Yes, I'm an author: Reasons why I faced my fear of marketing

When my first novel was published, I didn't go about announcing it to everyone I knew. I wasn't even ready to admit that I was writing again, much less tell people to buy my book. And yet I was hoping they would do it anyway, without my having to ask. 

So what I'm trying to say is, I suck at marketing. It doesn't come naturally to me. When I finish a story my instinct is to let it loose in a crowded area and then hide back in my room, as if by doing that I could say my work was done.

But now I regularly do the thing I thought I would never have to: sell my books to strangers. And here's why I eventually came around to doing the marketing thing:

1. It's polite to say thank you.
For me to be able to do that, readers would have to be able to reach me. So I chose to include my email address in my "about the author" blurb. I began receiving the loveliest emails from readers, and it felt right to reply and say thank you. 

2. Might as well be the best source of info about me.
I set up this blog the year I got published, and it's got basic information about my career as an author so far -- a bio, some thoughts about writing and publishing, and a portfolio of my work. It has made answering questions from readers easier, because it's amazing the kind of conclusions people jump to when they want to know something and have no reliable source.

3. I'm a reader too.
This I figured out eventually: I shouldn't shy away from readers, because they too love what I love. I try to be accessible enough, but not so clingy that they feel they can't share honest opinions. It's a fine line, and I figure it out on a daily basis. I'm now on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and other online communities where I can gush about reading and other things with fellow readers.

4. I have to go beyond family and friends.
The goals I've set for my career as an author? Cannot achieve them by just relying on the support of family and friends. (I don't have that many friends!) So now I go and admit I'm an author when asked, and I've accepted invitations to speak about writing and publishing. I even have business cards featuring my book covers. 

Ah, marketing. I've warmed up to it, because it doesn't have to be about constantly selling to people. Simply being out there, being genuinely interested in your readers, that's worth something already. I still have a lot to learn, but the baby steps I've taken so far have led to great people, fun experiences, and yes, more books sold. 

Way better than just hiding in my room.

Bronze Age Media's Author at Once: Marketing will be on July 14 at Eastwood, Quezon City. The three-hour workshop will cover basics of marketing for published (and to-be-published) authors. Register at bronzeage.ph/authoratonce. 

Perk of scribbling without patience

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You know the feeling when you think of a great scene, and can't wait for the story you're writing to build up to it? Sometimes impatience works.

I'm glad I gave in that one time. I thought of a scene, and instead of pulling my hair out trying to give it full context, I did the quick and lazy thing and just wrote it as it was. No context, no character building, just the scene as it came to me. It was two people talking. Specifically, one girl confronting someone who knew absolutely nothing about what she was talking about, and was amused by it.

Several years later, with enough time and motivation, that scene became the foundation for my first published novel, My Imaginary Ex. Couldn't have done it otherwise. So glad I wrote it down when I did. It was like I was able to bottle that thought for future use.

Real stories and real people

Source: someecards.com via Ashleigh on Pinterest

Real life provides many wonderful prompts for stories. Except reality just happens to be oddly paced, anti-climactic, lacking in closure, and in some cases too crazy to be believed. So if you plan to base a story on real events and people, don't worry about sticking too close to the original (unless you're doing a non-fiction bio, I guess). At some point the story becomes yours. Let it go where you think it should go.

Besides, what's true anyway? One of my books was inspired by a real person's relationship, except I "changed her ending." Only to find out that someone else was in the same situation, and made the exact same choice. Did I know her daw, and did I base my story on her?

I don't know her, and I didn't base it on her, but I guess every story can be true for someone out there in the world. There are billions of people walking around with their own stories, after all.

Author at Once, a rerun

On Saturday, I will be at Cafeccino by Dome (Eastwood Mall, Quezon City) to be main speaker for a rerun of Author at Once. I blogged about the first one we did, in May, and we decided to have another one on June 16 for the people who couldn't make it then.

Who is this for? People who write and want to find out just how easy it is to publish their own work, have full control over every aspect of the process, and keep all the royalties. Because it can be that easy, once you have everything in place.

This is also for people who want to help writers publish, to find out where exactly in the process they can come in. Lots of opportunities for editors, cover designers, and other forms of writerly support.

We will also do a quick preview of Author at Once Chapter 2: Marketing, so participants on Saturday will also find out what they need to do to sell those books once they've been published.

See you there! Register here (bronzeage.ph/authoratonce) or email books@bronzeage.ph.

You're a snob. I am too.

Source: tumblr.com via Lyn on Pinterest

The lovely Charlene Sawit recently interviewed me for her blog, Field Trips to the Real World, and this was one of her cool questions: Have you encountered some literary snobbery from other writers regarding the genre you write? What advice do you have for writers who might encounter this kind of snobbery?

I had an answer for it (see link) and I love how it made me come to terms with something: I, too, am a snob. So I cannot hate on anyone for being the same, just because I wound up on the other side of it.

What kind of a snob am I? I'm a Buffy snob.

I have to explain this because I realize that some of you were too young, but in 1997, a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered, and it became my favorite show. It aired its last episode in 2003, but to this day I'd see references to it here and there, friends of friends mentioning that they're fans too, stuff like that. And when I see this, a part of me can't help but think -

Really? You're a fan? Since when? Do you have all the DVDs? Can you name all the episodes in order? Do you know Spike's name pre-vampire? Do you know all the songs in OMWF? Do you know what OMWF means? Did you co-found an online community dedicated to the show and represent the fandom in conventions?

Yeah, what a snob, right? Why do I have to try and undermine your appreciation by asserting that you can't possibly love this more? We're on the same team already.

I'm willing to bet that everyone is a snob about something. So, to answer the last part of that question, advice to writers dealing with snobbery -- well, you'll encounter it from anywhere, at some point. From fellow writers, from readers, from anyone who invested a lot of time and study into something and considers you the wide-eyed newbie. I remind myself how much of a snob I can be, how fun it is to win at this game. And I let them have their moment.

In a bulalo kind of mood

So many things about my books are fiction, but this (from Fairy Tale Fail) is true: When it's raining like this, bulalo just sounds like the right thing to do.

Source: homecookingrocks.com via Mina on Pinterest

Cozy up and keep dry!

Kwentillion, new YA magazine

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Visited Komikon for the first time this weekend, and was able to witness the launch of this cool new thing: Kwentillion, a magazine for YA readers. It's got comics and fiction from Filipino artists, and also articles about what Filipino YA readers are, well, reading. The first issue is like a test run, and with enough support, it might just become a regular thing, and we want this to happen, people.

A pleasant surprise was also waiting in the first issue for me -- Interim Goddess of Love was featured in the YA books preview! (My thanks to Tina Matanguihan and Chachic Fernandez.) That list itself was quite helpful, and now I know what I'll be reading this year.

I haven't read the issue from cover to cover just yet, but am putting this out there for editors Paolo Chikiamco and Budjette Tan -- does YA include romance? Because the YA I grew up on, and the YA that got me into reading and writing (and the formula I admit I still use today) would be Sweet Dreams, Sweet Valley, and others like them. Trying to imagine a sweet, completely human, zero vampire romance story in a high school or college setting seems out of place in the magazine as it is now.

And maybe it's not a good idea to force it in anyway, because readers of YA romance probably already have their favorite magazines, and they would be Candy, Seventeen or Cosmo. But YA romance readers who also want to be future YA writers, like me back in the day?

What would make a younger version of me buy this magazine?

I actually thought of a few things.

- Character features. YA heroines, love interests, villains... putting them all side by side would showcase not just what would make good reading, but also what the tropes are. Younger Me would have appreciated this kind of cheat sheet, so I'd know what characters resonate and work, also what's been done and can be updated.

- Adaptation timelines. I was psyched to find out (from Kwentillion!) that exciting new YA novels were being crafted from classic stories. But this is hardly new, and I would like to know what else out there is adapted from something, and what were the updated elements. Younger Me would have been so inspired by this, and might have actually read more classics. I read Emma because Clueless was based on it, so.

Congratulations, Kwentillion! Hope you can all get a copy, for yourselves or for the young person in your life who might need a little inspiration.