Monday, February 25, 2019

Going to the Bookstore Like a Writer


Recently, our own Jan Drexler posted about how to read like a writer. How to analyse, consider, and deconstruct fiction to improve our own writing. If you didn't get a chance to learn from these wonderful posts, you can read the two-part article by clicking HERE, and then HERE.

Go ahead, I'll wait.

Ah, welcome back! :)

After reading Jan's articles, I got to thinking about how, in addition to reading to make you a better writer, you can also make observations elsewhere. Including a bookstore.

So, on Friday night, my dear husband took me to Barnes & Noble to take some pictures and make some observations. (Warning, this post will be picture-heavy, because I couldn't resist!

What can we learn as writers by going to the bookstore?


1. Whether there are any of your books in stock. (Admit it, pubbed authors, you check when you're in the store.) In all, our Barnes & Noble had three of my titles in stock this time. Yay! It's informative, and you have a chance to liaise with the booksellers at that store, and to let people know who ask that they can pick up a copy of one of your books locally.


2. Whether any of your friends' books are in stock. I found lots of friends' books, including this beauty by Tina Radcliffe. :) Show of hands, how many of us have gone into a bookstore and thought, "I know her. I know her, too. I know him. I've met him." And how many of us have turned our friends' books face out on the shelves??? :D


3. A trip to the bookstore allows us to find out what's new. As much as we try, we can't possibly be aware of every new book in every genre. A trip to the bookstore, however, will show us books grouped as new releases, by popular authors, and by new, promising authors. Why do we need to keep up on new releases? Because it helps us know what is trending, the genres, the topics, the authors. By knowing what's moving in the market, we can write more intelligently for the market we're targeting.






4. A trip to the bookstore will give you a quick overview of the types of titles that are trending. Titling books is often quite difficult for a writer. How to distill their work into 3-5 words that give the reader a clue as to what the story is about without giving the whole show away. Notice how titles fit the genre, too. Mystery, romance, general fiction. The titles carry the flavor of the story. Peruse the titles in your genre, see what appeals to you, think about words that reoccur, words that readers identify with your genre. Try mixing and matching words and ideas to come up with a title that fits your story and your market.





5. Find out what cover art is trending. I LOVE looking at, flipping through, admiring, and otherwise engaging with books...and I am a sucker for a beautiful cover, one that tells me right away what the story is about, the genre, the target audience. At the moment, because  am writing a Regency series, I am drawn to books written in that era, and books written about that era. I love that you can immediately tell the difference between the history books and the novels, but that both have similarities, too. There are trends in covers that I am not crazy about...I am not a fan of the 'Marie Antoinette' cover where the heroine is headless. I'd rather see her face, or even all of her from the back, than no head at all. But that's just me. Lots of folks love those covers because they say it lets them imagine what the heroine looks like for themselves.



6. A trip to the bookstore can help you narrow down where your book should be shelved. When you pitch a book to an agent or editor, the first thing they will want to know is, what genre is your book? The agent wants to know so they can inform the editor, so the editor will be able to quickly ascertain whether the story fits what that publishing house buys and puts out. The editor will want to inform marketing. Marketing will want to know so they can inform book buyers at the major bookstore outlets. And the book buyers will want to know so they will be able to shelve the book appropriately to reach the readers most likely to buy the book. If you can't tell what it is you write, the battle is so much more difficult to get that book onto shelves. Peruse what categories are marked at B&N and try to see where your book fits.



7. A trip to the bookstore can help you with the dreaded "Comparables/Competition" section of your proposal. In this part of the proposal, you're asked to compare and contrast your book with others in your genre. There are helpful pointers for this section that we can talk about at a later date, but the bookstore is a great place to begin your search for books like yours.


8. A trip to the bookstore can really help when it comes to writing 'back cover copy' for your book. It's hard to distill your book into two or three paragraphs that will really grab the reader, and writing effective back cover takes practice, but you can get a jump on learning how by reading. Read a lot of examples. Note what appeals to you, what grabs you? What similarities do you see from one book to another? Especially read the back cover copy from books in your genre to see what is trending, what various publishers are including, and even take a peek at the author bios to see what is being included there as well.

Trips to the bookstore are just plain fun, but you can also gather valuable information while you're there that will help you stay up on the latest trends and to make your book proposal the best that it can be!

When was the last time
 you were in a bookstore? 


Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. She’s a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota, and she is married to her total opposite and soul mate! When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can read about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/EricaVetschAuthor/ where she spends way too much time!




Mail-Order Mishaps: 4 Brides Adapt When Marriage Plans Go Awry by [Davis, Susan Page, Ford, Linda, McDonough, Vickie, Vetsch, Erica]
Look what's available for pre-order now! 


Journey along in the Old West as four women travel to meet their husbands-to-be and discover that nothing is as it was planned. Eve’s fiancé is in jail. Amelia’s fiancé has never heard of her. Zola’s newlywed husband is dead. Maeve’s travel is misdirected. Can these brides can find a true love match?

The Galway Girl by Erica Vetsch
Kansas, 1875
A mail-order mix-up sends Irish lass Maeve O’Reilly to the Swedish community of Lindsborg, Kansas. Will Kaspar Sandberg consider it a happy accident or a disaster to be rectified as soon as possible?

Coming May 1st, 2019, you can pre-order your copy of Mail-Order Mishaps today by clicking HERE.

107 comments:

  1. What a helpful, informative post! And so many nice pics there 😉 (thanks Erica!)

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    1. :D I was so happy to see that the B&N here in Rochester had FIVE copies of your book! :D

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    2. This is good because we really need to support each other.

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  2. Hi Erica:

    I really enjoyed your photos and observations about learning from a trip to a bookstore.

    There is something else you can do that I found very helpful: check the customers out. See how they look for books and how they decide to buy the books they buy. Get a real feel for the people who are buying your books. Imagine that you are writing for them when you write your story.

    I've done this as advertising research.

    Here are some observations from time spent in Wal-Mart watching who buys books in general and romances in particular. One lady spent almost an hour looking at difference romances before selecting a few. Several read the last few pages of the book before selecting the one or ones they wanted. Another poor lady kept looking at four or five books. She'd take one up then put it back. This happened several times with different books. She kept doing this for about 15 minutes and finally selected one book while looking back longingly at the romances she did not take. I had the feeling that one book was all her household budget would allow.

    One lady marched right up to the romances and picked four romances out at once and left with them. She was in a hurry and knew what she wanted. I picked her for someone who read the RT reviews and made her picks before she left home.

    I think a romance book may not be so much for the reading of it but rather as a reward the housewife allows herself to enjoy. Something that is just for her. How would your copy appeal to her?

    Real people are buying these books and as a copywriter I wanted to get a feel for them.

    I have a question: is there anything new in Regencies? So many of today's covers are just the same as they were 20 to 40 years ago! (Expect for the new hot ones.) I think if you make the Regency look too different, Regency prospects will miss noticing it entirely.

    When will your Regency romance come out? I'd love to read it. I went from loving Jane Austen, to Regencies, to general romances in that order.

    Looking forward to reading today's comments.

    BTW: I really enjoyed all your photos. I remember holding one of Tina's books in a book store with Tina right there besides me. The bookstore in her romance that I was holding and taking a picture of, was the same one we were in at the time! That won't happen very often.

    Vince

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    1. Vince...you are one observant dude! Watching people is a fun pastime.

      Regency covers are so iconic, because the fashions and hairstyles were so unique to that era. Regency readers know what they want, and they want to be able to identify those books easily. They are a loyal readership.

      My new Regency comes out in early 2020, and I can't wait!

      And how cool that you were able to meet Tina...and in a bookstore!

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  3. Such a fun post since I love going to the bookstore anyway. lol All great ideas and advice! Nothing like holding a tangible book in your hand, though I love the convenience of ebooks.

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    1. I love the convenience of ebooks, too. But for history books/research books, I need to have pages to flag with post-its, indexes that are easy to flip to, and lots of bookmarks.

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    2. Erica, that's how I research too. I'm developing a new technique for the third "Western Dreams" book, which is requiring a lot of research. Hint, it involves COLOR CODED index cards.

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  4. Fun post, Erica. I work part time in a bookstore so I am there two or three times a week. It is a small independent bookstore so it doesn't have the variety of books that the big chains have. But I get a chance to peruse books on a regular basis. It's a fun place to work.

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    1. Sandy! What a dream job! :) My husband always said it was a good thing I worked in a library instead of a bookstore, because my paycheck would have come home in inventory. :)

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    2. Sandy, small independent bookstores are the jewels in the crown of reading. So happy yours is still going, they add a flavor to life.

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  5. I LOVE the bookstore. I can't even imagine how much I will love it if I can ever actually go there to look for MY book. For now I will look for Seeker books - always the best!

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    1. Cindy! Seeing your book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble or Walmart or an independent bookstore is the best! I still love it when a reader snaps a picture of my book in a store or in the library and sends it to me.

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  6. Thanks for sharing your trip to the bookstore. It has been a long time that I've actually visited one because we don't have any nearby. I do my book browsing at my library and also online. Seekerville is one of the places that offers me suggestions and I check Amazon and Christian Books. Congratulations on your new release.

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    1. Connie, libraries are a great place to browse. Librarians always have great ideas and suggestions. Word of mouth is the best advertising by far!

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  7. Fabulous post, Erica! I'm not able to visit a bookstore since the nearest one is about an hour away. I live a within a block from my library so I go there quite often! Congrats on your new release!

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    1. Caryl, yay for libraries. I don't know if I would ever leave mine if it was only a block away! :) The library here in Rochester is downtown with no good parking. Sigh. I keep hoping they will open a branch somewhere else in town.

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  8. Thanks, Erica, most helpful! You're so right about writing the back cover copy, definitely an art. You might add reading the first page, it tells you so much.

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    1. Virginia, that's so true! First lines and first pages! The bookstore is a great place to browse those. I like to pick up best-sellers and see if I can glean anything from the first pages that appeals to a wide variety of readers.

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  9. I'm a first page reader.... I love a great cover, but I've been burned before. And the back cover blurb is usually written by an editor... but that first page... if that first page sucks me into the vortex and the book isn't crazy over-priced, I'm in.

    I still have that Mom-of-Six mentality that finds it hard to pay six or seven gallons of milk for one book....

    And that's not to say the book isn't worth the money!!!

    It's that I've had to parse pennies for a long time and being a good money steward is important.

    A talent I had to re-invent once those six kids were grown!

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    1. It's a tough balance, isn't it? Being a good steward, vs. paying what you know something is worth? Libraries are a good solution if you can't load up at the bookstore. And book-sharing with friends. That way you get to read more books, and you get to talk to your friends about them because they've read them too! :)

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    2. Ruth, I get it, I am thrifty too.

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  10. Wonderful ideas, Erica! I'm not an author, but this is also a great way for cover designers to get an idea of what's trending, what works well with different genres, and what is appealing to those perusing books at a store. Thanks!!!

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    1. Beth, yes! A walk down an aisle or two can tell you what stands out for good reasons and what for...not so good. :)

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  11. Good morning, Erica!

    This is a great post! (and thank you for shout-out for my recent posts!)

    I LOVE visiting the bookstore. We have two in town, an independent and BAM. We also have a used bookstore that is perfect for Saturday afternoon browsing.

    I also love browsing the new books shelf at the library. I meet some of my favorite authors on those shelves. :-)

    I'll keep your suggestions in mind the next time I need to come up with title and cover suggestions. You gave us some great research tools!

    One more thing. I thought of you when I saw the cover of the novella collection I'm part of, releasing in September. As soon as I saw it, I thought, that's a Marie Antoinette cover!

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    1. My folks have a BAM in their town in Florida. What a nice bookstore that is!

      LOL the Marie Antoinette cover. It's so popular right now!

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    2. I like a BAM. The nearest one to me has an extensive collection of Christian titles, especially fiction.

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  12. Erica, great post!

    I loved, loved, loved the independent bookstore in my town. The owner knew her customers and their reading likes. She also hosted wonderful signings for various authors, including me. I was truly blessed. The upstairs of her store held used books...another plus!

    But the BIG bookstore came to town. The little store hung on for about five years and finally had to close, much to the dismay of many of the store's faithful readers.

    Yes, we still have the BIG bookstore, but I miss the small independent shop that felt like home.

    My takeaway? Support independent bookstores if you're lucky enough to have them in your local area. They're a treasure!

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    1. Amen! We lost our big, beautiful Christian bookstore. We've got one small one left, but only because it is run as a church ministry. I miss browsing Christian Book & Gift and chatting with the owners.

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    2. The nearest Christian bookstore to me is closing sometime this spring, leaving a wide swath (about half of NH, but it's a small state) without a Christian bookstore. Internet has changed everything. Makes me feel better about having an e-book, but not better about the closing stores.

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  13. I love going to book stores. Usually it's just to look and dream.

    I found years ago it was a great way to find about new authors to me. I used to have a document on my comlcomp of authors and all their books. I would type the book in one color if I owned in print and different color if on Kindle. Yet another color if I had read it. I kept a copy in my purse so if i found a book on clearance or in a thrift store. This worked great until it grew to over 100 pages. I could tell you if the book was a stand alone or part of series.

    I hope everyone is doing well. I was told this morning that the therapist would have me hopping on my good leg

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    1. Wilani, first, yay that the therapist is going to have you skipping about! :)

      Second, that's some dedication and organization to your reading list! :) I love it!

      I once did a talk at a library in western MN, and I met a lady who carried a three-ring binder listing all the books she had read, and reviews she had written. But...she never went online, so the reviews were only for herself. Sadness!

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  14. Erica, I love all the ideas you share in this post! I never thought about looking at other authors' bios to get ideas for mine, but it makes sense. And the idea of looking at what's trending in covers? Brilliant. AND for getting ideas for the kinds of titles that are trending.

    You've got me hankering to visit a bookstore soon! :)

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    1. I lose all track of time (and people) when I'm in a bookstore! And I'm not even sorry! :D I lost my husband on this latest trip! :D

      Maybe next time I should pack some provisions. :D

      Glad you enjoyed the post! <3

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  15. Erica, what a fun post! I love doing a little research when I go to a bookstore. And yes, I admit to moving books by my friends to a face-out spot!! :)

    My last trip was to a B&N right before Christmas. I remember because I bought quite a few gifts there. I guess it's time to go again! I hadn't realized it had been so long until you asked.

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    1. Time gets away from us, doesn't it? But, any excuse to go to a bookstore is a good one. :) Yay for buying gifts at a bookstore! Surely there's someone in your family (including you!) that needs a new book?

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    2. AND books are among the easiest things to wrap. And mail.

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  16. HA! Thanks for finding my cowboy in the bookstore. Love the cover of your new release!!

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    1. I love finding friends' books in the bookstore. :) Congrats on another release!

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  17. Fun post! Now I want to go spend some time in a bookstore. :-)

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    1. Take me with you! I never get too much bookstore time! :)

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  18. I love dropping in to my local bookstore.

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    1. Me too. I do miss our local independent, but browsing B&N on a snowy afternoon? Bliss!

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  19. Hi Erica

    Old Saw

    "The first few pages sell your book and the last few pages sell your next book."
    :

    My question is: Since many fans read the last few pages of a romance before buying it, should the last few pages be crafted to also sell the current book? And how would this be different?

    Perhaps the last few pages could be written as a recap making the HEA as comprehensive and robust as possible within the otherwise needs of the novel.

    Vince

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    1. I would think that writing the last page well enough to satisfy the reader and encourage them that you should be trusted with their hard-earned coin for the next one would be enough to sell the current book as well as the next.


      I don't read the last pages of a book before I buy it. Why spoil it for myself. Especially a romance, where, by the very nature of the genre, I'm guaranteed an HEA.

      Or a mystery, where I don't want to know 'whodunnit' until the end anyway. :)

      Write the best book you can, first scene to last, and then launch it into the world.

      Delete
    2. Hi Erica:

      I can see cases where the best last pages of a book could different if the goal was to sell the next book as opposed to selling the current book.

      Consider this: to sell the next book, after having read the book, the marketer would want the last few pages to deliver the most powerful emotional impact. This could stimulate the reader to go to Amazon and download the author's next book within minutes of putting the current book down. To build this heightened emotional impact some surprise minor HEAs, involving tying up loose ends with secondary characters, (which would mean little to nothing to someone who had not just read the book), could be exploited. (As in a well thought out Epilogue). I've seen this done to perfection in a few romances. I admire this careful planning very much.

      The effort to sell the current book might best be a summary of the type of message given in the book blurb. A coming attraction as it were. Say at the wedding the hero and heroine are talking about how they almost never resolved their conflicts and how it was a miracle how things finally came together. I think readers of the ending before they read a book want an assurance that the story line is something that they would enjoy reading. They are not looking for an emotional high.

      The trick here would be to write the last few pages in a way that they incorporate the summary and the surprises.

      Of course, this assumes the author wants to write in a way that will sell the most books. James Patterson writes books to sell the most books. If an author is writing the book of her heart, then she can write anything that achieves that goal.

      Just something to think about.

      Vince

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  20. Erica, I feel like you've followed me through the bookstore. :) I especially love the part about seeing others' books and saying, "I know her..." I drive my family crazy when I do that, but I love seeing new releases with familiar names. And yes, I always turn the books cover out -- if they aren't already.

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    1. Karen, we are bookstore-browsing-sisters-of-the-soul! :) My family is pretty used to my ways and just let me prattle on about the awesome people I have met through this writing journey.

      And yay for front facing covers! You rock!

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  21. Hi Erica:

    A question about your Regency novel. Is your heroine 18 years old?

    What I find so powerful in a Regency is that an 18 year old heroine, innocent in the ways of the world, and of the highest virtue, often has the most power in the story. Many times she can save her entire extended family from ruin with a well placed marriage. This rewards virtue while providing an HEA with the right hero. When have 18 year old girls experienced so much power in other genres? (Cf. P&P).

    I think such Regency heroines are a very good way to get more young women to start reading romances. This is very much needed given the aging romance fan population.

    Vince

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    1. I agree, Vince. My first heroine is a late teen, and the one I'm currently writing, she's 23 and considered quite the spinster.

      I think Regency stories have much appeal across the board because of the strict nature of the societal rules in which the story is set. There's a lot of scope for bumping up against those rules when writing fiction.

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    2. Hi Erica:

      Your heroine is 23! If she was mature for her age she could have come out at age 15. That would have given her eight seasons. That's a long time on the shelf. A spinster indeed.

      But spinster stores are a favorite of mine if the heroine is super smart and feisty and the young men can't deal with her. This is somewahat like Elizabeth Bennet who was too smart and whitty for most men of her time. But Elizabeth was 20. At 23 I think we are dealing with a Kate in "The Taming of the Shrew". That offers a lot more sparks!

      Oh, but, 2020 is a long way off. :(


      Delete
  22. Virtual Book Store Notice

    Ruth's Ebook, "A Most Inconvenient Love," is Out Today!


    Is this a new theme?

    A Marriage of Inconvenience? (MOI)

    I'll find out tonight!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thank you, Erica. I don't go to ENOUGH bookstores, the nearest ones are 20 to 30 miles from my small town. I do have a Walmart nearby, sigh, so I can see what's going on with LI and some trade titles. And of course I go to the bookstores in the bigger towns whenever I can. I really enjoy pointing out a title and saying, "I know that person!" Seekers and Villagers, your names are being dropped here in the Frozen North.
    My first published book, and probably the two sequels, will be an e-book so that's a whole different dimension and I am still trying to see how it will work.
    Kathy Bailey

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    1. Kathy, yay for name-dropping...though up here in the frozen north, even dropped names are apt to shatter this time of year! :)


      Yay for your coming books! Congratulations all over again!

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