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/

3 Publishing Survival Tips from Taylor Stevens

Birthing THE INFORMATIONIST has been a lot like birthing a child—only, with a much, much longer gestation period: There are plenty of unknowns to worry about while a growing baby is safe inside the womb, but all you can really do, outside of a test here or there, is wait and see.

There is mounting excitement with the passing weeks and developmental stages, discomfort with body changes, maybe a little hesitation about the looming responsibilities that will come when she enters the world. There's even a reason or two to wish it were possible to just keep the baby safe inside for longer, until, after awhile, none of that matters because after so much time, and so much growing, you just want that thing born already.

And then, there she is in real life, all touchable and beautiful. With the birth, many fears and worries are put to rest, while new ones rise to take their place. The worry won’t end. Ever. Not even when you’re old and gray.

Yup, that’s pretty much exactly what it’s like bringing a book into the world.

Unfortunately there’s no comprehensive “What to Expect when You’re Expecting” for novel writers—not the kind that takes you through the rollercoaster of emotional ups and downs—the kind of rolling highs and lows that make you wonder if the birthing analogy carries over into hormones as well.

The best you can do is read the wise words of those who’ve come before: to share in the laughter, the joy, the tears and the frustrations, and learn what you can from the knowledge of others. In that vein, I add now to the collective wisdom by drawing on my own experience:

Doubting yourself is a good thing. Sometimes.

With so much already written on the issue of self-doubt—more specifically, how to banish it, and how to deconstruct and neutralize self-criticism before that same self-criticism in turn neutralizes your ability to create—I figure these issues are par for the writer’s course. Which is good, I suppose, because I second guess myself when it comes to my creative efforts. I second guess a lot. And I’d hate to think I’m the only novelist full of doubt—I much prefer believing that I’m in good company.

Bertrand Russell is quoted as saying, “One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision."

I stole that quote off of the Wikipedia page for the Dunning–Kruger effect. If you haven’t already read about said effect, I highly recommend that you do. It will help you realize that there’s an upside to self-doubt, before you go on to quash it and then continue writing.

It’s impossible to write something that everyone “gets.”

The advice that I have given many yet to be published friends who have come to me asking for assurance that their writing is pleasing or good enough, is this: “Stop writing to the crowd.” Now that THE INFORMATIONIST has been published, and my craft has been laid bare to anyone who cares to comment, this is advice that I also have to take for myself. But the truth is, it’s impossible to please everyone, and what resonates with one person might seem stupid and childish to another.

There is only one person you can truly write for without pretense, without holding back, without fear, and that is you. Write for yourself. Write what resonates in your heart. Write what makes you laugh. Write what makes you cry, and write what you enjoy. When you do this, your writing will be true, and although the entire world will not appreciate it, there will be those who do, and that is enough.

Publishing takes a long time.

The journey to publication is exactly that: a journey. For some, the trip is shorter than others. Mine took roughly six years. I don’t know how it works for other people, but for me, it took an incredible amount of focus to stick to something for that long without knowing if I’d ever, ever, see the reward for my effort—or even what the reward might be. I’m not here to dissuade you from the journey, only to let you know that it’s not always enjoyable, and based on what I’ve heard from some just starting out, the destination might not be what you think it will be. That said, the only way to see the publication destination is sticking it out for the entire way, and oh, what a journey it is.

Taylor Stevens is the author of the critically praised thriller, The Informationist, first in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series (Crown).

Born in New York State, and into the Children of God, an apocalyptic religious cult spun from the Jesus Movement of the '60s, Stevens was raised in communes across the globe. Separated from her family at age twelve and denied an education beyond sixth grade, she lived on three continents and in a dozen countries before reaching fourteen. In place of schooling, the majority of her adolescence was spent begging on city streets at the behest of cult leaders, or as a worker bee child, caring for the many younger commune children, washing laundry and cooking meals for hundreds at a time. In her twenties, Stevens broke free in order to follow hope and a vague idea of what possibilities lay beyond. She now lives in Texas, and juggles fulltime writing with fulltime motherhood.

Website: www.taylorstevensbooks.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/taylorstevens

Twitter: twitter.com/taylor_stevens