Afternoon of an Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a piece in his later years called Afternoon of an Author. In it he went through his routine and it had all to do with writing. It is not uplifting as Fitzgerald knew he was on the far side of his career and his life. But at least it was still about the writing. In Afternoon of an Author there is not one smidge of promotion time. He did nothing to push his books and of course now he is the giant who sells hundreds of thousands of copies each year.

Now here is the new Afternoon of an Author. Writing 10 percent. Promotion 90. Time online. Incalculable. We are certainly living through the transition from print to the digital book. And for the authors it is unbelievable. We have become the bookstore in that we have to put our wares out there 24/7. It is in fact nuts. The days of Hemingway and Fitzgerald where all one did was write are so over it is hard to believe they ever existed.

Fitzgerald had a great line in Afternoon of an Author. Slag of a dream. That is how he saw himself at the end. Certainly as we grind through one cyber promotion after another you certainly feel like the slag of a dream...begun a long long time ago.

www.williamhazelgrove.com
 

What is Wrong with Publishing

The Literary Festival shows completely what is wrong with publishing. Take a bunch of authors and put them at tables with their books and then open a room next to them and sell second hand books for a buck. The authors are selling their books full bump. Probably 15.95 or 10.95. The library is dumping out dog eared copies for a buck. Old bestsellers now out there for the price of a candy bar. The people who come into the literary festival ignore the authors and go straight for the bargains. The authors are self published. They paid to have their books sit on a table.

Now take the people who are coming to the literary festival. They are old. They are not into the Internet. So there are not many people. If book buyers are water there is a cofferdam right in front of the sidewalk leading to the Literary Festival. The water flows by and goes to the Internet to Amazon or Goodreads or the thousand other book sites. Only a few drops slop over the cofferdam and manage to go the festival. In essence the Literary Festival and its authors die from lack of water. No buyers.

And this is what is being played out in bookstores and the attendant old ways of selling books. People are still clinging to outmoded ways of selling books as if there was no such thing as the Internet. For authors this is horrible. Many are in a state of confusion. I understand why Jonathan Franzen is aghast at what is going on. The transition has been so mighty there is little left of the old modality. In fact there is nothing left.

So the authors sit at their tables at the festival. The few stragglers beat it into the room for the buck a book bargains. The rest of the world flows to the mighty river of the Internet to find their books and their authors who sit behind a different table. And a screen.

www.williamhazelgrove.com
The Pitcher

What Media Does an Author Pursue?

You could just go after the newspapers. They used to be pretty good at covering novels. But a lot of these journalists are gone. I know that most of the people who covered my other books are no longer employed by the paper. If there are reviews they are assigned out. So that leaves radio. The bookshows used to be a safe bet. A lot of them are gone and the ones that are left are on a shoestring. Of course there is NPR and I have done that but it is not a sure thing ever. And the other question is how many books does radio really sell?

So that leaves the internet. This is where most authors now make their stand. At least one can take a shot. But again what do you pursue? The Social Sites? Twitter. Blog. All of it. Yes all of it. That is the approach now. Do it all but of course you quickly realize this is impossible. There are just not enough hours in the day and if there were you would be bleary eyed and spent. Forget about writing. That is not even an option.

So what media does an author pursue? Local media is not a bad bet. A local author has a good shot at a local paper. And local papers can be picked up by bigger papers. And of course blog. Tweet. Interact socially. Do your newsletter. Do giveaways. Take a shot at a radio interview. Give speeches. Go to festivals. Jump up and down. Scream. Build a website. Build another website. Give books to teachers. Give books to anyone who will review. Pray.

www.williamhazelgrove.com
The PItcher

A Pebble Could Start an Avalanche

You never know what could start an avalanche. In book marketing there is a feeling of being completely overwhelmed. You could concentrate on the big sites and press releases and try and get major media hits. This requires time and supreme effort and a lot of times does not pan out. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try for a People Magazine or a USA Today or the New York Times. But books are a funny thing. You never quite know what starts the big slide toward a bestseller and that is because books are still sold the old fashioned way--by word of mouth.

In the internet age we are constantly bombarded with notices. So and so wants to be your friend, so and so wants you to join their group, an email from an old friend who noticed you had published your book. Our email boxes bulge with unanswered queries as we go thundering down the road for Larry King or Good Morning America. But the truth is we just don't know what will be the stick, the rock that will break the precipice. I know lots of authors who have done the big shows and their books still didn't hit. That doesn't mean these shows didn't affect them, just not the way they thought they would. Big publishers put thousands of dollars behind a new author in promotion and the book falls from site. Why? No one really knows.

When I was trying to get my first book published I used to send out six queries a week. Sometimes I would just get out four or five and I would carry the last one around with me unable to find a mailbox or a stamp. Many times, the publisher or agent who would respond would be to that last query! Who knows why, but it happened more than once. It is probably just that last unturned rock, that final exhausted moment where you put the final three chapters in the mail that the Gods line up for you. Who knows, but you really can't afford to not do it.

I had an email the other night from someone I knew in college. They said they heard I published another novel. I was tired and had been traveling all day and almost didn't respond, dangerous because then other emails would flood in and I might never get to it. But just before I went to bed I responded and asked how he was doing and yes I published another book and here is a link to the book on Amazon. Maybe he will buy it maybe he won't. Maybe it didn't matter that I responded. But then again, maybe he is a film producer, a friend of a friend who knows Oprah or who is in a book club or who has a large network of friends he emails regularly. The point we just don't know what pebble might start an avalanche--so we better make sure we give each one a good kick.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com

http://www.pantonnepress.com/chapter1.pdf