Be Prolific
I got my copy of The Noose, the newsletter of the New York Chapter of MWA. Page three has me listed for six publication credits - a novel, two short stories, and three interviews. Next month, I have another short story coming out with SHRED. After that, nothing planned except teaching and paper grading and some conference attendance. So, whether your browsing bookstore shelves, surfing the internet, reading Crimespree or leafing through Mystery Scene, you're bound to see me.
Now, will any of that make you buy my book? God, I hope so. Plenty of work went into one of the tidbits of promotional advice J.A. Konrath frequently gives out - be prolific. Having your name out there in as many different places as possible can only lead to greater name recognition and this softens the soil for sales (several sibilants there, but I can't seem to stop...). Fact is, however, that I published seven short stories last year, along with several interviews and a novel and that novel has been read by exactly nine people. Last year's haul of stories included a near novella length story in AHMM (150,000 subsscribers) and a story in CrimeSpree that went on to earn me a Derringer.
What I then ask myself is whether readers don't begin to feel that they've seen enough and know me and my writing and therefore don't have to read the books.
Anyway, no difference. I have to rewrite my latest creation THE CONCRETE HEART. I've never had to rewrite anything before, so this will be painful. Also, I'm writing a thriller (I think). Plus I have a couple of short stories to type out. Oh, and a movie script. That's hard.
Now, will any of that make you buy my book? God, I hope so. Plenty of work went into one of the tidbits of promotional advice J.A. Konrath frequently gives out - be prolific. Having your name out there in as many different places as possible can only lead to greater name recognition and this softens the soil for sales (several sibilants there, but I can't seem to stop...). Fact is, however, that I published seven short stories last year, along with several interviews and a novel and that novel has been read by exactly nine people. Last year's haul of stories included a near novella length story in AHMM (150,000 subsscribers) and a story in CrimeSpree that went on to earn me a Derringer.
What I then ask myself is whether readers don't begin to feel that they've seen enough and know me and my writing and therefore don't have to read the books.
Anyway, no difference. I have to rewrite my latest creation THE CONCRETE HEART. I've never had to rewrite anything before, so this will be painful. Also, I'm writing a thriller (I think). Plus I have a couple of short stories to type out. Oh, and a movie script. That's hard.
posted by Steven at
11:51 AM
2 Comments:
I've never decided not to read a book just because I'd read a lot of an author's short stories. My short fiction reading typically happens in a different space (physical, temporal, and mental) than my novel reading. Enjoyable short stories recommend novels.
I only feel like an author's overexposed if there's a lot of the same material floating around. Not multiple interviews--they often sound a bit similar, so no harm, no foul there--but on a few occasions I've come across stories reprinted in multiple webzines at around the same time. I have nothing against reprints, but when it feels like it's only reprints, launched in a concerted volley against readers, it comes off as unseemly bibliography-padding by someone who can't come up with new ideas.
Love the title. The Concrete Heart. Happy writing.
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