Friday, September 26, 2014

FIGURE 8 on Ten Minute Interviews

Hi all,

I am excited to announce my first author interview on my blog tour. I stopped by Ten Minute Author Interviews to discuss my dark crime thriller, FIGURE 8, in more detail.

Check it out here: tenminuteinterviews.com/lillian-graves/

Read about my inspiration from growing up in a small town, details and secrets on my favorite and most frustrating characters, and what is in store to come in November!

Monday, September 1, 2014

When Characters Interact With The Scene

There’s a rule in theater – occupy every space on the stage. The same should apply to writing but unfortunately it is usually the first thing we overlook.
The excitement of the fight scene, budding romance, dialogue, and turmoil take precedent because, let’s face it, it’s not the part that’s skipped over. Those scenes need to be tight. However, failing to utilize descriptions of scenes can prove detrimental to your story.
It sets up guidelines
When your characters interact with their setting, it acts as guidelines. They become part of the reader’s imagination instead of just background that fades away as the scene progresses.
Oh, the robber went through the living room to get to the kitchen. The gun was placed in the drawer. Their fights always happen by the couch and stop when they both get too cold from the dying fire.
You orient your reader so that the house isn’t just some house, and the gun doesn’t just appear. They can visualize it and remember where it is.
The little details add value
Little details can tell tremendous details about the setting. Which window is broken. What books are on the shelves. Where the draft slips through the cabin.
Many beginners over explain things because they don’t utilize the weight of subtlety. Don’t tell me she’s an avid reader of literary fiction or she doesn’t have enough money to turn the heat on. Show me.
Good scenes often utilize the setting. It stabilizes the imagery in the story as well as shows little details.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Top Fictional Objects Writers Would Add to Real Life

Sitting at the bar with a bunch of writers means one of two things: we all take turns griping about our current WIP or we somehow piece together a story that will never get written down but “for sure, would be a best seller.” If only recorders were an essential bar item.
This is why, during our last outing, we came up with the following fictional items we desperately need to add to real life:
  1. The memory pensieve
  2. A large wardrobe (especially us New Yorkers)
  3. Control of water (does anyone get the shower temperature right the first time?)
  4. Wicked witches leaving behind their sick fashion sense (finders keepers?)
  5. Hermonie’s time turner
  6. Truth Chain to help with fact checking
  7. Hand of Midas, because writing isn’t exactly the money maker
  8. A surrogate host body so when you’re sick in one, you can jump to another
Now, I’m sure you can hear the spirit and fried food in some of them, but we couldn’t come up with two more to save our lives. Everything else stated was a replica of the others. That realization swept silence across the table.
So writers, do you have any cool gadgets that would be useful in real life aside from the ones above? What are some gadgets that the new generation, technology at their fingertips, could benefit from? Perhaps a way to do work without being in front of a computer, or being able to go a day without caffeine.
…Yeah right.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

FIGURE 8 Free on All Channels for Limited Time

FIGURE 8 (A Dark Crime Thriller)

Tagline: By tomorrow, Chains'll wish he’d killed himself.
Price: Free (limited time)
Links: Kindle     Nook     Kobo     Scribd     Page Foundry


In the shadowy world of thugs, thieves, con-artists, and killers, Victoria Biggs was a genius. The bodies in plastic bags—not so much.

An undergrad and off the streets for six years, Victoria still can’t forget the day the police failed her. Now Detective Gates crawls out of the woodwork and asks her for a favor. Her old gang leader Chains is back to his old ways, selling dope and laundering money through his downtown bar.  Against every instinct, Victoria agrees to help him but arrives to the party too late. Her best gunmen lay dead in plastic bags on her lawn, Chains’ crest carved into their foreheads. Before she dries her eyes, she knows her chance at a new life is over. Victoria just heard an all too familiar calling. Revenge.


Notes:
As an author, I appreciate feedback. So, let me know your thoughts by leaving a review or hitting me up on one of the following channels listed below. I’d love to hear from you.

Tweet me at: @Lillian_Graves
Visit my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/lilliangravesbooks

Subscribe to my mailing list to hear about new releases: https://www.facebook.com/lilliangravesbooks/app_100265896690345

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Writer's Digest East Conference Notes Part 2

Hi All!

This is the second edition of my WDC14 notes. Again, this was a great conference and I enjoyed meeting new authors, aspiring authors, and Greats like the one below.

Michael J. Sullivan was very conversational and interesting to listen to. He knows how to sell himself and I hope a lot of people watched him more so than jotted everything he said down.

He has a way of making everything a story which is so crucial to selling and branding yourself. You have to make you interesting. You don't do that by pretending to be someone else, or writing only about your professional credentials.

You push you more than you push your product.

2.) Author Branding (Michael J. Sullivan)

  • Marketing doesn't have to be scary. We shouldn't fear marketing.
  • Don't fit to the brand - tailor it to you (Don't pretend to be something you're not)
  • "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it"
  • I wrote what I wanted and even though it was outdated, people related because they were getting tired of the gritty trend
  • Two types of branding - selling your product, and selling yourself
Define yourself in a single world.

Be active on all mediums (become accessible)

What do you want to expose?
  • NK Jemision (advocate of women of color)
  • Jim Hines (rape and abuse against women)
  • Robert Bidinotto (right wing conservative)

Have to decide how much to reveal about your life

What is your reason for writing? Only put stuff out that reflects that

Author Bio:
  • Tell a story; don't tell a boring story
  • Make it resonate; tell people who you are

Email Signature 
  • Links, links, links

Write 3 different blurb-lengths:
  • 4 words (short bio on front cover)
  • 15 words (elevator pitch)
  • 1 paragraph (blurb)

Branding
  • You are just as much a product as your book is; clothing, ticks, etc.
  • You can make sales by who you are and not what you have

Reinforce your brand (conventions, blog, etc)
  • Resonates with audience more
  • If you don't tell people about you, they were make something up

Don't be someone else - Be Yourself
  • Reinforce your why
  • Attract people who believe in what you believe in

Establish your fan base:
  • You build your fan base one reader at a time

Goodreads:
  • Get reviewers at the lowest level to read it
  • Whenever you find someone who likes it, have them review it
  • Talk about other books, not your own (they will discover you're an author later on and it will be a more natural conversation)

Writer's Digest East Conference Notes Part 1

Hi All!

I attended WDC14 this Friday for the Pro sessions and thought I'd share some key takeaways for those who didn't get to make it this year (we missed you!).

The first half of the day was focused on branding and self-publishing:

1.) Advanced Amazon for Authors (Jon Fine)

Success is:

Opportunity


  • KDP
  • Createspace
  • Amazon Imprints
    • Thomas & Mercer, Montlake Romance, 47Noth, Jet City Comics, Amazon Crossing, Amazon Encore, Little A, StoryFront, Two Lions, Skyscape, Day One
  • Kindle Singles
  • Kindle Serials
  • ACX (audio books)
    • Growth rate is tremendous because of commuters (multi-tasking)
    • Members are downloading 17 audio books a year
    • You can switch seamlessly between listening and reading with Whispersync (remembers your place)
    • There are people willing to record out of their homes (simplify the process)
    • How to do it?
    • Post your title on ACX and narrators will find you, and offer to record for you
    • Give them a tough scene - emotion, dialogue with two different characters, etc
    • Two payment options - pay up front (~$3K) or 50/50 earnings
    • For every person who buys your book first, Amazon pays you $50
    • Amazon also gives out free download coupons
  • Kindle Worlds (licensed worlds for fan-fiction writers)
    • Licensed the rights to characters and worlds for fan fiction to write about (commercialized)
  • Kindle Library
    • Paid ~$2.25 when your book is borrowed
    • People can borrow one book for free each month if they have Prime
  • Kindle Unlimited
    • Pay $9.99 for a pool of books
    • Author receives payment after 10% of their book is read
    • Counts towards Amazon Bestseller's Ranks
    • Now means a larger fan base


Availability
  • Make it extremely easy for people to find your stuff (print, ebook, audio)
  • Think about all the ways it can be digested

Discoverability
  • Meta data inside the book
  • Detail Page
  • Look Inside the Book
  • Author Page
  • Author Central
  • Virtual hand-selling (on site recommendation machines)
  • Series Promotions
  • Book-scan sales numbers with "heat maps"
  • Historical rankings
  • Associates
  • Kindle Owners Lending Library

Closing words of advice: "Don't write shit."

Monday, July 28, 2014

Loving Minor Characters More Than Main Characters

I loved Luna Lovegood and Fred Weasley more than Harry, Hermonie, and Ron.
Finnick more than Katniss and Peeta.
Candor better than Tris and the Dauntless.
These authors have something in common: they took the time to flesh out every character by making them think they’re the main character.
They Think They’re The Most Important
Just like in real life, each character thinks they are the most important. Outside of mothers and immediate family, who else spends most of their time worrying about someone else’s problems and not their own?
Side characters have their own life and back story which influences their decisions away from the main story. When you hang out with friends each person is the main character in their perspective. What you do are MC actions in your mind. But they are also side character actions to everyone else sitting and talking.
They Are Mysterious
Especially in first person narratives, readers don’t get a chance to be inside side characters’ heads. We can analyze their decisions and dialogue for clues, but we aren’t run through their thoughts and feelings like the main character.
This intrigues us because they remain mysterious.
They Are Amplified
Most classic protagonists are rather boring- they usually take the moral stance, represent what is good, and the side character is the reader’s voice, asking the questions the reader ponders while reading.
The side character act as the catalyst and questions strict moral decisions of the protagonist in a world that isn’t black or white (Gale from the Hunger Games).
While your protagonist should always be front and center in the conflict, your side characters will more often than not jump first to stir the pot.
Above are signs of a good author. When you can empathize with even the smallest character, the author has done her job in fleshing them out, giving them mystery, and making them amplify the conflict by testing the beliefs of the protagonist.