I’m finally going to get Kelsey off my back. Tracey, you are on your own. J You see, Kelsey has been bugging us about doing our own debut author posts. I don’t know about Tracey, but I’ve been putting it off. Yes, I admit it. You can slap me now.
Ouch. Wow. That hurt.
My reason for putting it off was simply that I didn’t think I had anything new to add to the great information floating around the web regarding debut authors. Now that I’m experiencing the debut author journey, there’s one thing I can add. This might surprise you, but nobody ever warned me that as thrilled as I’d be to finally sell a manuscript, I’d also be completely terrified. So, I’ve decided to approach this post from a purely emotional (er–panicked) point of view.
On September 16, 2010, I got the call from Carina Press that they wanted to buy my book. For the post about that, click here. I then submitted the other two books in the series to them. As of this writing, Carina has acquired two of the three books. My wonderful editor (Gina Bernal) asked for revisions on one of the books and suggested I resubmit it. Since the initial call, I’ve done those rewrites and I’m now waiting to hear if they will buy the third book.
If they do, you’ll hear me screaming. I promise. If they don’t, I’ll tell you why it was still a great experience. More on that another day.
Today’s post is more about the new-author panic that set in for me. I immediately shifted from querying mode to building a following mode. I had to. Carina moves fast and I had to get my “house” in order. Here is a laundry list of what I’ve accomplished so far:
I launched a Facebook public page and added a coming soon and newsletter opt-in form to it. Not as easy as it sounds, I assure you.
I signed up for Mailchimp (the website RU uses to send out our newsletters) and created a newsletter template complete with Twitter and Facebook links. Go, me!
Last year, I had the foresight to have a basic website built and I can honestly say this is the thing I’m most thankful I spent money on. Now, I’m not all that technically savvy. Ask any of the RU girls and they’ll tell you. They’ll also tell you I’m not afraid to try and figure it out, but I know my limitations and I knew I couldn’t build the kind of website I wanted. I spent roughly five hundred dollars on a basic four page (Welcome, About, Links and Contact) website. As an unpubbed writer, that’s all I I needed.
I also chose to go with a theme that could easily grow with me. I write romantic suspense and women’s fiction. I needed something that could flex depending on which genre I might get lucky enough to break into. Now that my romantic suspense books will be published, I’ve changed the look of the site (thanks for the help, Carrie!). Click here for a before picture and here for the updated site.
With the help of my ever patient critique partners (Kelsey, Tracey and Petrina), Theresa Stevens and Gina Bernal, I created the tagline Bold Hearts Risking It All and added it to my website. Why is that a big deal you ask? Well, as I recently learned at an online Carina authors meeting, the website and tagline tell your visitors what you write. If you go to Debbie Macomber’s website, you immediately get a sense of what her stories are about without having to read a book blurb. Same with CJ Lyons’ site.
In addition to changing the look of my website, I’ve added a Coming Soon page to promote my upcoming books.
So, let’s make a list here:
Facebook Public Page
Newsletter
Website
Tagline
Okay, moving on. Being a Carina author gives me the opportunity to create an author page on the E-Harlequin site. Fantastic, right? I still can’t get over it! I got right on that. This page comes with a blogging function so I linked my E-HQN blog to my website and Facebook fan page via Networked Blogs. To be honest, I’m still not sure how the heck this Networked Blogs thing works, but it’s darned cool. Tracey might be able to answer that question because she’s the one who made me do it. J
Next up, some good old fashioned name recognition, so I’ve started visiting blogs, lots of them. Someday very soon I will be contacting all these bloggers to see if they will let me do a blog post for them the week my first book comes out. If I can help to move some books, you’d better believe I’m going to do it.
I have also started tweeting. Let me say straight up that Twitter is not the love of my life. BUT, with the help of Tweetdeck, I’ll go ahead and drink the punch because I see what an impact Twitter can make for a new author. I read an article by a debut author last week that had gone viral simply because he tweeted the link. You just never know what people will tweet and how many people will re-tweet it.
In addition to visiting and researching blogs, I’ve started a list of review sites. It will be hard to open myself up to reviews, but I believe if I can snag a few good ones, it could make a huge difference in my sales.
Oh, yeah, in all of this, I started my new book.
Time for a list update.
Newsletter
Tagline
Networked Blogs
Visiting Blogs
Twitter/Tweetdeck
List of Review Sites
Started New Book
Whew! It sounds like a lot. Frankly, as I was typing this I realized I’d accomplished much more than I thought I had. The months leading up to my debut release have been frantic, but not as frantic as they could have been because I already had a website in place and a Facebook account.
For me, having the website made everything run smoother because I didn’t have to scramble to get one built. The great thing about websites is you don’t necessarily have to pay someone to build one. If you’d like to take a crack at building your own click here and Carrie’s tutorial will help you.
RU Crew, do you have any of the above mentioned items already in place? We’d love to hear from you.
Join us on Wednesday when author Wendy Marcus will discuss her journey through book revisions to getting the call.
Adrienne’s Bio: Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Chicago area with her work-a-holic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaton Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. Adrienne’s books have been finalists in the 2008, 2009 and 2011 Linda Howard Award of Excellence contests. Her debut romantic suspense, Man Law, will be released by Carina Press on July 4, 2011. Her second book, A Just Deception, will be available from Carina Press in September 2011. For more information please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com.
Similar Posts:
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- Interview with Debut Author Adrienne Giordano
- Changing Courses Part Three
- Can I Get A Moment?
- The Road to an Agent with Adrienne Giordano
LOL – Adrienne, I made Kels wait until September! Great list of accomplishments! You’ll definitely be seeing fireworks this year, with a July 4 release date.
Is there anything you wished you’d done different now that you have several things up and running?
Congrats on all your good news!
Posted by TraceyDevlyn | February 14, 2011, 5:30 amThanks, T. The one thing I may have done differently is getting Tweetdeck set up earlier. Tweetdeck (or Hootsuite) saves a tremendous amount of time because you can create lists of people you are following. Now I don’t have to scroll through hundreds of tweets to see what my friend Tracey is doing.
The other stuff, I’m okay with. It’s a process we each have to work through in our own way. I think my recommendation to an unpubbed author is to have a website ready. Websites take some time and things start moving fast when the call comes. If the website is already built when that call comes, the author can start using it right away. Just my two cents.
Posted by Adrienne Giordano | February 14, 2011, 6:49 amAdrienne, good for you! It’s fascinating reading your list. I’m eager to read your book already!
Posted by Edie Ramer | February 14, 2011, 8:18 amThanks, Edie. The July release is the book of my heart so I am just thrilled that it will see it’s day. I love, love, love the hero in this book. He’s such a guy and I want to smack him sometimes. Then I realize I created him. LOL.
We’re looking forward to your author chat next week!
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 8:47 amHi Adrienne, thanks for this advice! I do have most of this set up – even though I haven’t sold yet (fingers crossed on the full I have with an editor right now!
). One thing I have trouble with is Facebook. I have a fan page set up and a personal page, but I really don’t understand what I should do to maximize it. I don’t have a personal account, so I’m kind of a Facebook novice. Do you have any tips?
Posted by Kat Cantrell | February 14, 2011, 8:22 amHi Kat. Thanks for stopping by. Good for you on having most of this set up. It’ll make it so much easier when you sell.
I have both a personal Facebook page and a public page. Some authors use their personal page for business. I personally choose not to do that because I want that to be a place where I can interact with my family and friends as just little old me.
Plus, a public page is nice because you don’t have to worry about accepting “friend” requests. On a public page, people just click the “like” button and that’s it.
You can do a lot with a public page. If you have a blog, you can feed your blog into it (like I’ve done with my e-Harlequin blog). You can post updates on your WIP, funny things about your characters, etc. Also, start liking other author’s pages. Most of them will probably return the favor and it will build traffic to your site. We just went through a flurry of this on my Carina author’s loop. One person posted her Facebook link and asked us to “like” her page. We all jumped in and did the same and the numbers are climbing. So, if you have a group you can reach out to, ask them to like your page. If you want to post your link on RU, I’ll go out and “like” your page. I’m sure others will as well.
I think the most important thing with any social media is to not always be selling and just spend some time connecting with people. You are in a terrific place to begin building a following. Use your Facebook page to talk about your writing and stories (not too much info though. Save some for the book release!). When you get published, the people that have followed you will say, hey, I know her!
Thanks for stopping by, Kat.
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 9:00 amMorning Adrienne!
Sounds like you’ve had a busy time of it…lol….but I’m glad it’s all starting to come together. A wild roller coaster ride between now `and the fourth of July….but really looking forward to reading your book!!
=)
carrie
Posted by Carrie Spencer | February 14, 2011, 8:31 amThanks, Carrie. You’ve been such a good sport about answering all my frantic emails! You are the bomb!
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 9:01 amThanks Adrienne for the great information. I agree with the tagline being so important. Megan Hart has a great connection with her readers through blogs, facebook, and tweeting. I can personally say I purchase EVERYTHING that comes out of her creative brain because, not only is she a fantastic writer, but I feel like I know her a little and that makes the books that much better. A strong web presence makes for increased sales and lifelong fans. I’m going to submit to Carina next month. I’ve heard very good things about their house. Your adventure sounds hectic and exciting. Congratulations on your success. Can’t wait to read your book! Have a great day.
Oh and….Pauline Allan….Where Forbidden Fantasies Come To Play. What do you think I write about?
Posted by Pauline Allan | February 14, 2011, 12:18 pmPauline –
Yup – that’s a winner of a tagline! My kinda books
.
Kelsey
Posted by Kelsey Browning | February 14, 2011, 3:03 pmHi Pauline! Oh boy, Kelsey will be all over that tagline. It’s great. Your readers will know just what to expect and that’s what a tagline should do.
I completely agree with you about having a strong web presence. It takes a lot of time though and I’m still trying to find the right balance. Every minute I spend on the web is one less that I’m spending writing a new book! There’s a happy medium somewhere (I hope), and I’ll find it.
Good luck with your Carina submission. It took me a long time to decide to submit to an e-pub and when a friend of mine sold to Carina, I was convinced. I couldn’t be happier about it. The staff there is so helpful and the training they do for their authors is fantastic. Be sure to pop by on Friday because my editor (Gina Bernal) will be here with a post on the editing process.
Thanks for dropping in.
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 12:35 pmA –
I was tired just reading your list
. How about I hire you to do all that for me one of these days?
Anything else you plan to get up and running before Man Law comes out?
K-
Posted by Kelsey Browning | February 14, 2011, 3:02 pmWe’ll talk about hiring me later. i think all the major things are in place, now it’s just using it all! Tracey gave me a great idea about tweeting so I ran it by the digital guru at HQN and she suggested I tweet each of the hero’s man laws starting a month before the book release. Hopefully, it’ll create some interest in the book.
I’ll also be running a contest, just not sure of the particulars yet. It may involve an e-reader though.
Stay tuned…
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 3:55 pmAdrienne – Sorry I’m late to the party! I read this first thing this morning and meant to comment right away. Where did the day go???
I am SOOO excited for you! As an unpublished writer, selling sometimes seems like the peak of the mountain. I guess it’s really more of a plateau, because there is so much to be done in the aftermath of a sale. It doesn’t take away from the excitement, but it sure makes it seem a lot scarier.
Your blog is kind of an “After You Get the Call 101″ – it’s a little daunting to realize how much there is to do in addition to editing the book you’ve sold and writing the next one.
Wouldn’t it be nice if, after going to all that work to earn the “author” designation, you’d get a shiny tiara and a box of chocolates to go with the title? It seems only fair!
Posted by BeckeMartinDavis | February 14, 2011, 3:40 pmHi Becke. LOL. Chocolate always works for me.
And yes, selling is fantastic and I let myself enjoy that, but now I’m working on remaining there!
Thanks for popping in.
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 3:58 pmHi Adrienne…
I’m later to the party than Becke! First of all, many congrats on your debut. I’m looking forward to reading your books. Your list is exhausting but a necessity in today’s cyber society. I was late to set up an account on FB but now, I realize how important it is to interface with other writers as well as my friends, whom I don’t see much of because I’m so busy writing.
Again, best wishes for your debut.
Jen
Posted by Jennifer Tanner | February 14, 2011, 6:36 pmThanks, Jen!
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 6:45 pmThank you to everyone for stopping by today. Have a wonderful week!
Posted by AdrienneGiordano | February 14, 2011, 7:55 pmHey Adrienne!
Big congrats on being apart of the Harlequin family!! It sounds like you have gotten a positive jump start on everything. I tend to spend a little too much time checking emails and networking on Facebook and blogs instead of writing, but my New Year’s resolution was to write first, play later. I’ve done fairly well so far. Okay, I admit, I cheated today when I saw the tweet about your blog and had to come on over. I’m a new author as well and if I would change something it would be my website’s blog. I blog or have guests a few times a week (slacking lately though). In hindsight and I don’t think it’s too late, but I should have joined a group blog and post to that instead of doing it on my own.
Good luck!
Posted by Casey Crow | February 15, 2011, 12:23 pm