Friday, May 15, 2020

Using TikTok to promote your book





“Another platform for book promotion? Aren’t we swamped already?”

Good question.

TikTok is not for every author, but for some, it could really help in book promotion. To understand how, let us look at TikTok first.

TikTok is the newest and fastest growing social media platform of 2019 and the trend is continuing. It started in China and is the visual equivalent of Twitter. Where Twitter posts are composed of short written prose, TikTok posts are composed of short videos. Users can create videos of fifteen seconds (or string togehter videos into posts of sixty seconds each.) Most users create videos on their phones, edit it using the easy-to-use but professional tools, add music, and download it on to TikTok. Most users use the platform on their mobile devices.

Is TikTok worth it? It depends on the audience for your book. Sixty percent of TikTok users in America are between sixteen to twenty-four years of age. For a young adult title, this is the perfect demographic and can help in author-branding. It is also extremely popular in places like China and India, with five hundred million monthly users in China while about the same number of Indians download TikTok videos every month. Targeting these geographic areas specifically is an option.

By its nature, TikTok is visually driven. Graphic novels are prime candidates for TikTok promotion. . Large companies such as Guess jeans and Chipotle have used TikTok with great success and many more are joining the trend. TikTok is a fun and visually-appealing platform. It doesn’t lend itself to serious topics and is not a place for making sales pitches.

TikTok has made available several marketing tools available. The videos can be linked to websites and the social engagements (likes, impressions, clicks, etc) are measured, allowing a marketer to know how well a campaign is doing. Use of hashtags, games and challenges allow for viral promotion.

TikTok is very easy to use and understand. It is this ease of entry that is its main drawing card. It is not for everyone, but for a product or book with a good fit, it can work well.


Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper" a fantasy and "Karma Nation" a 
Literary Romance. (www.mohanashtakala.com)
He is published by Books We Love Ltd. (www.bookswelove.com)


Thursday, May 14, 2020

A surprising thing about Shakespeare...by Sheila Claydon



Click here for my books at Books We Love


A heroine whose problems are far distant from what the whole world is coping with today...but if you want a happy ending, this is the book to give you one while distracting you from real life!

I know we are all fed up with hearing about Covid19. After all, we are living with it, so we know how it is affecting our lives and the lives of our loved ones, so thinking about something different would be a good thing...except.  Because we are going to have to live with it for a long time to come, maybe now is the time to get a few things into perspective, literary wise.

Did you know, for example, how much of William Shakespeare's writing is peppered with references to the bubonic plague, which was the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries equivalent of what we are living with today. A disease which started with animals (rats and fleas in this case) and which had no known cure. Nor, in those far distant times, any hope of finding one.

Think of Romeo and Juliet, when Mercutio, mortally wounded in the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, called out 'a plague on both your houses.'  Or when King Lear tells his daughter Goneril, 'Thou art a boil. A plague-sore, or embossed carbuncle.' Then, less malevolently, Olivia, in Twelfth Night, marvelling at the speed with which she has fallen in love, says, 'How now? Even so quickly may one catch the plague? 

There are many more such instances but the one that stands out the most is, again, in Romeo and Juliet, when the friar who was asked to deliver a crucial message to Romeo about the drug that will make it look as if Juliet has died when, in fact, she will only be sleeping, fails to carry out his task. In those far off days, friars had to travel in pairs. Unfortunately the friar's travelling companion was visiting the sick when he went to look for him. This meant that the public-health officers (the searchers of the town), suspecting them both of having been exposed to the plague, put them in quarantine by nailing the doors of the house shut! By the time the quarantine ended it was too late...'I could not send it - here it is again - Nor get a messenger to bring it to thee, so fearful were they of infection.'

It wasn't the plague that did for Romeo and Juliet but the dreadful social disruption it brought, which led to Romeo thinking she was dead, and so committing suicide, only to be copied by Juliet when she heard of his death.

In the year Shakespeare was born the plague killed a fifth of the townspeople of Stratford on Avon while sparing the Shakespeare family, and the fear of plague was something he had to live with throughout his life as it waxed and waned, disappearing for a while and then reappearing without any warning. History tells of the innumerable preventive measures that were used, most of which were useless (Fake News at its best!)

  • Although bubonic plague was caused by the fleas on rats, dogs and cats were killed. Possibly the fleas transferred to them although this is not clear.
  • Dried rosemary, frankincense, or bay leaves were burned in a dish as it was believed that the smoke would clear infection from the air.
  • If there were no herbs available the doctors' favoured replacement was to burn old shoes!
  • In the streets people pressed oranges stuffed with cloves against their noses, which was the closest they got to a medieval mask.

Even in the sixteenth century it was recognised  that the rate of infection was far higher in densely populated cities, so the wealthy people with country retreats would escape to their second homes, much as many people are doing today. In addition, civic officials took measures to introduce social distancing when they realised that crowds heightened contagion.  They also collected data from parish registers so they could track weekly plague-related deaths. When those deaths surpassed 30 they banned assemblies, feasts, sports and any other form of mass gatherings.

As it was considered impossible to become infected during the act of worship, churches were kept open, although anyone suspected of being ill was banned from entering. What was closed, time and time again, however, were theatres, which was economically devastating to Shakespeare, who was not only an actor and a playwright but also a shareholder. It is thought that during the severe outbreaks of bubonic plague that infected the country between 1606 and 1610, Shakespeare, frequently in lockdown, wrote and produced some of his greatest plays. During this time the London playhouses were unlikely to have been open for more than a total of nine months, but somehow he made what must have been a fearful and difficult time work for him.

The only time Shakespeare wrote directly about the plague was in Macbeth. Mostly he merely  referenced it in his writing as an accepted part of everyday life, something to be lived with, feared, but hopefully kept at bay by social distancing, quarantine, and the equivalent of using a mask.

The challenge to us twenty-first century writers is to copy him by putting our own quarantined, socially distanced selves to work, even though we can't hope to emulate his success. And while we are doing that, stay safe.

Short Stories and Contests by Nancy M Bell



Second book in the Longview Romance series. Calgary Stampede is canceled this year, so why not take a visit in the pages of Come Hell or High Water? Click on the cover to find out more about my books and where to get your copy of Come Hell or High Water.

I thought I'd share a workshop I did for the Airdrie Public Library on short stories and how to get them ready to enter a contest.

Short Stories and Contests

What is a short story?
A short story is usually narrative prose. It typically focuses on a single self-contained incident and includes a small cast of named characters. The short story makes use of plot and other components used in the longer novel, just to a lesser degree.

Types of short stories are determined by word count or topic. For the purpose of short story contests there is usually a minimum and maximum word count which needs to be strictly adhered to.
Short Story Lengths in words:
Traditional: 1,500 to 5,000
Flash Fiction: 500 to 1,000
Micro Fiction: 5-350
It is most common to sell a story that is 1,500 to 3,000 words long.

Short Story Contests.
Should you enter? YES! Of course, you should. Even if you don’t win or get short listed, often you will receive valuable feedback from the judges.
How to decide which contests to enter? First decide what market you are writing for. Fiction or Nonfiction. Then look at what is open for submission and what is coming open in the future. Read the guidelines carefully, paying close attention to the rules and guidelines. Generally, these will include topics or focus of the contest, minimum and maximum length of the entry, entry deadline and method of delivering the entry. Generally, this is by electronic means these days including the use of the Submittable website, although some still ask for hard copy entries. Also pay attention to the entry fee asked for and decide if the cost is within your budget and if you feel it is worth the cost of entry. There is a list of 2020 short story contests online, the Writers Guild of Alberta also lists contests in their newsletter.

Crafting the Short Story.
Now, you need a plan. Again, this is going to be different for everyone. There are two basic ways of going about The Plan. This is what is referred to in author speak as Plotting or Pantsing.
There is no right or wrong way, just what works best for you. What is Plotting and Pantsing?
Plotting is just what is sounds like. The author plots out their story using what ever method works best for them. The plot plan will include, in some form, the following elements:
The Beginning of the Story/The Exposition
Rising Action
Climax or Turning Point
Falling Action
The End of the Story/The Resolution

So, now to start:
Generate the core idea. Ideas are all around us, you just need to learn to recognize them. This often starts from a memory, a fear, a problem, or an incident that resonates with you, stays with you and keeps nudging you to share it.

Write it down. Get it out of your head and onto paper. Rough first drafts are always just that rough. Write everything and anything that comes to mind, don’t worry about word count at this point.
Create the characters from people you know, or sometimes the characters just present themselves to you. Go with whatever feels natural to you. If you’re having trouble, it is easiest to base your character on people you are familiar with and grow them from there.
Trust yourself, believe in yourself. We are all writers and creators.

Now you have the basis, you need to add some structure and start to put things together.
Basic story structure is outlined below:
The Opening
Incident that changes things, sets things in motion
Series of crisis or events that builds tension
The Climax
The End

There are various examples of story structure: The Hero Journey, The Three Act Structure, The 7 Point Story Structure. You can look at these online if you want to delve deeper into them.
The structure should assist you in sorting out your conflict, climax and resolution.
In short: The Hero Journey
Call to Adventure
Challenges and Temptations
Revelation- death/rebirth
Transformation/Atonement
Return

In short: The Three Act Structure
Set Up- establish characters and setting
The Confrontation- appears simple with underlying complexity
The Resolution- a good ending contains high stakes, growth and transformation and a solution

In short: The Seven Point Story Structure
Hook the starting point
Plot Turn 1 conflict that moves the story to the midpoint
Pinch Point 1 pressure on the your protagonist- stumbling blocks in the pursuit of the goal
Mid-Point character responds to conflict with action
Pinch Point 2 more pressure and stumbling blocks between protagonist and the goal
Plot Turn 2 moves story from midpoint to resolution
Resolution where everything up to this point has been heading. Goal achieved and loose ends tied up.


Some other forms of Short Stories.
Anecdote: This is a short account that tells a story about a real person or actual incident. It can be amusing or interesting or both depending on the subject. Anecdotes are often used to support a point in larger work, for example an essay or article.

Drabble: This is a very short work of fiction, generally exactly 100 words not counting the title. This form is used to demonstrate a writer’s ability to express something meaningful in a confined number of words. It is an exercise in brevity.

Fable: This form uses anthropomorphic creatures to illustrate a story with a mora. These may include animals, plants, inanimate object, forces of nature etc) Burgess Thonton’s work in the early 20th century is a prime example, as well as Asesop’s Fables. The moral is usually spelled out for the reader at the end of the story.

Flash Fiction: This is short literary work. No widely accepted word count but usually between 300 and 1,000 words. Generally I have seen then around 500 words in contest rules. Pay close attention to the guidelines of the contests you wish to enter.

Frame Piece: this is not generally used now but has been used in the past. In Walter Farley’s the Blood Bay Colt one of the characters is bed-ridden and reads a book whose contents are shared within the context of the larger story.
It is also useful for introducing the main narrative or setting the reader up for a series of short stories that follow. Flashbacks- the dreaded and should be seldom used flashback- is also an example of this form.

Mini-Saga is a short story of exactly 50 words. A good exercise to learn to remove all but the most pertinent parts of the story or scene.

Story Sequence: this isn’t a novel, but rather a series of short stories within an over all timeframe that together tell a larger story while still remained complete stories in their own right. This is sometimes referred to as a composite novel.

Vignette: this focuses on a single character, setting or scene. No emphasis on conventional structure or story development. Can be stand alone or part of a bigger work.

We can go deeper here and look at three distinct types of short stories. The Epical Story, The Lyrical Story and The Artifice Story.

The Epical Story: realist short fiction. Commonly withholding a part of the narrative. Generally, the best of this type are the ones where in spite of the obvious clues within the narrative, the reveal of the missing part is unexpected from the reader’s POV. The revelation must serve to highlight what came before it, shining light onto what was just latent beforehand and locking with it seamlessly and showing it in a new way. The big reveal is always at the end, the quality depend on the unexpectedness of the discovery, the twist.
indefinite range of things, if not everything.

The Lyrical Story puts the emphasis on a central recurring image or symbol that the narrative revolves around, rather than focusing on the plot. The ending is considered to be ‘open’ as the focus doesn’t insist on one meaning but is open to many depending on the readers’ perspective. This form needs an external plot (often of the epical form) which flows alongside the development of the image. The central focus fills in where an expression is wanted but didn’t show up. There is a need to express what the protagonist won’t or can’t, to cry, or express joy, or grief.
The Artifice Story is the weaving together of two apparently non-compatible things. This can be two story lines, realities or perspectives. This can be used as an over-arching metaphoric device or it can be an abruptly introduced incongruity. This is inserted into the otherwise conventional narrative at the beginning, the larger meaning comes directly from the unexpected symbiosis between the deliberately inserted incongruity and the conventional plot.

Until next month Stay well, stay happy. YOu can also find me at http://www.nancymbell.ca

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Glad to be human?



A good, galloping plot, beautifully written, peopled by compelling characters: my idea of a novel.  In these perilous days, reading a good novel also my go-to escape pod!  Fiction is a great place to enter into other times, other lives and explore the or the "why's," when well-researched facts are not enough.


But at times like these, I also give thanks for poets, those distillers of essences. They find grace in moments, vibrancy in a smile, joy through the senses. My friend Irene O'Garden is a poet. In her latest collection Glad to Be Human she answers those of us who sometime put a question mark at the end of that affirmation. Here's some of her wisdom, distilled:

There's always time if you do it now

Imagine a way in rather than out

Meaning appears in response to our attempt to grasp it

Art supplies

What makes me glad to be human?  Living in a world that has people like Irene in it.


Tuesday, May 12, 2020

E-Biking Though the Pandemic

                                    Please click this link for book and purchase information

COVID-19 prompted my husband Will and me to buy e-bikes. Our thinking was that with most of our usual activities likely to be gone or restricted this summer, it would be good to expand the ones we'd be able to do. This included cycling. We'd always enjoyed getting out on our twenty-five-year-old bikes and hoped electric bicycles would let us ride longer and farther and handle steeper hills.

I didn't quite know what an e-bike was before I bought one. Since then, I've learned they have motors that provide pedal-assist. You still pedal the same as with a regular bike, but get more for your effort. E-bikes can go up to 32 kilometres per hour (20 mph) to be classified as bicycles, not mopeds. After each use, you plug them in to recharge the battery.

The motor makes e-bikes heavier than regular bicycles. Usually the battery is attached to the frame. We chose models with built-in batteries. They aren't much heavier than our old regular bikes. This will make them easier to load in our car for outings and easier to ride if the battery ever runs out. I'm especially glad we got the lighter bikes after hearing about a friend's holiday in Paris. During her first day of renting a heavy e-bike, it toppled onto her and broke her leg.
 
I chose an upright cruiser style, with a comfortable seat and handy front basket.  
Will and I bought our bikes at a local bicycle store, which has been doing a steady business this spring. Some companies are thriving during the pandemic and I see lineups outside of every bike shop in Calgary, where I live. We walked to the store to pick up our e-bikes, rode them home, and tried them out on our quiet, flat neighbourhood streets. The next day, we went for a longer ride on a city bike path, with a hill I previously couldn't ride all the way up. Half way, I'd have to get off and walk my old bike. On the e-bike, I cruised to the top, passing a group of fit-looking riders in their twenties. What a thrill for a senior citizen! 
Will chose a racier model. We'll enjoy the lunch box on the back for picnics. On a ride to downtown, we had our first look at Calgary's kayak course on the Bow River. 


Calgary enjoyed a couple of weeks of fine weather after we bought our bikes. Will and I took them out every day or two. We conquered numerous hills we'd have struggled with or walked up before. I could still feel the cardio exercise as I pedalled to the crest. We could also do longer rides, to parts of the city we hadn't previously biked to from our home. I returned feeling less tired than I used to from my regular bike rides, although my sore muscles suggested I'd had a workout. 

I'm still cautious about riding a more powerful bike. Wind from the higher speed makes me cooler when I ride. I've had to wear more layers of clothing this spring, but this might make biking on hot summer days more comfortable. My e-bike has nine gears, which are easy to change with the paddles on the handle. The power level button on the frame is trickier to use. I still haven't got the knack of pressing the button 1,2 or 3 times to shift the power up or down while riding. 
Colourful, layered clothing in the cool wind.

E-bikes aren't cheap. Ours were in the lower price range and each one cost more than Will's first car. But with this spring, summer and probably fall of non travel, e-bikes turn staying at home into a vacation. When Calgary's weather warms up again, we plan to load our e-bikes into the van and ride in the rolling countryside, tackling hills with ease. Not much beats coasting to the top, leaving those twenty-somethings in our dust.  
               

Monday, May 11, 2020

Orphans of the Storm: a True Story by Karla Stover


Murder, When One Isn't Enough
A Hood Canal Mystery based on the memoirs of a San Francisco Madame
Orphans of the Storm
Wind out of the south, whitecaps washing over the floating bridges, the ferry system shut down—a Pacific Northwest storm.  And one post-storm, spring morning while driving to work, I heard that the previous night’s gully washer caused another problem:  squirrel’s nests knocked out of trees leaving a surfeit of orphaned babies.  An animal welfare organization put out a call for foster parents.
Wow!  That sounds like fun, I thought.  I can do that.  I love squirrels.  When I hit the first stop light I wrote down their phone number.
At work, I found a place where a box of the family Sciuridae could sleep while I worked, and where I could retreat to give them little bottles of food and some TLC.  Then I called the rescue group.
“I heard about your need for squirrel baby foster parents,” I said, “and I’m really interested.”
“Well now, isn’t that nice," a lady said, "but before adoption can be considered, I have a few questions.”
“Sure.”
“Your name?”
“Karla Stover.”
“Where do you live?”
“Tacoma.”
“Oh well, now, that’s a bit of a problem.”
“How so?”
“Well, the babies were orphaned in Seattle.”
“I can drive there to pick some up.”
“And there are their physicals.”
Say what?
“Well, who administers the physicals?”
“A vet.”
“We have lots of vets in Tacoma, and running water and everything.  My husband and I have gone to the same vet for years.”
Levity wasn’t her strong suit.
“Yes, but it has to be a wild animal vet.”
I sensed roadblocks—possibly the result of animosity and disdain Seattle feels for Tacoma.
“Well, I’ll ask our vet if he can give them their physicals,” I said.
“No can do, I’m afraid.  We already have an approved wildlife vet ready to take them on.”
“Maybe I can drive to your vet, then.  Where's the office?”
“Lynnwood.”
Lynnwood!  That’s a hundred miles away. Up North. Driving through Seattle's horrible traffic.
Still, I persevered.  “I could do that.”
“Every week?”
“What?”
“Every week. The orphaned babies have to be checked and weighed weekly.  We want to make sure they’re getting the best possible care.”
“Will they be vaccinated for hanta virus and Lyme’s disease?” I asked.  “Do they need Frontline?”
Perhaps sensing my sarcasm she said, “I’m sorry, but we have strict rules and regulations about who qualifies to adopt our orphans and how they are to be raised.”
“They’re rodents, for gosh sake.”
“You see, that statement shows a flippant attitude.  I’m sorry but you don’t qualify.”
Jeez! Take it down a notch, lady, I thought as she hung up on me.
About a week later, I heard a knock on the front door.  It was two little kids with three squirrel babies in a box.  “Here,” one boy said, “Mom said we should give them to you.”
I didn’t know who the kids were, who their mom was, or why she thought I should have the care and responsibility of three hostile-looking rodents.  Their unattractiveness knocked the romance of the idea right out of the ring. Nevertheless, I took  the box and carried it to the garage.  Then I attempted to put dishes of water and sunflower seeds—shelled, I might add—in the box.  Nasty little buggers.  Their only interest was in trying to bite the hand that was attempting to feed them. 
After a few days, when it didn’t look like they were eating, I decided to turn them loose among the apple, cherry, pear, and filbert nut trees in our backyard.  They scampered for safety.
  Ever since, we’ve had squirrel families eating the filberts, biting holes into the fruit and, digging up my bulbs.
And all without physicals or mailed reminders for booster shots.

A Line To Murder (A Puget Sound Mystery Book 1)
A Tacoma Washington murder with trips to Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula
Wynter's Way a Gothic novel in the good old tradition


Sunday, May 10, 2020

Color my world conflicted


Get it here!
https://books2read.com/Dreamcatcher-Barbara-Baldwin

                If you’re like me, you’re tired of hearing about the Covid virus, quarantine and food shortages. You’re ready to get out – ANYWHERE – just to feel like your life is your own again. On May 3, Diane Bator wrote on the BWL blog about some of the trouble some writers are having staying on track. It seems ridiculous that with all the hours in a day we can’t sit down and crank out novel after novel.  While I should be writing, my creative efforts have shifted. Instead of the computer, I have been sitting at the sewing machine finishing some quilt tops that had been started, or purchased, some time ago. As I cut and sew, it is impossible to miss my use of color. No pale or pastel colors for this quilter and that made me think more about the use of color in writing (and life).

Remember when you got that first box of crayons for Kindergarten? Big chunky colors – red, blue, green, yellow, black, brown, purple and orange. As we colored, we’d pick yellow for the sun and green for the grass because colors often cause us to think of particular physical things.  As our pictures progressed through the years, we probably added some orange to the sun; red if there was a sunset, and the grass had patches of brown or blue-green and colorful little flowers began sprouting everywhere.   
Color has also often been used in song titles. Though using particular titles may be dating me, do you recognize “A Yellow Submarine”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, or “Purple Rain”?
But colors can also make us think of non-nouns; in other words things like emotions. Red might communicate anger or heat; whereas pink, which is a shade of red, is a more gentle color; perhaps like lavender. Green is often the color of envy or jealousy; yellow might make one think of a cowardly person. There are plenty of idioms that use color – “the pot calling the kettle black”, “blue in the face” or “white knuckled.” Yet no one color is exclusive to a particular arena. For example, red can be both “red tape” and the “red carpet” and those two expressions can be opposites rather than synonyms.
                I urge you to try a writing exercise using color to describe something not normally associated with color? What color is rain or the blowing wind? How would you paint hunger or homelessness or grief? How would you describe a rushing river with color?



                My writing is similar to my quilting – full of color and no two are alike. I write contemporary and historical, time travel and short story. I invite you to visit http://www.bookswelove.com/romance-authors/baldwin-barbara/ for a full listing of my novels with Books We Love.

Here’s to our early release…or at least to the opening of the local liquor stores!
Barb




Popular Posts

Books We Love Insider Blog

Blog Archive