Kindle Giveaway...or win a Custom-Made Historical Dress!

CLICK BELOW TO ENTER AND WIN! THE CONTEST IS NOW LIVE!

To celebrate the release of her debut novel, Fairer Than Morning, Rosslyn Elliott is giving away two fabulous prize packages. The first is a brand new KINDLE in her Fairer Than Morning Kindle Giveaway. Then on September 20th she's giving away a $200 gift certificate toward a Custom-Made Historical Reproduction Dress (from Recollections) during the Fairer Than Morning Book Club Chat Party on Facebook! Sigh...romantic.

Fairer Than Morning is receiving wonderful reviews - Historical Novels Review said, "Totally enraptures the reader with love of this well-told tale based on real people…". Read more reviews here.

Be sure to join the fun and enter the Kindle contest - 

One winner will receive:

* Kindle with Wi-Fi

* Fairer Than Morning (for Kindle)

To enter just click one of the icons below. But, hurry, giveaway ends on 9/19. Winner will be announced on 9/20 at Rosslyn's Book Club Facebook Party. Details and official rules can be found when entering the contest.

Then be sure to RSVP for Rosslyn's Facebook Party! During the party Rosslyn will be chatting with guests, hosting a book chat about Fairer Than Morning (don't worry if you haven't read the book yet - you could win a copy!) & historical Fiction, testing your trivia skills. She'll also be giving away that $200 gift certificate toward a FABULOUS custom-made period dress from Recollections!

When Friends and Family Read Your Book...Or Don't

After my debut novel came out in May, I had the interesting experience of discovering who read my novel and who didn't, among my circle of friends, acquaintances, and family.

Now, in my view, no one is required to read my novel, either for blood or friendship, but I did want to share the observations I've made, because other writers may go through the same thing sooner or later.

Some wonderful older women at my church made a point of buying my book immediately and then recommending it to their friends. One of our male elders did the same thing.

But there were also a few strange silences mixed in--a couple of close relatives who have not read it or even said a word about it, a few acquaintances who would be *exactly* the people I would expect to read it, but did not.

Who did I expect NOT to read my novel, even among my close friends and family?

Those who don't like reading, have trouble reading, or have a strong antipathy to romance.

Even though my novel includes a lot of action and suspense, readers don't know that before they begin the novel. It's only natural for a lot of men to assume that because it's a romance, it will not be to their taste. The men who have read it have enjoyed it, but it takes a strong man to make it past the beautiful, feminine cover. :-)

I have a very dear friend who is dyslexic and struggles to read. I know that if my novels ever come out on audiobook, she will be first in line, but reading a 400-page printed novel would be torture for her.

Who did I expect would read it, among my circle of friends?

Those who like to read--women who were English majors in college, people I've known for years who like ideas and books.

Three things to remember when your book comes out and you encounter the surprises of readership among your friends and family:

1) Non-writers do not understand the effort an author puts into writing, or how personal the publication of a book can be. To me, this novel may be a dream, but to a non-writer, it's just another book. Make an effort to see from that perspective--most friends honestly don't know how much it means to have someone you know read your novel.

2) Some of your acquaintances already may have had the experience of reading a friend's book, whether fiction or nonfiction, traditionally-published or self-published. If they did not care for that book, they may feel awkward and reluctant to read another one they may not like. This may become even more common as self-publishing soars to new heights. Though there are some excellent self-published books, many of them suffer from a lack of professional editing. Your circle of friends may get book fatigue from feeling they are expected to read the books of every author they know.

3) Resist the temptation to speculate. For the most part, friends and family who don't read your novel simply aren't interested, for reasons usually unrelated to you. It is much better to focus on all the friends who read it and support you, the unexpected moments of affirmation when a telephone call comes out of the blue.

Here's one of those moments. This weekend, a friend of mine left a message on my answering machine after finishing the novel--a long, heartfelt message. The phrase I will treasure: "Your novel is full of God's love."

When I have such uplifting and positive things to keep in mind, it helps me avoid the trap of taking it personally if a friend doesn't show interest.

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a friend's reaction to your writing?

What Makes a Good Book Trailer?

Book trailers are a fairly recent arrival on the marketing scene, and the art of creating book trailers is still young.

I've seen quite a few book trailers recently, everything from author-designed images and music all the way to publisher-commissioned trailers with professional actors, lighting, and voiceover.

I would like to propose a very simple principle and see what you think.

A book trailer is only successful if it makes you want to read the book.

I've been fascinated to see some higher-budget trailers that look like mini movies and yet, according to my measure of success, they don't work.

Why? Because what makes us want to read books is the promise of an intense emotional journey, whether it's an adrenaline pumping story of intrigue, a gut-wrenching story of heroism, or a laugh-out loud romantic comedy.

If the book trailer can't convey the STORY, just like a great elevator pitch--if the copy doesn't pull a reader into a narrative with a fresh, inventive hook, it won't sell books, no matter how well-designed or artistically-appealing it may be. The same kind of critiques that apply to book proposals work for book trailers. We might say:
"Well, that looks pretty, but I've read it before."
"I guess it sounds OK, but I can't really tell much about the story from the trailer"
"I don't get a feel for why I should care about your characters from this book trailer"
or "It seems like you have a good premise, but I don't see how the plot is going to fulfill that premise--it loses its tension and becomes just a scenario."

I have a feeling that a lot of companies are going to spend money on some book trailers that simply don't produce results, because the creators and commissioners are going to mistake high production values like original video and voiceover for effectiveness.

I would like to show you one of the best book trailers I've seen, Jessica McCann's trailer for her novel All Different Kinds of Free. I hope you will see how her video does exactly what I describe here--it gives us a compelling reason to care about these characters and this story.

All Different Kinds of Free book trailer


My suggestion: selling books is NOT the same as selling films. Readers aren't fooled--they know that the high production values of a book trailer will have nothing to do with the book itself, as a book functions by text, not on film. Sure, actors and voiceover can help make the trailer appealing, and ideally we can have both high production values and compelling narrative. But practically, most authors will not have the thousands it takes to produce a book trailer that looks like a movie. And I believe the expensive part of the book trailer is the less critical one, and the one more likely to be a waste if the book trailer doesn't have a great hook and a way to trigger reader identification with characters.

What do you think? Have you seen any great book trailers that made you want to rush out and buy the book? Do you think book trailers can help, or are they mostly just fun?

The Right Thought at the Right Time

My post is late this week because I was doing two things yesterday:

1) sitting in my friend's house in Oklahoma City finishing a line edit;

2) driving like a bat out of Hades back to our home town (9 hours from OK City) to make it home in time for the first day of school today.

Driving like a bat is all relative--my husband is a very fast-driving bat, while my bat-hood consists more of tiny red eyes and a singed feeling. As I was the only bat driving yesterday (he had to return by plane to make a business meeting) I was bleary and relying on sonar.

But as I drove back, I thought about some great feedback I received during my editing process.

Kate Winter, the heroine of Sweeter than Birdsong, has pronounced social anxiety disorder. I created this characteristic based on the historical record about this real life woman who was brilliant, beautiful, and very shy.

Kate's social anxiety grows most extreme when she has to speak or perform in public. Naturally, this situation occurs more than once in the novel. :-)

In one onstage scene, I had written her thoughts to reflect social anxiety disorder, which is often prompted by a deep fear of negative judgment from others. So as she took the stage, she was looking around at the audience and experiencing self-critical thoughts, assuming all those watching her might be thinking the same things.

Thank goodness for two of my beta readers, who told me I had it wrong. Both these readers have experienced anxiety attacks, and they told me that in this situation, Kate would not be thinking such things at all. Instead, she would be having a full-fledged, clinical panic attack, with all the attendant symptoms. Panic attacks are illogical--they do not allow for the reasoning-based fear about judgment and criticism that ordinary social phobia causes.

I rewrote the scene, and it's so much better for their advice.

Developing realistic characters is not just about giving them the right thoughts--it's about giving them the right thoughts at the right time.

We're also more likely to create truthful characters if we have a variety of beta readers who can respond to a character based on their diverse life experiences. The light of truth may be clearer when filtered through several lenses!

Question for you:

Does anything make you unusually nervous? Public speaking? Planes? (that's mine) Spiders?

Deadline Day!

I am much relieved to have submitted my second novel's edits to my wonderful freelance editor today.

My contract is for three books in this series. Being two-thirds of the way through the contract is a really good feeling.

Now, I have another novel to draft in the next couple of months. The relief beyond words will come when that third one is turned in, but today, I am going to savor the accomplishment of finishing the second. I made it, with a little help from my friends. And there were definitely moments when I thought I wouldn't get through!

Every writer is different--every book process is different. But dear friends, if you are ever in a tough spot with a deadline and you need to talk to someone who understands, I'm your woman.

SO what do I get to do in this short break while I wait a couple of days to approve line edits? (Yes, we're on hyperdrive to get this novel typeset, so my superhero editor is making her end of the line edit happen in three days. And she has the skills to do it!)

I want to go on a bike ride with my daughter.

I want to finish my book trailer for Fairer than Morning, which is kind of a fun project.

I want to clean my house and car from their permacluttered state ever since this rewrite began. (I admit, they're not perfect at the best of times. :-)

What are you doing with these last days before school starts? Or, if school's not part of your life, how are you spending the last days of summer?

Good Taste: Snipping Your Novel's Reviews for Social Media

Since my debut novel hit shelves this spring, I’ve learned a few lessons about how to use social media for promotion. I’ve seen some great posts from other authors about how to keep your focus on others when using Twitter, and I completely agree. No one likes to see social media used as a billboard: dialogue and relationships are key.

But I’ve also learned that no one else is going to dig through your reviews and publicize the snippets that spark the interest of potential readers. Like it or not, authors do have to snip their reviews on social media to tell others what is unique about their novels. For each author, the question of how much to use reviews must be an individual decision. I would like to offer a few suggestions:

• Don’t do it too often. Seriously. In my very subjective opinion, the maximum frequency at which an author should post a review snippet or link is once a week. I might be OK with twice a week in the first two weeks of the debut, but the easiest way to alienate readers is to ‘snip’ too often.

• Format correctly. My publisher’s PR director showed me how to do this last week. Snip a short quotation, capitalize your title, and always include a shortened link. It helps if the review is on a bookselling site, as the reader can see it and purchase the book in one fell swoop.

• Select your snippets with great care. Below are examples of some of my reviews and why I would or wouldn’t use them as social media snippets. I’ve also included how I would snip them for Twitter, since most are far too long for a tweet.

One last caveat before I go through some samples. I am deeply grateful for every single one of these comments: they all touched me and made writing the book worthwhile. If I say I wouldn’t use one in promotion, it’s strictly because certain types of comments that are moving and gracious from a reader may sound vain when repeated by the author herself.


Review snippets:

“Fairer than Morning is historical romance at its best, seamlessly integrating an engaging, non-formulaic love story with meticulous historical research and character-driven expressions of faith.”

Wow! This reader writes really well. If I used this one on Twitter, I would probably select “an engaging, non-formulaic love story with meticulous historical research” because it’s so specific. Of course, if you’re posting on Facebook, you can use the whole thing.

“There were some parts that made me want to hit certain characters over the head, but that just means I was involved in the story.”

Yes. This is a casual, funny comment that still shows the power of the novel to draw in readers.

“Ms. Elliott's research is apparent, and she more than aptly demonstrates she has the writing ability to stand up to the greats in Christian fiction.”

No. Though it brought tears to my eyes when I read it, it would not be gracious for me to repeat a comparison to other authors. Other people can say this about your work if they are so kind, but you can’t repeat it! (and yes, I realize I just repeated it, but I hope you’ll forgive it for the case study.)

“Truly, the imagery is SO vivid, I don't believe I've ever read a book that pulled at my heart so immediately, so strongly.”

Yes. This is a great one for a snippet. It’s OK to tweet a superlative about your book, such as “the best book I’ve read this year.” Just stay away from comparisons to other authors.

“It's one of the best books I've read in a while, of any genre.”

Yes. Another superlative, but as long as it's about the book and not the author, you're OK.

“a new author who understands that the best Christian fiction is that which not only gives us great pleasure through deep characters and beautiful prose, but challenges us and leaves us spiritually richer and stronger long after the last word is read.”

Yes. A reference to the book’s emotional or spiritual power is a good choice. For Twitter, I would probably snip “leaves us spiritually richer and stronger long after the last word is read” or perhaps “deep characters and beautiful prose.”

“I have never screamed out loud when reading a book but I did in Fairer Than Morning. I thought I had it figured out and when the twist came, I shouted!”

Yes. Love this comment. Unusual reader reactions are funny and appealing. I could use either one of the sentences for Twitter.

“This book will be a bestseller and win awards”

No. This comment left me so grateful for the reader’s faith in the novel but it is not seemly for an author to repeat predictions of her book’s glory.

“I can't WAIT for the next novel in the series! Why did I think that? Because I was absolutely floored by how much I loved this novel.”

Yes. References to anticipating the next novel are a good indication that readers really did like your book.

So tell me, do you agree with my opinions? All answers welcome--as I said, this is a question of taste and thus quite subjective. How often do you think is too often to tweet review snippets? Have you ever seen review snippet overkill from an author, and if so, how do you react?

All those who leave a comment on today's post will be entered in a drawing for a $20 Amazon gift card--that's two books of your choice!

This post is part of the WORDSERVE Literary Agency blog tour on Marketing!