Marvelous Marketer: Realm Lovejoy (Illustrator/writer)

Note: I will announce the FOLLOWER winner of the marketing consulting session this week.


Hi Realm, I'm so excited you have joined us today. I LOVE your work and we haven't had an illustrator in a while.

Before we get started, tell me a little about yourself.

I grew up in the snowy mountains of Nagano, Japan, before moving to the state of Washington. My father is a Japanese ex-monk and my mother an English teacher from Rhode Island. The influence of both Eastern and Western culture was a big inspiration in my art style. (Being bilingual didn't hurt, either.)

I'm a full-time 3D and 2D artist over at Valve for video games and I am also a writer and an illustrator on the side.

Currently, I am illustrating my own novel, titled CLAN, which is currently out on publisher submission. CLAN begins on an abandoned planet, where a single survivor refuses to live alone. Fifty years later, the Clan has emerged: an all-male society of the survivor's clones, who live harmoniously with an ideal of no personal identity and label each other with numbers. Three teenage clones meet.Apart from having the same body, they have nothing in common. CLAN will be an illustrated novel for young adults (ages 16+).

Can you tell us about your creative process? How you come up with your illustrations?

I first write down my illustration goals and constraints for the piece I'm about to work on. I usually have a good idea about the style, palette, and composition at this stage. Then I research real-life things relevant to my project to learn more--could be an environment, time period, prop, anatomy, texture, and such. I sketch out some rough ideas, pick one I like, and start working on the illustration. Once I have the outline and line weight done, I start painting or shading, depending on the art style. Once that's all set, I crop it, adjust contrast, soften edges, and do all the other presentation tweaks until I'm happy with it.


Your heritage sounds so interesting and I'm sure it is where you got your cool name. I know you have a beautiful web site and blog. I assume you maintain those yourself?

Yes. My website launched last April and Little Willow helped put my design together. I also have a blog full of interviews, drawings, news, and other things. I maintain it regularly to connect with book industry people and readers.


I know you are on Twitter a lot. In your opinion, how important is social networking today?

VERY important. Almost every opportunity in my life came from networking, reaching out, being open, and letting others know about my goals. (For instance, I'm doing this interview thanks to Shelli contacting me through my blog.)


I know the answer to this question, but I want you to explain the unique and creative way you do interviews on your blog? IT is such an interesting way to promote your work and yourself as an illustrator?

Right now I am running a series of five-question interview for authors, editors, agents, and illustrators. The unique part about the interview is that I am providing the author with an illustration of his or her character drawn by me. (Other industry people like agents get a picture of him/herself.)

I wanted to share the ability to visually manifest a character with the authors. It's been incredibly rewarding reading emails from happy authors about the illustrations and a great way for me to connect with them. Readers also get an idea about the author's story with one look at the picture, so it really enhances the whole interview experience for everyone. In the process of supporting others, everyone gets to know me better as an artist as well.


I love your interviews and always look forward to seeing your interpretation of the author's characters. How how this helped you in landing your agent?

I am agented by the fabulous Joanna Stampfel-Volpe at Nancy Coffey Literary. When I went on my agent hunt, I got lots of rejections and I assumed it may be because of CLAN's topic: clones.

I felt like I was fighting a stereotype - the emotionless image of what the word "clone" conjures up for most people. I knew I needed to get beyond the stigma and instead, show the complex and drama-riffic characters in CLAN and how distinct they were from one another.

I couldn't really do that depth justice in a one-page letter, so I made a whole bunch of self-addressed, stamped postcards with paintings of my characters on the back to show my vision. (A picture says a thousand words, right?)

I included this with the query instead of the SASE. Ever since, I got more detailed replies and requests for the manuscript. Soon, Joanna offered representation and she was interested in having CLAN be an illustrated novel.


I really like Joanna! I had a great experience/interaction with her during my agent submission process :) What other advice do you have for illustrators regarding marketing?

Focus on what sets you apart and use it to be memorable. Also, reach out! You have to make friends. Don't go into what I call a promo-bot-mode and talk only about your book everywhere you go. That kind of promotion is forgettable. The authors that stick out in my mind are ones that are friendly, conversational, enthusiastic, and supportive. Think of networking as way of keeping the door open to others.


Thanks Realm for stopping by today!

Thanks Shelli!

A "Thank You for following" surprise!

Special shout out to all my FOLLOWERS!

I was looking through all my follower's blogs this week and catching up on their lives before I dive back into edits this weekend.

I wanted to do something special for my FOLLOWERS to show how much I adore you for signing up and listening to me ramble.

So today, I have a small present. It's not much but it's something a lot of people want/need and something I can give.

At midnight (I'll even do WEST COAST time so everyone gets a shot!) tonight, I am going to draw a name of a follower .

The only rule is that you must comment on this post AND you must be an official "FOLLOWER" of my BLOG (This prize is for my followers. It's OK if you sign up today. I just want a Follower to win.)

The follower/name I draw will get a free one hour marketing consulting session with me over the phone to brainstorm anything from marketing your book to agents and editors (query letter review) or getting ready to launch a book, or those who want to come up with a creative way to market their book already on the market. (Good for up to 6 months). In addition, I will summarize what we discuss and give you a one or two page summary with suggestion and ideas on how to move forward (this is about a 500$ value to my business clients)

PS: If you are an editor or agent, you can win this for one of your authors!

Depending on where you are in the process, this prize can benefit you.

All you have to do is follow and hello today. Then I can shout back a, "Thank you for coming to visit me and taking time out of your precious day to listen to me rant and rave." I also hope to find more bloggy friends this way :)

I appreciate all of you more than you know!!!!! Because I never feel alone. (aw! *sniff* Kum Bah Yah right?)

Marketing Round up

Now for my favorite posts of the week:

Author/Publisher gives new meaning to handselling - Christopher Herz quit his advertising job to walk the streets of Manhattan literally selling copies of his first novel, The Last Block in Harlem.

This week Pub Rants had a great posts about marketing. Why we have a Marketing Director? which talks about the newest marketing addition to their team.

I found a blog that did a great round up of some marketing posts. Of course, my interview with Molly was one of them. Am I biased? Maybe :) Book Trailers and More.

For those of you who make up excuses as to why you do not have time to focus on marketing, Jane over at Writers Digest has a few questions for you.

Greg Pincus over at the Happy Accident pointed me to this great Social Media Guide outlining tons of great Twitter Tips.

Learn how to promote your blog like the Big Boys do.

Do you know who is on Twitter? Do more men tweet than women or vice versa? Find out!

Have a great week!

Don't forget to say hello! :)

Randomness

Marketing Muse:

Have you heard about Ning.com It is like Facebook, but you join groups instead of individuals. You can search by keyword.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to those of you who emailed me saying you tried to nominate me for the Blogger Appreciation Week. (that was so sweet!) Unfortunately, the nominations closed last week. But honestly, it was all the thoughts that counted the most. No really! :)

Speaking of great blogs - we all follow some great ones. Don't know how I missed this, but at the end of May Writer's digest posted their list of best web sites for 2009. Check it out - there are some great resources. They have also opened up there 2010 nomination process for 101 best web sites for Writers. You can send comments and nominations for next year’s list to writersdigest@fwmedia.com with “101 Websites” in the subject line (deadline is Jan. 1, 2010).

Girl's Night Out

Saturday was definitely a writer day.

• Met up with old critique group members for coffee.
• Spoke at the Atlanta Schmooze - on what you ask??? What else? Marketing! ;) Nathaniel (Master Writer of The Orgami Master) spoke about his approach to picture books.
  
• Had dinner with Sheri Dillard, Elizabeth Dulemba, and Nathaniel
  

What a better way to cap off the night - a double signing with Jennifer Jabaley (Lipstick Apology) and Ginger Rue (Brand New Emily).

Here are a few notes on Jennifer:

Lipstick Apology is about a 16 year old girl, Emily, loses her parents in a plane accident. The media finds a note written on a tray table in lipstick that says: "Emily I am so sorry." Emily is forced to move to NY with her aunt and tries to recover from her loss.

She got her idea for Lipstick Apology from her sister. When her sister was leaving her kids (and flying) for the first time on vacation. She kept calling Jennifer and giving her instructions "in case the plane went down" (I've done this before!!!!!) Jennifer joked with her hubby and said, "watch my sister's plane go down. She'll probably take out her lipstick and write: "kids need to be in bed by 7" on the tray table. Jennifer's hubby said - "that would be a good book". Jennifer wrote it on a post-it and put it in a drawer. She found the post it when she was moving 3 years later.

She writes her books out long hand (yes you heard that right) and then transcribes to the computer.

She found her agent through the traditional way of submitting into the slush pile.

She felt the hardest part of the book was balancing a serious topic of grief and loss with humor.

She started writing during the 2 hours her baby napped. "if you want it bad enough, you will make/find the time."

Here are a few notes on Ginger:

Brand New Emily is about a 14 year old girl who is not popular at school. Emily decides to hire a New York publicist to makeover her image. Emily returns to rule the school all while discovering who she really is.

She used to do some journalism for celebrity magazine. She had to do an interview with Country music singers. She felt like there was not much difference between them so she talked with their publicists, who gave her insight into celebrity image makeovers. Ginger thought it would be interesting to use that in a teen book.

She partnered up with Bonne Bell/Lipsmackers, who provide her with lipsmackers at her signings and promote her book online. Her character, Emily, uses that makeup to improve her image.

She just signed on with Tricycle for another book.

Thanks to Bryan who just gave me a Literary Blog award :)

Here's the rules.
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might not know.
5. Nominate other Bloggers.
6. Post links to the blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

I'm going to switch it up.
Here are my favorite 7 things about other people :) Who is scared yet?

Just kidding!

7 things about me:

1) I have a 15 year old Jack Russell Terrier (or otherwise known as terror). He's getting old and I dread the day he goes. He's been through so much with me and is part of my family.

2) I was kicked in the chest by a BABY deer when I was camping because I tried to sneak up behind it in the woods. OK fine, I was planning on riding it. Kids - don't try this at home. It hurts.

3) I drove a huge blue and white van in high school until my senior year.
I tried so hard to make it cool. Unfortunately my dad did too. He added big red dice to the rear view mirror and ordered a airbrush license plate for the front that said USS Johannes. I learned thin that if you pretend you're cool, sometimes people forget your not.

4) My daughter has a rarish VSD heart condition. She is fine now but the first 6 months were scary. I have a panic attack every time she has heart burn :(

5) My favorite drink is a martini - not just any martini. Greygoose vodka straight up, extra, slightly dirty with extra olives. Yum! This is from my days of reading Ian Fleming books.

6) The first car I bought with my own hard-earned money was a 1995 Jetta. Unfortunately I had to give up my 1992 red Toyota hatchback Celica because it had no air, no radio (had to drive with a boom box on the seat - yes I said boom box!!!) and every morning I had to put in a quart of oil. Needless to say, I only got 500$ for it which was more than I expected.

7) I am insecure about my arms. I was a professional gymnasts from age 3 until age 10. This means in middle and high school, I had a tendency to resemble a small linebacker. I have always had broad shoulders and muscular arms. This is not a problem now b/c since I'm older, it works, but back in school my cheerleading squad (yes I was a cheerleader! why? my parents made me try out. I really just wanted to sing/play guitar) always made me the base because I was so strong. *sigh* I cannot watch cheerleaders today without getting a bit weepy ;)

I'm going to recognize a few writers in my posse:

Chandler Craig at Fumbling with Fiction
Gretchen Mcneil at Sean Chai
Jen K Bloom
Marissa Burt at Rummaging Reads
Jen Hayley
Lisa Rondinelli Albert
Shana Silver

Marvelous Marketer: Kate Schafer Testerman (kt literary)

Hi Kate!
Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer a few marketing questions. Before we dive into marketing, give us some facts about yourself.

I started kt literary over a year and a half ago now, after moving to Denver from NYC. My main areas of interest are YA and middle grade fiction, although I also look for great, funny women's fiction, and pop culture nonfiction.

I'm a one-woman shop, so I do it all -- review queries, read submissions, keep up with editors and authors, review contracts, track payments, etc. I have a contracts manager to lend a hand occasionally, and an intern this summer, but what I love about being on my own is the autonomy and sense of control.

If I love a project and want to sign the author, I'm the only one who needs to say yes.

And I love saying yes!


I know you are big into social networking and marketing so tell us more about your web site/blog.

Absolutely! The first incarnation of the kt literary website went live even before we were officially open for business. But since then, we've expanded and revised the entire site. My "web monkey" (AKA Husband), helps with some of the behind the scenes technical details, while I do all the writing and minor updates.

I've also committed to blogging at (Ask Daphne!) every day -- well, every business day -- with posts that range from writing advice, query reviews, news about my authors, or interesting links about the biz.

I honestly don't believe I could do my job, as it's evolved, without the web. My website is my face on the Internet, and without it, I wouldn't have found some of the brilliant authors I've signed in the last few years. Using Twitter and Facebook, as well as my blog, allows me to maintain contact with editors in NY, my authors, and other writers.


I follow you on each of those and am always interested in your interesting advice and honest perspective. Since we're already discussing your online presence, in your opinion, what are the top 3 things every author should do/must do to promote their book?

First of all, write the best book you can. But once you have that, I think the most important things you can do to promote your book are as follows:

1. Have a website that can be easily found. Use your own name, if possible. If that's not available, add "books" or "author" to the URL and see if that's free for you. You can also use your book's title, but that may mean moving things around if you want more than a one-book career. I don't advise trying to get overly creative with your website's name or address -- you want people to find it with the most basic of web searches -- your name and or your book's title.

2. Closely tied with the above, I'm a huge proponent of Seth Godin's advice that your web site must be "Unique, Useful, and Updated." Now, that may mean a blog that you update regularly, but it shouldn't be just a single page that you put up a year ago and then forget about. Keep it alive, not static. As for unique -- well, it's all about you and your books, so that's not something you would find elsewhere. To keep it useful, consider if you can have deleted scenes or extras, like a DVD, that add value to your site, and would tell the readers who find you something they don't get just from your book. Again, it could be an author's blog --consider it behind-the-scenes commentary, if that helps! If you're on Twitter or Facebook, make sure your site has links, and consider a feed that shows your tweets on your own site.

3. Finally, I think you need an open mind. You need to be able to do anything, to be WILLING to do anything to promote your book. I'm not talking about going crazy, dressing up like the characters in your fantasy novel, and shoving to the front of the crowd at the Today show, but be open to any possibilities your publisher and their marketing or publicity team come up with. Take advice from other successfully published authors, and find a way to make their ideas work for you. Talk to professionals, if you can afford it. And know that, ultimately, not everything will work, but you need to be willing to try everything to find the thing that does work for you and for your book. Blogs are not beneath you. Ditto to blog tours. Have you considered being available for Skype readings? Are you putting together a package to offer for school visits? Do it all!


Obviously, you enjoy the social networking aspect because you seem to do it all (Twitter, Facebook, and BLog). But, how important do you feel social networking is to authors?

Vitally important, I think. Gone are the days when an author could write a brilliant book, send it to a publisher, have it published to great acclaim, and then write another while remaining a virtual recluse. OK, fine, not completely gone -- it still works for Thomas Pynchon. But are YOU Thomas Pynchon? Probably not.

Besides using Twitter and Facebook, etc. to add updated content to your website, social networking is fantastic for building a community. It's all right there in the name, really. Social = community. Find other authors in your genre or age range, add your thoughts to their conversations, comment regularly, and you'll find people who want to do the same to you. Not as a tit-for-tat thing, but because you're adding to the community naturally. And authors are fantastic about promoting their fellow writers' projects. I see that on Twitter everyday.

Once you're established, social networks are also the ideal way to keep in touch with your fans. You may not be able to respond to every email or fan letter you receive, but you can tweet daily, and provide some of that back-and-forth with your fans that creates a lasting relationship.


So if you like the idea of social networks, do you feel it is beneficial for authors to team up and promote books as a group?

I think this is a great way to build community. Groups like the Class of 2k7 and subsequent classes or The Enchanted Inkpot, which gathers a group of authors in a single genre, are brilliant ways of drawing attention to the members. You may not be the bestseller among the group, but if you have a bestseller (or a widely acclaimed novel that hasn't yet hit the lists) among you, that increases the number of eyes coming to your site. The more views, the more your star may rise. And it's not just about sales -- one author on a group blog may have a devoted following of blog readers, and will bring that audience to a group blog.

A group of authors can also be a bigger draw for a bookstore for a signing -- or for a panel at a conference. There's a give and take in a group dynamic, a more lively presentation, most times, that can make for a better event. Talk to your publisher about group events, even if you're not on a group blog. Is your book one of three in a publishing season or month that retells a traditional fairy tale in a new way? Contact your fellow authors, and ask about a group event on fairy tales.

I even saw a group signing the other day at Books of Wonder in NYC with multiple authors named Sarah


I had not heard of The Enchanted Inkpot. I'll have to check it out. Since you feel online marketing and social networking are so important, do you ever Google writers to see if they already have a web presence or platform before you take them on as clients?

For me, the first thing is the book. If that doesn't work for me, the greatest website in the world isn't going to make a difference. Now, you very well may get a very different answer from an agent that deals more in nonfiction, where a fantastic platform can be paired with a ghost writer to improve the quality of the work. But in fiction, it needs to be about the text, first and foremost.

I do look for a web presence, or at least an interest in building a presence. An author who's not interested in being online probably isn't going to make a good match with me. If the author already has a blog, and I know I already like their writing, I may go back a few weeks and see what they're blogging about -- making sure they're not over sharing, that their goal for their website is to remain professional.

Some writers think they should post the details of their query process -- I can't advise against this enough. You don't want a prospective agent to come to your site and find the gritty details of your many rejections, or your preference for another agent. Don't post anything you wouldn't be able to show to a prospective employer or business partner -- which is what an agent is, after all.


Sounds like you think being online is critical as long as you do it the right way. So before you leave us, I have to ask (or my readers would kill me :), what are you currently looking to represent?

Within YA and middle grade fiction, I'm pretty open. I love contemporary voices, humor, romance. I would love to find a teen mystery that echoes Veronica Mars, or an urban fantasy that builds a unique world, and doesn't feel derivative. I would love to find a book about gymnasts or figure skaters -- I'm a little addicted to ABC Family's new series "Make It or Break It," and I can't help but think there needs to be a book about those hard core teen gymnasts. I have two superhero novels, so I'm full up there, and I think the trend for vampires and werewolves is nearing its end -- I want the next thing in paranormal, not the already done.

In women's fiction, as I mentioned on my blog the other day, I love novels that get me (in all honesty) hot, horny, and laughing. That’s the trifecta. I feel like Jennifer Crusie is an almost perfect example, but so is a lot of Nora Roberts (without the woman-in-jeopardy storylines). I don't want category romance, and as much as I might read and enjoy historical romance in my free time, I'm not looking to represent it -- unless you're talking about the next Philippa Gregory!

My tastes for pop culture nonfiction are a little harder to define. I enjoy travel essays and snarky entertainment criticism, but I want them to be about more than just travel or snark. I'm not looking for traditional memoirs.

Basically, in all genres, I want a voice that makes me stand up and take notice. Does your book have it? Submit to me and let me know!

Thanks for the insight Kate!

Thanks Shelli!