative. It turns people off and it gets around...fast.

Nancy:: You are so right. Negativity can be a fast-spreading virus. I'm a glass half full kind of gal, and I tend to like to hang around others that are, too.

Okay....so now on to the big question as we all get ready to head to NYC for ThrillerFest 2011--What’s your best conference packing tip?

BV:: Pack your suitcase and the next day take out 5 things, then repeat the next day. You never need as much as you think you do. Take mix & match clothing and comfortable shoes. Unless you're Linda Howard or Nora Roberts, you don't need 40 pairs of shows when you travel.

Thank you so much for joining us here at THE THRILL BEGINS. We'll see you over at http://www.beyondherbook.com/

Rewind: Baseball and Breakout Novels

Greetings: I had several requests to post this blog on our site. So for those of you who were kind enough to visit me last week at Terry's Place, please forgive the double billing. I found the responses to that blog to be very interesting, and many fell into the following 3 general categories:

• Some people didn't accept the findings of the video, which I happen to believe is well researched. You're welcome to watch it and draw your own conclusions.
• Several people noted that while our audience is undoubtedly changing, our principal message as writers remains the same. Again, that's open for debate, but I'm interested in your take.
• A few people brought up the intersection of technology with the task of modern-day writers: whether that be putting words on the page or the beast we call publicity/promotion.

I'm fascinated by all of the above, and I don't pretend to know the answers. The original post follows.


What do baseball teams and breakout novels have in common?

I’ve become something of a baseball fan recently—and not ONLY because the Texas Rangers are in the pennant race. It’s exciting to hear the crack of the bat, sit in the stands and cheer, watch the fireworks each time Michael Young smashes a homerun.

Writing is a little like baseball. You want to hit one out of the ballpark, but doing so requires focus and determination. In truth it probably requires more than merely writing an excellent book. We also need to know what TOMORROW’s readers will want to read.

How much time do you think passes by the time I write an 80,000 word manuscript, send it to my agent, she sends it to a few publishers, they get in a bidding war over it, a contract is signed, and I’m given a slot? I’m a quick writer—some people say I’m obsessive-compulsive, but I find that terminology harsh. Best case scenario for me is six months to write, then another six months from agent through contract negotiations. At that point we can tack on another twelve to eighteen months for production before the book actually appears on a shelf—if things go well.

So when I open up a brand new document, as I did last week, and begin a sparkling new story—I need to envision what readers will want to read two to three years from now. What will seem fresh and exciting to them?

Have I mentioned that writing rocks? It certainly does. I love it, and I’m awed by the entire process.

This idea of envisioning what my reader will want to read in two to three years is a bit daunting though. Some days I feel as if I’m attempting to write science fiction. The enormity of this task was brought home to me this week when I was directed to the following video.




It’s entitled “Did You Know?” I’ve watched it five times now, and I’m still fascinated. Researched and designed by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Jeff Brenman, I believe there’s something there for most everyone—but certainly for anyone trying to communicate. To date, it’s received over 2 million views on youtube. So even though it wasn’t designed for writers, I think it bears a little attention in this discussion.

Part of our job includes envisioning our audience. I write romantic thrillers, a wonderful blended genre—and one that is constantly changing, both in content and in readership. As I watched the video, quite a few items jumped out at me (and the song is catchy too). For instance, I learned—

• China will soon be the #1 English speaking country in the world
• 1 of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met on-line
• There are over 200 million registered users on MySpace
• There are approximately 540,000 words in the English language today, five times as many as there were during Shakespeare’s time

WOW! Each one of those facts astound me, and they each change the picture in my head when I envision my reader and my novel which will appear on the shelf in two years. (Okay, maybe not the last fact, but it is very cool and gives me pause each time I choose a word.)

I also think Fisch/McLeod/Brenman do well when they end their video with “So What Does It Mean?” They don’t even attempt to interpret their findings, but rather leave it to their viewers.

So how did I interpret what I saw? I immediately started thinking about my readers . . . the ones in 2012. The ones who will be reading the book I just started writing. The video reminded me that instead of becoming caught up in minutia such as whether my book will appear in hardback, paperback, ebook, Kindle, or on someone’s IPhone . . . perhaps a wiser use of my time would be to spend it considering my reader’s background. What do they consider a romantic gesture? Will they recognize my male lead as heroic? Can they buy into the basic premise I’ve so carefully laid down on page one and will it thrill them in the way I intended?

I believe romance in its truest form doesn’t change. When you strip away the trappings of our time—technological and societal—romance remains the same. I teach collegiate age young adults, and they still love a good story. The question for me is whether as a writer I have the ability to catch and hold their attention long enough to place my tale of love in their hearts and minds.

As authors, when we do that, we’ll have earned ourselves loyal readers. Kind of like true baseball fans—ones who stick with their teams through good seasons and bad.

I’m interested though. What do you think of when you picture TOMORROW’s readers? Are they different from today’s readers, or pretty much the same? Does technology change our conception of romance or the things we fear? And does it, or should it, change the way we write?

~Drue

The Cost of Love, will be published by Five Star Press in March, 2010. For more details visit http://drueallen.com/.

What is a 'thriller', anyway?

By Matt Hilton

Recently, during Thrillerfest in New York, the question was posed to me: What’s the difference between a mystery and a thriller novel? Although my answer may have been a little pithy, I explained that in my opinion a mystery had a problem to be solved while a thriller had a problem to be dealt with.

Of course, this is a very limited manner in which to describe the differences. You can of course have a thriller that contains a mystery, and also most mystery books are thrilling by the very virtue of their subject matter. I’ve pondered quite a lot on the subject since, and thought it time that I put some of my conclusions on record – all of which I hasten to add are probably subject to change.

Because ‘a mystery’ pretty much tells us what to expect, I thought of which ingredients I found were necessary to make a thriller and the first thing that I came up with was that the term is very subjective. Thriller books transcend genre: we can have crime thrillers, action thrillers, adventure thrillers, historical thrillers, supernatural thrillers, sci-fi thrillers, romantic thrillers...and the list goes on. In other words, it doesn’t matter what the genre, it’s the structure and driving force behind the book that defines it as a thriller.

A thriller can be set any where, any time, but they all have a commonality. The books are fast-paced with plenty of action and generally hold a sense of impending menace or doom.

Usually a thriller focuses on the emotion and inner workings of the protagonist who is often running away from or running towards something that is both very dangerous and life-threatening.

There is generally an under-current of good versus evil.

Many thrillers are about ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances, and are typified by the protagonist running for their lives, before turning to face and ultimately triumph over the danger. Others, like my books, tend to follow a protagonist with the skills to fight back, but who is facing overwhelming odds.

Often there is a mystery to be solved, but sometimes the danger is out there in the open for all to see and the protagonist’s story follows his/her attempts to put an end to it while also trying to stay alive or to save someone or something else.

The protagonist often has some kind of weakness – often a burden on his/her soul – and during the events of the thriller he/she must contend with and often overcome this weakness in order to avail him/herself against the danger.

Thrillers are often full of reversals and twists, that amp up the pace as the protagonist must find new ways to contend with these surprises. Often there is a ‘ticking bomb’ where time – or the lack of – becomes an enemy in itself.

There is generally an expectation of impending violence around each corner. Violence may not always be physical – but may be delivered by way of plot twists or surprises that crash and burn their way through what the protagonist or (more importantly) the reader expects.

Tension is maintained by conflict, and by posing questions of when, where, why, what and, probably most importantly, how? (i.e How on earth is the hero going to get out of this one?)

My list isn’t exhaustive. There are many other factors that make a thriller, and there is a huge likelihood that other thriller authors will disagree with some of my points and come up with some salient ingredient that requires adding to the pot. Going back to my first paragraph, well, the truth is, I’m still pondering.

Matt Hilton is an ITW Debut Author. His ‘Joe Hunter’ thriller series debuted with Dead Men’s Dust in May 2009. Book 2, Judgement and Wrath, will be published by Hodder and Stoughton (UK) in October 2009 and by William Morrow and Co (USA) in May 2010.
http://www.matthiltonbooks.com/