Reality Writes
The Reality Writes Podcast stars bestselling mystery author Ellie Alexander and her Tech Guy husband as they reveal the ins and outs of writing. Ellie, who has written for big names like Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, and indie publishers like Storm, shares her journey from story ideas to publishing. Together, they dive into the highs, lows, and funny moments of creating captivating stories. With a blend of humor and honesty, Reality Writes offers a behind-the-scenes look at the writing world. So grab your coffee (or wine) and join Ellie and the Tech Guy for some story-spinning secrets.
Reality Writes
Author Talk—Writing a Book is Only Step One
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A Fall to Remember is out this week. YAY! So, it's the perfect time to talk marketing. Are you writing a book? Congrats! However, did you know that the real work begins once you've finished? The Tech Guy and I dive into what marketing an author's book really looks like, busting some pretty common myths as we go. We're also sharing actual lessons from over 15 years of signings, giving a peek into what publishers really do for your as an author, and explain why readers who show up are so amazing.
A Fall to Remember: https://elliealexander.co/a-fall-to-remember
If you're a writer, let us know what your marketing questions and challenges are? And for the readers out there, let us know what resonates with you when it comes to book marketing?
🎉 Join me on Patreon for bonus content.
Welcome And The Marketing Premise
Ellie AlexanderHello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Reality Writes. I am author Ellie Alexander. This is the podcast where we talk about all things writer-ish, bookish, and we feel about the back the curtain and give you a taste of what it's like to live the writing and publishing life. And I'm here with the tech guy.
Tech GuyHello, hello. Uh, today we're going to be talking about one of my favorite subjects, which is marketing.
Ellie AlexanderDo-do-do.
Tech GuyAnd other related topics uh that have to do with the writer life.
Ellie AlexanderThat's right, exactly. And uh it's really timely because I have a new book that will be coming out the same week as this podcast, A Fall to Remember. It's a cozy rom-com. And the whole concept of this particular episode that we want to dive into, especially as it relates to writers and marketing, is that writing the book is always just the first part. It is a giant accomplishment. So don't get me wrong, darlings. If you've written a book, like you should be doing all the things to celebrate. However, then the real work begins.
Tech GuyThat's right. And there's a lot of paths to publication. So they all have their ups and downs, they all have their pros and cons. And you're gonna have to find what works best for you. Uh and and this is this topic, I guess, is born out of a number of conversations that both you and I have on an ongoing basis with people as we talk about the writing life. And so it'll be interesting to dive into some of the specifics and just talk about the reality of the situation and what writers will face as they move forward with publishing and then marketing the book that has been published.
Ellie AlexanderYes, exactly. Marketing is as much work as it is to write the book. And I know for a lot of darlings, like that is not your first instinct or skill set. So it can be really terrifying to figure out like, how do I carve out my place in the world when it comes to books? And the other sad reality is you do have to market your book no matter your path to publication, which is what we're really gonna dive into. In fact, we're gonna do a future episode about the different paths to publication and the pros and cons of those. But today we're really gonna talk about marketing and where, when, why, how, all the things.
Tech GuyThat's right. And I think we should approach it from the standpoint of maybe dispelling some of the myths that are out there about what it means to have to market your book as an author, or whether or not you even have to market your book as an author. I think most people understand that you do have to do it, but the myths really are surrounding what everyone else is going to do or not do to
The Traditional Publishing Myth Bust
Tech Guyhelp you do the marketing of your book.
Ellie AlexanderYes. And okay, so if we're gonna just dive right in and let's talk about traditional publishing for starters, and I've talked about this on so many occasions, but I do think that there is a pervasive myth that once you have a publishing contract, that you can kind of brush your hands off and just go start in the next book and not have to think about the book that you just wrote and worked so hard to make as beautiful as you could and get a publishing deal. This concept that limos are going to pull up in front of your house and they'll have champagne and caviar waiting for you, and they'll whisk you off from one location to another where there will be hundreds of readers packed into a room waiting to adore you and fawn over you and tell you how wonderful your writing is. That does not happen, my friends. I mean, maybe it once in a blue moon, but that's let's just not say that's the norm in any way, shape, or form.
Tech GuyYeah. Well, and to take a step back for a second, this is not to say that you might not write the next great book that just skyrockets to fame right out of the gates. That does happen.
Ellie AlexanderIt does.
Tech GuyTo very few people, but it does happen. And even a lot of those books start out very small and take a long time, a lot of effort into the things we're going to talk about before they really take off, too. So uh we this is not a doom and gloom episode where we're gonna tell you that all you have to do is work, work, work, work, work. But we it is important that when I think anyway, when people are approaching a new career, new hobby, whatever, that they understand what needs to go into it, and because there's a lot of bad information out there. And it is something that's in particular with writing, that uh you know, so many people do assume that they're going to get that publishing contract with a traditional publisher, and then it's gonna be all limousines and caviar from that point forward.
Ellie AlexanderNo, and I'm always surprised, even with how much that I've talked about this, and we've covered this on previous podcasts, that when I'm working with coaching clients, there is still this myth that people are holding on to, like, okay, I know, I know it's not gonna be limos and caviar and champagne, but they're good, the publishing house is still gonna do the lion's share of the work for you. And my talking point to new writers is regardless of your past publication, whether you're indie, whether you're hybrid, whether you're traditional, the onus is on you as an author to build your audience and readership and or come into a publishing contract with a readership, which can happen sometimes too. And, you know, case in point, there have been a lot of successful books that those writers have maybe published themselves initially and built up a strong loyal following. I'm thinking like the dungeons, right? Yeah. Carl, like that was all Indy published. And then he built his audience and a publishing house came to him. So that's happening in the market space, certainly. Um, if you have a large following, especially if you're writing something that's nonfiction and you're an expert in that world and you have people who are already interested in learning your expertise and knowledge knowledge, like that can translate over. But the takeaway I want you to have is that you, as the writer, are going to be responsible for finding your readers.
Tech GuyDefinitely. And you're going to have a team of people at the publisher. If if you go the traditional route, you will have a team of people who are responsible for your book and ultimately they do want to see it sell well too. You just need to understand that they probably have a hundred other authors lined up right behind you, and they have to do the same exact thing for all of their books as well. And so if you can imagine that somebody has a limited capacity, uh an ability to market things throughout the week, and they've got to divide that up by a hundred authors now, suddenly, you're getting, you know, 20 minutes of their time a week, maybe. I, you know, and it's not going to add up to thousands and thousands of sales like you will want it to initially. The one thing I I will say that traditional publishers do, and and maybe you could talk a little bit about this, is they are able to get your book noticed. You know, they're they're they're able to get you listed in places that that may be harder for you to do on the indie side. So there are advantages for sure, but I just don't think that there is
What Publishers Help With
Tech Guyquite the level of attention and success just due to sheer volume alone.
Ellie AlexanderRight. The publicist at the how big houses, they're working on, as you said, dozens of books at a time. And so they have fantastic context. We can dive into a little bit of like what some of the pros are in terms of what a traditional publishing contract might offer you as a new writer. And that would be things like obviously distribution. So the publishing houses have teams that have built relationships with indie booksellers and bookstores. And so visibility is key, right? Because your book will be potentially in bookstores. And maybe there's some kind of front of front-of-store display that gets added to that, or they're sending advanced reader copies out to their list, not only of booksellers and librarians, but early reviewers. They're putting the book up on NetGalley for early reviews. So you're not having to A, just do the process of uploading it and finding reviewers. The publishing house is coming in with a team of people who are like, oh, this is a mystery. So we're gonna push this out to all of our mystery reviewers. They are also able then to potentially submit your book for trade reviews. So like Mystery Scene Magazine or Kirkus or any of the big publications, which is a lot harder to do if you are published independently. A lot of those trade magazines have had policies where they don't accept indie solicitation. So that's like a barrier to even being able to have a trade review. And then of course they're gonna, they're gonna help brandstorm. Like I remember early on in my writing career, my publicist, like one of the conversations you have when you fill out an intake form is like, okay, well, what part of the country are you from? Do you already have bookstore connections? Do you have library connections? Where are you traveling? Are you going anywhere on vacation over the next six months? Do you have family in other locations? And then let's say that you and I were gonna go to California for a weekend and visit my brother and sister-in-law. My publicist would then arrange for me while we were coming here to pop into a local bookstore or Barnes and Noble and sign stock or do an event. So, yes, there are so many things, especially as a new author, that they definitely help with, but we have to break this perception that that translates into you as the author as doing no work. And also, if you were paying attention there, I I embedded a little clue for you, darlings. We are paying for that travel too. The publisher is not paying to send you to all of these places.
Tech GuyIt is funny, and we've talked about this a lot, you and you and I together, that um anytime I have a conversation with anybody at work, uh at my job uh that that does not know you, and I tell them, oh, you're an author, and the one of the for inevitably one of the first things that people always say to me is, oh, it must be so nice to get to go on all those trips with her. And I it confuses me every time because I'm like, Well, yeah, I mean, we take vacations every once in a while. They're like, no, all the all the book trips. And I'm like, you know, I don't have my bleep button available right now, but I'm like, what the what are you talking about? Like all the book trips that that we go on. We do go on a lot of book trips, but they they're saying it in the context of like, it must be so nice because the publisher's sending you everywhere, and I just get to tag along. And somehow they think in their minds, the publisher was also paying for me to go on these trips. And I'm like, why would they pay for me to go on these trips, right?
Ellie AlexanderThat's how business works, right? When I when I tag along with the business trip for you, the your company is like, oh yes, your wife's coming, great. Let me put her bill too. Right. And I do think this tracks back because writing is creative, that we have this in the zeitgeist, this idea then that it's not a business. And at the end of the day, publishing is a business. Publishing is certainly a business for the big publishing houses. It's also a business if you're publishing independently. And your goal is to build a career as a writer. If your goal is to write a book and publish that book and share that book, you can disregard all of the things that we're going to talk about today because I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about writers or darlings out there who might aspire to say, I want to build a long-term career as a writer. And one of the best pieces of advice that I got early on was from my agent. And he was like, it's a long game. It's about shelf space, it's about consistently showing up, writing well, obviously. If we're talking about series writing, writing well and writing quickly, because having um, you know, some sort of pipeline of books coming is also a way that you potentially bring in more readers. Uh, but yeah, it's not usually overnight success. That can happen, but that is not the normal path.
Tech GuyRight, right. It it is not. And it and it has taken a long time to build your career, your writing career to the point that you're at right now. And it's taken a lot of effort, it's taken a lot of miles on our cars. Yes. But I I would say that not having your travel paid for should not, if you have, if, if this is your dream to have a writing career and everything, I I would say that that is one important thing as an author, is the travel piece. And it doesn't need to be far, but just developing relationships with indie bookstores, with the with indie booksellers, is so important, especially early on, to to get out there and and establish some real relationships. And and that helps you. I and I'm going to go back to your initial point, which is I think the biggest takeaway from all of this is that as an author, it is your responsibility to build and grow that audience. Like that is your primary goal. Uh, and no amount of help from the publisher is going to be as effective as you just bringing your authentic self and establishing those relationships and building and growing that community of people who want to not only read your books, but interact with you just as a person because you have shown interest in them and you've you're generating content that they're interested in, and and you just get to build this great community of readers.
Ellie AlexanderYeah, so let's talk about that. And uh part of this episode is about dispelling mist and then giving you a sense of what that reality is like. Okay, so it's unlikely straight out of the gate that you get a book deal and your publisher is gonna send you all over the country to book signings. What is likely though is, as I mentioned, maybe they're gonna help that. So to your point, if you're going on a road trip or you know you can drive two hours to a bookstore or a library, you're gonna reach out to your publicist and say, hey, let's let's plan a little tour like within my state or within, you know, however far you can drive. So you don't even have to get a hotel that night. Maybe you go and you do two or three stops along the way, or you break it up over the course of a weekend and you use the support at the publishing house
Bookstores Travel And Tiny Crowds
Ellie Alexanderto help you make those connections initially with booksellers or librarians that you might not have. Now, if your path to publication is indie, you can do the same kind of thing. You're just gonna have to be the one that does the legwork to reach out to the bookstore and say, hey, I'm gonna be in your area. I just wrote this book. I think it will appeal to this readership. And I would love to do some kind of pop-up signing or event at the store. Now, here's another critical thing. And um, I get this a lot with new writers that I'm coaching. I think the expectation then is you, as the new writer, come to the bookstore, you show up and you think that the bookstore is going to be packed with readers. But readers don't know you yet. The bookstore doesn't know you yet. Yes, like the bookstore or library is probably doing marketing and they're sending it out to their newsletter. But at that point in time, you're still an unknown. I had so many events that I did early on where no one showed, or one person showed. And I just slowly built relationships one by one with whoever came because I'm thinking, oh my goodness, there's one person at this event that has read my book. Incredible. Like I couldn't imagine that a stranger would ever read my book. So I'm gonna make that connection. But not only do you need to be the one that is footing the bill to do the travel, but the onus is also on you to try to get people there. So you have to sort of think creatively about like, where can I go where I might be able to bring readers into the bookstore.
Tech GuyRight. And that's such an important point with the low attendance early on. Whatever you do as a writer, and I say this from experience, not that I have done it, but I've watched Ellie do it. And it is so absolutely important that you not make it an awkward experience for the people that took the time to show up. Use it as an opportunity. This is somebody who showed up and now they get your full attention, right? It's three or four people or one person in that has happened too. But three or four people show up, give them the time of their life. Like this is they they have an all-access pass to you as an author, make it fun for them, and they will be readers for life.
Ellie AlexanderYes, yes. And it's so unfair if then you are uncomfortable and you you show up and you think, oh, I was anticipating that we were going to have a crowd of a hundred people. And then that energy comes off to the people who, to your point, did take the time to show up for you. So yeah, thinking creatively about wow, do I have family in this place? Do I have a group of friends from high school or college that I might be able to wrangle to like use your personal connections, especially at the beginning? Now, of course, don't hound people and make it a horrible experience for your friends and family, but also thinking creatively about what do you have to offer the bookstore. Early on, I was like, well, gosh, I write a bake shop mystery series. Like we could do recipes, we could bring in local bakers, I could highlight bakers, and when readers come, they could get free tastes of treats. And maybe then that baker could bring stuff to sell. Like, you know, trying to think about any way that you can take the concept of your book and build a bigger world around it too.
Tech GuyAbsolutely. And feed two birds with one scone, uh, to use the more positive version of that saying. Use it as an opportunity to grow that relationship with that any bookstore. Use your connections, do the marketing to bring in your own audience, especially if you can find people who aren't familiar with that store to now come to that store. That's going to be a bookseller that is going to be a partner for life because you are bringing people into their store who are not only going to buy your books, they're going to buy other authors' books. And everybody wins in that scenario.
Ellie AlexanderAnd that's always one of my talking points at any book event that I do is I don't care if you buy my book, but please support the store because the store is supporting us by physically having real in-person events. And that's been true since the beginning. Okay, so to dovetail on this, the other thing that comes up often, well, actually, let me backtrack just for a second and say there are then points in your career. Like I remember the first time in my career where my publisher paid for me to go to Murder by the Book. So they arranged my travel, they bought my plane ticket to go, they put me up for a hotel for the night. Um, so there are points in time where then that might start to happen. And that's gonna then help you expand your reach too. Okay, but the other thing that comes up a lot is this idea of conferences and conventions. And darlings, if you're if you're a reader, you I'm sure have seen that there are obviously tons of bookish conventions and conferences all over the United States. Well, again, if we backtrack to when um my first Meg Reed series came out, that was my very first mystery that was published. My publicist was like, hey, we would really love for you to go to Malice Domestic, Left Coast Crime, and BoucherCon this first year. So you can really start to make some connections in the mystery world too. And the novice newbie that I was, I was like, sure, great. Yeah, like I'll sign up for all of those. Okay, well, what I didn't know at the time is they weren't offering to pay for me to go to those. This is still on you as the author. So you are buying your ticket to that conference, you're buying your flight or taking a drive or a train, depending on where that conference is in relation to where you live. You're paying for the hotel and food and all of that travel to attend these conferences and conventions. So when you see, you know, panels and all these events and activities that are going on at these big conferences, those writers are also paying to attend.
Tech GuyTotally. Yeah. It's we would like you to go to these conferences, and here's the bad news.
Ellie AlexanderYeah.
Tech GuyThat it's gonna cost you some money. Uh, quick aside, uh, just a piece of Reality Writes trivia. Uh, I actually went to murder by the book before Ellie ever did.
Ellie AlexanderThat's true. That's right.
Tech GuyYeah.
Ellie AlexanderYeah. Cause you had a lovely little stack of arcs that you were disseminating on every business trip.
Tech GuyWell, hey, there's another there's another tip for writers out there. If you have a spouse, partner, significant other that travels for their job, yeah, or a best friend, whatever, send some arcs with them to wherever they're traveling to and have them stop by indie bookstores and just stop in and see if they would be interested in reading a copy
Conferences Costs And Selling Logistics
Tech Guyof the art. I did that many, many times while traveling to uh see advertising clients for my agency and it paid off.
Ellie AlexanderYeah. I remember. I sent my dad with a whole stack because he was going to New Zealand. So he went to a bunch of New Zealand bookstores. I mean, the book was also inspired by my trip to New Zealand. So there was a tie-in. But yeah, no, absolutely. Put your friends and family to work on your behalf for sure. If you are an indie author, you are also going to do that same thing in terms of paying to go to a conference and convention. The difference with traditional publishing is that it might be that your publicist or somebody on the team at the publishing house is going to make sure that you get on a panel or, you know, have a specific workshop at some of these big conferences. There are also publishers and agents who attend, and they might have like parties for the whole list of authors who are there. I met like some of my, I was like in Dream Celebrity Location the first year that I went to BoucherCon because it's like, oh my gosh, there's Stu Grafton. Oh my gosh, I'm having dinner next to Joanne Fluke. Like, oh, so it's it's definitely worth the experience. It's an investment in your career. Everything that we're talking about today is what you would do if you were building any other business. You have to invest in that business. As an indie author, you also open yourself up then to a lot of like bookish cons and festivals, uh, even local community events where maybe you're paying for a table and then you're going and you're hand selling your books yourself. So another point of differentiation that I think a lot of writers and readers might not know is for most traditional publishing contracts, I can't sell my books. I'm not allowed to sell my books myself. If you're published as an indie author, you can sell those books directly to readers. So let's say there's like a holiday festival going on in your town. You can get a booth at that festival and deck it all out around your theme and hand sell your books to anyone who's at that festival. That's a great tool and visibility for you. Now, on the flip side, it might be a little bit more challenging if we go back to that bookstore piece because you're gonna have to work out some sort of commission or sales rate for the bookstore because bookstores are used to buying directly from distributors and the publishing houses. So there's a lot of the back-end piece that comes into play.
Tech GuyAlthough if you are a traditionally published author, that goes back to my point originally of trying to develop those really tight indie bookstore relationships, because then when you do have events like that, you can lean on that partnership to have them at whatever event, you know, selling your books.
Ellie AlexanderExactly. Yeah, for sure. I had that early on with uh vintage books in particular. And we went to some wild places. In fact, we did an episode about this a while back, I know, that kind of broke down some of the things. But I mean, I've I've done book signings at lingerie shops, I've done book signings at a fair next to pigs, like you name it, I've done it. I would show up. And I think that's the thing. Like, you show up because it's an opportunity for you to get FaceTime with readers. One of my good friends who's indie published in my uh writers' group always talks about the fact that she loves doing fairs and festivals because she's also able to really gauge like her pitch and start to know, like, oh, okay, like that's what really pulled a reader in when I was able to say this little thing. Then I started to draw readers in and go, oh, okay, you like that kind of book, me too. So it's a great way to make connections too. Being next to the pigs was not quite as enjoyable as like, you know, delicious cupcakes and chocolate fondue or whatever, but yeah, what the heck?
Tech GuyI I went to the pig one, but I didn't get to go to the lingerie shop signing. So what is going on?
Ellie AlexanderWhat is going on? Come on.
Tech GuyUm, I would say though, that that is a good point. And it goes back to the low attendance book talks early on, the starting out. Uh you should go into everything, anything you're doing for marketing, even if you consider it a success or failure, the end result a success or a failure, make sure that you're using those learnings and use it as practice runs. You know, so when you're giving a book talk, if two people show up, give the book talk. Don't say, Oh, only two people showed up. Now I'm not going to do this. Use this as an opportunity to really hone in that that talk and that messaging and everything. So the next time when you go and 50, 75 people show up, you're comfortable and you understand like where maybe things are a little slow and where you should ask for questions and get you know audience participation to keep the flow going and everything. Just constantly use these opportunities as practice.
Ellie AlexanderOkay, so that's a great segue into the next thing that I wanted to talk about, which is the responsibility falls on you in terms of how you're going
How To Give Better Book Events
Ellie Alexanderto show up for readers. And I think there's this false sense of, oh, okay, well, once I have a bookstore event or a library event and I've signed up for that and I show up, I maybe am just gonna read a passage from my book and open it up for readers to ask me questions. Right. I mean, we know even um this deep into my career and with hosting the Ashland Mystery Fest. And I should say the Ashland Mystery Fest is different because it's a reader-focused festival. So the idea is that it's meant for readers to be fully immersive. So this isn't like the big conventions where you're getting hundreds of authors and it's a lot of um obviously like fun content, but also like there's so much there that you can do in terms of career-based paths. But even at Ashland Mystery Fest, when you have, you know, this whole incredible group of readers that's hungry for more cozy, like as soon as a panel or an event ends and it's open for questions, there's always dead air immediately. Always. It never fails. Because it's it's intimidating, right? As a somebody in the audience, you might you probably have 20 questions. I know I feel like this when I'm in an audience, and I'm like, am I gonna be the one that is raising my hand first?
Tech GuyYeah, and and that is actually uh uh going back to my point about using these opportunities as learning experiences and then taking those learnings and like leveling up your game. Now the Ashland Mystery Fest has an MC to make sure that that happens so that like there is that participation. And trust me, if it's quiet and no one's raising their hand, they're going to do it when she is done, like getting everybody jazzed up.
Ellie AlexanderYeah, yeah. So this would be the same thing as like if you are presenting for work, right? That you're not gonna show up to a presentation in front of your colleagues or a client or whoever it's gonna be, and just have maybe like a couple minutes of something prepared and then expect everybody else to ask you questions. Part of your marketing plan for showing up for events has to be thinking about like, okay, what are the fun stories that I can tell? What are the pitfalls? I mean, and this isn't, you don't have to, this is fun, right? I love this part of book events. I always have too many ideas of like, okay, yes. And then that story. And if you've ever heard me talk at a book event, I'm always like, because then I want to tell you about, yeah. Um, so come prepared for more.
Tech GuyWell, and speaking of more, just do more events. Do as many as you have the ability to do. Um, and I know that's easy, easier said than done, but the more events that you do, the easier it will get. Being on camera, for example, uh this is a perfect example, being doing this this podcast, for years you were the only one in front of the camera. I was the I was the tech guy, the the weird voice that would interject every once in a while from behind the camera. And it wasn't until dozens of videos, I would say, that I felt comfortable actually being in front of the camera and and and doing this. And the same goes for giving book talks, because if I go back in time and look, you know, oh yeah 12, 15 years ago in your first book talk versus now, night and day difference. Right. But but the other thing is just content. So, to your point, with all of your stories, you wouldn't have 80% of these stories if you didn't do as many book talks and signings and events and meetups and book clubs and everything that you do. You've built all these relationships and you've you've grown this like library of content that you're able to share with people moving forward.
Ellie AlexanderThat's right. Yeah. And it's fun. I mean, like, it's so great to then just be in space together with other people who love books. Again, not just my books, but books in general. I think that the first year after I was published, so the first year I was published, I had two series releases. So I was getting help from both sets of publicists at two different publishing houses. And I was learning a lot in that process in terms of, okay, what are they doing? What are my expectations? Oh, okay, I'm paying for that. Like, how do I prioritize if I have a budget? Like which of these conferences I pay to go to. I can't do that every year, obviously. But like, how do I how do I prioritize our time in terms of travel? If we're taking two weeks in the summer and we're gonna do a road trip, okay, well, then it's gonna be a family bookish road trip too, like maximizing my time. But the year after that, the second year, I decided I was gonna try to say yes to everything. And the lingerie, the pigs. Um, it was a year of yes, but it was so important because it really did crack me open to that idea of like, oh no, I there are readers everywhere. And if you are showing up and putting yourself out there, you're going to start to slowly build that base and that audience. This has come up a lot in the last few weeks because for the last 12, 13 years, I have had mysteries on my mind. I like writing mysteries, have slowly over time learned my rhythm and like come up with fun, inventive ideas, some of which have been great, some of which have been total bombs. We talked about the fact that we did this campy mystery tour of Ashland ourselves, where
Launching A New Genre From Scratch
Ellie Alexanderwe like involved the community and we shared these little like mini mysteries, but they didn't really work. Like lots of baking videos over the years. Some of them have hit, some of them not so much, but like in the process, it all like feeds my books and my creative energy too. But suddenly I'm back in this space where I have a new rom-com coming out. It's not murder, it's sweet, it's cozy. And I am back to being completely stumped about like, oh, how how do I share with this one with readers? Like, how do I mark it? It's in the Venn diagram, there are some parts of my readers that are like, oh yeah, well, we'll come over and try this cozy Ellie. And then there is a big bunch of readers who are like, I want a body. You better give me a bloody knife, or I don't want to read it. Like, so yeah, it's really making us think outside of the box again.
Tech GuyAbsolutely. It's just it's like starting over, honestly. I mean, there are some things that are kind of because it's a book, sure, it's the same in some ways as your cozy mysteries, but because the genre is so different, there's no mystery, there's no murder, there's no suspects, like none of that exists. And from a marketing and and especially like crafting standpoint, I like I can put a skull on anything, and and people love it, right? I just give me a something and I'll put a skull on it, and that's like that's mystery right there, right? Or a magnifying glass. I mean, come on. But that none of that works with uh a cozy rom-com. Um, I don't I'm not sure that putting a skull on some leaves is going to sell a fall to remember to many people.
Ellie AlexanderI don't think so. And then they're gonna read that book and go, why was there a skull on that?
Tech GuyYeah, is that they're gonna be really mad. Where's where's the body tech guy? Where's the body, right? Thanks a lot. Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah.
Ellie AlexanderUh-huh. Um, but it's a good reminder of, again, for me now, like I'm starting slow because I'm gonna find new readers in the process of doing something that's new to me, too. And my expectation has to change, just like my expectations had to change early on when I was like, oh, you know, you're not flying me to those conferences. Oh, I pay for that. Okay. That, you know, I'm gonna slowly start to make connections in that world. Um, but it's probably not gonna happen overnight.
Tech GuyIt's definitely not gonna happen overnight because going back to your original point, it's a long game. And it really does. There are some things. What are some of the saying? Lightning in a bottle, um, you know, things that catch fire. Um and and that's gonna happen. And and you know what? That could happen for you. Like it if you're if you're out there listening, like you, it could absolutely happen for you. Like, do not take this uh in any way, shape, or form to mean that like you don't have a possibility of that happening for you. But the odds are against you from from uh they're just low, right? They're just low because there are so many books and so many authors out there, and it just takes time, time and effort. And if you put in the time and you put in the effort, it will pay off eventually. It really will.
Ellie AlexanderYeah, and the other and the last thing I think I would say on this topic too is like no one is gonna love your book, know your book, experience your book more than you, the author. And that's such a gift in terms of showing up authentically for any sort of marketing event event, whether that's an in-person signing, a conference, uh, doing fun videos online, sharing with readers, because you intimately know your story, your characters. You are the authority on this book. So you are the best person to speak to the story, the setting, all of those wonderful things. And I think when you can like shift your perspective to that, it really opens you up because as we talked about, it can be intimidating to think like, oh, now I have to go talk about my book in front of other people. Like anyone who showed up, whether it's two or two hundred, they're there to hear about your book. So what an opportunity for you to get to share something that has been living in your soul in person or on the interwebs.
Tech GuyThat's that's so so true. You are your book's biggest champion. So and you accomplish something amazing by writing a book. So go out there and tell everybody about it. And be be authentic and build that community and keep putting in the effort.
Ellie AlexanderYes, yeah, exactly. I think that's what I hope you take away from this episode, darlings. Not that it is doom and gloom, but that you are, you know, the captain of your own ship here. And so you get to decide like you you might navigate some very still waters early on. Maybe you're going over a waterfall at some point in time. But like, uh, it's uh these are terrible metaphors. Sorry.
Tech GuyWatch out for icebergs. Yeah. Watch out for icebergs.
Ellie AlexanderI don't know, your boat might sink. Whoa, there's one off a cliff. Here's the mystery writer in me. And well, there's a shark that no. Um you are in control over uh your own marketing.
Questions For Writers And Readers
Ellie AlexanderAnd if you embrace that and have fun with it, you might be surprised at what that opens you up to.
Tech GuyAbsolutely. All right. Well, that was a lot for today. Uh, but I do want to hear from the writers out there, both current writers and those hoping to become a published author at some point uh during your upcoming future. What are your biggest challenges? Did any of this surprise you? Are there other rumors or myths that you want us to debunk here on Reality ? Let us know in the comments or send us a message.
Ellie AlexanderOh, yeah, we love debunking those rumors. And uh for the darlings, for the readers out there too, I'd love to hear like what resonates with you with authors. Like, what do you love to see? Like, what is it that makes you go, oh, I want to know more about that story or that author.
Tech GuyOh, that's actually great. Let's let's hear that. Let's hear that from readers because we'll take those comments and we can put together another episode that will help writers. And everybody wins. Better book talks are better for authors, better for readers, better for bookstores. Yeah.
Ellie AlexanderOh, we are doing the real work in the world here. Uh solving problems right and left on Reality Writes, darlings.
Tech GuyAll right.
Ellie AlexanderOkay.
Tech GuyWith that, until next time.
Ellie AlexanderUntil next time.
