Writing 101: Know Your Audience

I've written a great many blog posts on punctuation and grammar, word usage and various ways to self-publish. What I haven't written much about is marketing, though it is a huge part of self-publishing. Some experts say that marketing is most of self-publishing; I read somewhere that many advocate spending 80% of your time on marketing and only 20% on the actual writing. But I believe in fundamentals. Build a book from a strong foundation of good grammar and perfect punctuation, and it'll all work out.

But let's face it, you're going to have to think about marketing sometime. Before you launch your strategy and start spending time on promotion, you've got one important task to complete. You've got to know your audience.

Picking Labels

Readers like to read, and most readers enjoy many different genres. But if you write a sex-soaked historical drama with a love-heavy bent, you've got to realize your words are going to attract mainly female readers. Likewise, if you write a book that largely takes place in a high school then you should try to find as many teen readers as you can. It's not always so cut-and-dry, of course, and it's never easy for any author to define themselves or their work. But you're going to have to.

Before you can even publish a book, you're going to have to pick genres. Many authors are afraid of putting themselves into a neat little box and choosing a single genre, believing that this may keep them from getting sales in other markets. This simply isn't true. The readers who go across genres are going to go across genres anyway, despite the labels. In fact, focusing strongly on one or two genres (and all the readers therein) is one of the most effective ways to sell self-published boots.

So how do you figure out where your work belongs?

Who Are You Writing To?

You've got to identify your readers so you know how to market your work. Familiarize yourself with main genres, and find out where your book fits. After you pick one main genre, you can branch into other genres and market toward that crowd as well.

• YA. Is your main character under the age of 20? Are most of your supporting characters around the same age? If so, it's very likely that your book qualifies as a young adult book. This means you should appeal to teens primarily. You'll want to market strongly on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to connect directly with your audience. 
• Romance. Romance books are written for adults, though plenty of YA books also contain a romantic element. If your books feature adults who are engaging in intimate acts, you do not have a YA book but a romance novel. Depending on how graphic those sex scenes are, you may even fit into the erotica category. Market your book on blogs that are dedicated to either the romance or erotica genre. You should also look for blogs that talk about love in books, a characteristic of romance works.
• Mystery. Is there a mystery element in your book? Mystery books do not necessarily have to be about murder, though this is common. If the book revolves around a crime or crimes that characters are attempting to solve, you can fit into this genre. There's a huge market for mystery books. Look for crime and mystery blogs where you can connect directly with your readers.
• Fantasy. Fantasy books appeal to a huge audience of readers. If your work contains fantastical elements like magic, dragons and wizards, you can probably fit in well with this genre. You'll find lots of fantasy fans on social media sites, and there are many book blogs dedicated solely to the genre. 
• Paranormal. Many books containing paranormal elements can also fit into the fantasy genre, but paranormal is starting to become a genre that stands on its own. If your books contain ghosts, zombie, vampires or other paranormal creatures, you can fit into this genre. Many teens are very interested in this genre, though it also appeals to adults, so you'd be well-served by marketing on social media.

Once you learn how to categorize your work, you can hone your marketing efforts by focusing on genre-specific blogs and forum groups where you can find your readers. Don't ever be afraid to label yourself or your work. In fact, you should put on as many labels as you can get to fit. Know your audience, find your audience, and start marketing your book based on what they like to read.

Reviewing Justice

"Justice was well written, had a good pace, and had so many twists to the plot it was really hard to work out what might happen next."

Kelly at Have Book Will Read has kindly reviewed Justice on her blog, and I want you to read the whole thing. While you're there, make sure you sign up for the giveaway to win a free copy of the book.

From the Trenches: Master of Perseverance

Sometimes, the dream of becoming a published author feels like a silly fantasy. Repeat rejection letters have a way of taking their toll, and everybody's got their limits. Well, maybe not everybody. One author you've definitely heard of was rejected 800 times before selling any of his writings. Today, his books are among the most popular fiction ever written. 

Clive Staples Lewis, more commonly known as C. S. Lewis, lived in a world of words. He was on the faculty at Oxford University's English Department and belonged in a literary group called the Inklings (cute, right?). Whether he was working or socializing, words were everywhere. One of Lewis's closest friends was J. R. R. Tolkein, who famously wrote the Lord of the Rings books. 

No, Thank You

C. S. Lewis also wanted to be an author. He began writing while working at the University, but every manuscript he sent to editors came back with a rejection slip...by the hundreds. Lewis didn't publish his first book until 1933, a novel about his own very personal spiritual journey. Academic books followed, and in private Lewis started writing the first of his Narnian books in 1939. 

He wouldn't finish it for ten years. When The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was published in 1950, C. S. Lewis was still getting rejected. His good friend J. R. R. Tolkien criticized Lewis and the book itself -- he thought it was too busy, with too many elements that clashed.

But C. S. Lewis was a veteran in the rejection department. Critics didn't fall in love with the book, either, so he went ahead and wrote 6 more of them. The readers loved the books, and word of mouth began to spread them all over the world. Today, more than 100 million copies of the Narnia books have been sold. 

C. S. Lewis wrote in the writing trenches even when he was drowning in rejection letters and criticism. He persevered, despite what the critics and even his friends had to say about it. For him, the idea of being a famous author wasn't a silly little fantasy...but he had to go through a lot of letters before it came true.

New Review, Interview and Giveaway

"It's a great read, filled with life-like, credible characters, and to be honest, I found it impossible to put down."

After you read the newest review for Justice at Today in Shenaya, keep going to get a look at an in-depth interview where I discuss the other books in the Deck of Lies series and my writing process in general. While you're there, sign up for the giveaway to get your own copy of Justice, and see if you agree with the review!

Writing 101: Forget About the Slash Key

You wouldn't be wrong if you called me an author/blogger...unless you do it in a book. I'm a big fan of brevity, a point I've made clear in several past posts, but I am not a fan of the slash key. When you're writing your books, forget it even exists.

/

The slash serves a very important function on the Internet, and it's a fantastic little device for shorthand purposes. Lots of people and items are more than one thing. Gene Kelly was an actor/dancer, Marilyn Monroe a pinup girl/movie star, new Kindles function like ereaders/tablets. It's common to see the slash in product advertising, online and print articles, commercials -- you can find it everywhere.

That doesn't mean I want to find them in your books. The novel is one of the last vestiges of civility society still has. Each book is a tribute to, and an expression of, the written word. Start substituting those words with handy little symbols like the slash, and you're on a slippery slope. Next, you'll be adding abbreviations to your work -- and at that point, why even bother to put the thing into an ebook, why not just tweet it? 

However, I am willing to make a concession. 

Slashing Sometimes

Adding a slash isn't always the worst thing you can do in a book. Let's face it, there's just no way better to write input/output. Sometimes, the slash really is the best choice, but only if it's not within dialogue. Outside dialogue, if you're using an expression or certain phrasing that is best-served by the slash, then you ought to use it. But you can't use it in dialogue, not ever.

People don't often use the slash when they are speaking, and when they do they don't sketch a funny little symbol into the air. They actually say the word slash, so you've got to spell it out properly (example: "Marilyn Monroe was an actress-slash-pinup girl"). When in doubt, always just spell it out. Symbols don't really have any business being in books...because books are for words.

Get Lost in the Deck of Lies

"It kept me in constant suspense throughout the story and once again it was virtually impossible to predict who did what."

"The unpredictability of the book is what makes it so great."

Sienna Logan, at Lost to Books, has followed up her review of Justice with new reviews for The Tower and Death, the second and third books in the Deck of Lies!

"This series is great and I would recommend it to everyone! The murder mystery keeps you in suspense and the love interests keeps you hooked."

Visit the site to read the full review of The Tower.

 "Jade Varden once again surprised me by turning the story on its head again and continuing it in a way I'm sure no one will predict."

See if you can predict where the story's going after you read the full review of Death.

Writing 101: Popular Books Aren't Necessarily Well-Written

Many authors like to read the work of other authors, and it's easy to get inspired by the greats. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so isn't it only natural that authors emulate the authors they like? Just know that, when you do, you should consider the source. Some of the most popular books aren't necessarily well-written, and you definitely don't want to take a page from them and re-produce the bad grammar.

Bad Grammar, Poor Punctuation

Some books explode into pop culture unexpectedly, becoming wildly popular and read by large audiences. But it cannot be taken for granted that such books are well-written, or shining examples of good grammar. In fact, sometimes the exact opposite is true. There are literally hundreds of books that sold well but still had horrible mistakes within the pages, but for the purposes of this post we're only going to talk about two mega bestsellers. One's a self-published book, and one is not.

• The Hunger Games

That's right: I'm not afraid. Read The Hunger Games carefully enough, and you'll find excess commas, poor sentence structure and more grammar errors than you can shake a bow and arrow at. Arguably, author Suzanne Collins may have had a reason for making all these mistakes -- but we'll get to that in a minute.

First, I've got a prove my case for all the fans out there. Here are two examples of comma overload, where semicolons should have been added instead:

In some districts, in which winning the reaping is such a great honor, people are eager to risk their lives, the volunteering is complicated.

Obviously Haymitch isn’t much, but Effie trinket is right about one thing, once we’re in the arena he’s all we’ve got.

Bad grammar is evident in many sentences. They are simply poorly structured, with modifiers in the wrong place, and end up making very little sense: 

But I retrieved the small bow and arrows he’d made me from a hollow tree.

My bow is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods.

The first error suggests that the bow and arrows were made from a hollow tree; the author means to suggest that they are hidden in the tree. The second error suggests that the heroine keeps her father, along with some other people, hidden in the woods. That changes the story quite a bit. 

I couldn’t go home. Because at home was my mother with her dead eyes and my little sister, with her hollow cheeks and cracked lips.

This is just a silly pluralization error. Because "my mother" and "my little sister" are both "at home," the correct verb is the plural were, not was.

The Hunger Games is crazy popular, and well-loved enough to spark a full-length feature film. It's also not self-published. This fiction juggernaut has all the power of a team of copy editors and the clout of a major publishing company behind it. It's possible that Collins intended to write the book in the tone and style of her protagonist, as the book is told from the first-person perspective. It's possible that these errors are actually brilliant, cleverly implemented as part of a careful writing technique. But at the end of the book, it's still wrong. And wrong is wrong, no matter what justification you use.

But some very popular self-published books are no better, mind you. 

• Fifty Shades of Grey

The self-published book that was read 'round the world, Fifty Shades of Grey, is also incredibly popular. It's also destined to become a movie, and plenty of article writers and book bloggers have already done the casting back to front. But you'd better not read it if you're looking for an example of great writing in the indie genre...because you won't find it. 

Notice how I used the ellipsis up there? I like using them; I've even blogged about it. But I definitely don't like them as much as E. L. James. 

I suck harder and harder … Hmm … My inner goddess is doing the merengue with some salsa moves.

He gently strokes my hair … Boy … I Survived. That wasn’t so bad. I’m more stoic than I thought. My inner goddess is prostrate … well, at least she’s quiet.

The word overkill fairly leaps to mind. Fifty Shades of Grey has also taken flak for being over-written; the term "purple prose" crops up a lot.

So...What's Wrong With Readers? 

So why is it that bad writing, poor grammar and weird punctuation are celebrated, rather than reviled? It's not that today's readers make poor choices, or that the nature of writing itself is changing. Many, many readers acknowledge that the books they love are riddled with mistakes, but they consciously overlook them because they love the plot and the characters of the book.

It seems to clearly point to the fact that readers care most about the content of the book itself: the story. But that's no reason to write just any old way, or ignore the basic rules of English. It's wonderful to write a popular book. It's even better to write a book that's popular and critically-acclaimed. You don't want your work to come with a disclaimer (sure, the punctuation is crap, but...) and you don't want your reputation to be that you're strong in plot but shite at the mechanics of writing. You can do both; it just takes a little extra time and care.

In the end, it's worth it.

Dressing the Deck of Lies

Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) is being featured next week, and you'll never guess where. The book is coming to Fashion Fantasy Game to give readers the chance to dress Rain, the main character in the Deck of Lies series.

I've blogged about Rain's style in the past, and Deck of Lies readers know that fashion plays a strong part in the series. If you keep reading the series, you'll find that Rain's fashion choices often reflect how she's feeling about herself and her life.

But maybe you can do a little better than me at dressing her up. Visit the Facebook page for Fashion Fantasy Game to find out when the competition begins. When it does, you'll have a chance to win my giveaway -- and to blow me away with your amazing fashion sense. Now, go have fun!