How Long is Too Long for a Book Reading?

At a local sci-fi/fantasy conference over the weekend, a couple of the authors discussed book readings. How long is too long? How many different readers are too many?

We’d all attended book readings that went on too long. Fidgeting sets in.  Phones are covertly checked for the time. At some point, people simply stop listening and zone out. For this reason, I tend to err on the side of taking up less time rather than more. It seemed to be consensus that five to ten minutes was reasonable and fifteen was far too long.

I often attend book readings, and I’ve found that hearing three or four people giving five to seven minute readings works well. Any more than that and I get restless, and it seems, others do too.

Attention spans have gotten shorter, and I think we need to be conscious of this. I feel it’s better to give a shorter reading from a high-energy piece than to read on and on and have people stop caring about what you’re reading. I always want to leave readers wanting more.

What do you think? How long of a book reading do you enjoy? 

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Melinda Marshall Friesen writes YA and adult speculative fiction from her home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 

Book Marketing Experiment #782: Wattpad

For me, book marketing has been one experiment after another. I hear of or think of a new idea, then give it a try. Some things have worked. Some haven't, but I'm always willing to try something new.

For the past year, I've been thinking about and researching Wattpad. I've heard of people having success there, but I've been in this business long enough to know that for every wildly successful author out there, there are about 10,000 others who haven't achieved the same results.

I had a few of misgivings about Wattpad.

1. There are thousands and thousands of stories available which means it's yet another platform where competition is fierce.
2. It's free. I work very hard on writing and editing my novels, and I feel my time has value. No one would give away a house they built themselves, and we're talking about a similar number of hours invested.
3. If the novel didn't do well, I ran the risk of never getting it traditionally published because it would be available online for free, which technically means it was previously published.

However, I have this manuscript that I wrote during the 72-Hour Novel Contest (yes, you have 72 hours to write an entire novel). The Typhon Project is a YA Sci-fi apocalyptic read that is complete at 35,000 words, qualifying it as a novella, not a novel. I loved the story, so I'd considered weaving in some subplots to beef it up but, after a lot of thought, came to the conclusion that the story was best served at its present length. 

As I considered trying out Wattpad, I thought of The Typhon Project, a manuscript that I would probably never pursue traditional publication for because of its length. I wanted to share that story and since it was just going to languish on my computer anyway, I decided that Wattpad might be an excellent way for me to get it in front of readers, especially since the platform is hugely popular with teen audiences. 

So, I designed a cover and posted the first couple chapters. I've committed to posting a chapter per week until it is complete. This experiment is well underway, and I'm excited to see how it turns out. If you're curious, you can find it here: The Typhon Project

Since I'm still learning this new platform, I'd love tips from the OA community. If you have any tips or best practices to share with a Wattpad newbie, please post them in the comments below. Thanks!

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Melinda Friesen specializes in writing teen fiction. Her first novel, Enslavement, has been nominated for a Sunburst Award as well as a Saskatchewan Young Readers Choice Snow Willow Award.

Is Your Author Page the Place for Political Opinions?

My Facebook feed is full of political opinions and, of course, I have a few opinions of my own. In fact, there are some I feel strongly about, however when it comes to my author page, I never share political posts and rarely do so on my personal page. The reason? I don't want to alienate my audience.

Authors have a public presence. Those who read our books seek us out online and follow us on our social media channels. The last thing I want is to put someone off of reading my books because I came out strongly on one side of a debate. Whenever I consider blogging or posting about something political, I think long and hard about the repercussions. I think about my audience and how it might be construed. Not only could I potentially alienate readers, I could actually hurt them by devaluing something they feel passionate about. 

The opinions we share online are, like it or not, forever in the public eye. They are there for our readers to find and for potential publishers and employers to find. 

I'm not trying to make anyone paranoid. My hope is that you'll think it through thoroughly before you post something you may regret in the future. 

Ask yourself some key questions before you make that next political post on your author page:

• Who could I be alienating by posting this? 
• Could my post possibly hurt my audience? 
• Would I be comfortable with my future readers, publisher, or employer reading this? 
• Will this post build others up or tear them down? 

When in doubt, don't post it. Let it lie and see how you feel about it in a week or a month. It's better to err on the side of caution than to have regrets.

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Melinda Marshall Friesen writes speculative fiction for teen and adult audiences. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with her family.

One Thing I Want Every Writer to Have in 2017

I get the honor of being the first blogger of 2017. But what do I want to give all the writers reading this blog for the year to come?

I considered encouraging you to be fearless. But I realized that's not what I'm wanting to convey. Unless you're a robot, you're going to have fears--fear of rejection, fear of criticism, fear of never getting published, fear of bad reviews, fear of not finishing that novel, fear of running out of ideas, fear of failure, fear of not being able to accomplish edits or rewrites, fear of what others think. As writers, we have so much to be afraid of.

You are going to be afraid.

Nelson Mandela said, "I learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

• You are going to be afraid when you ask for critique of your writing.
• You are going to be afraid the first hundred time you query your manuscript.
• You are going to be afraid of never getting published.
• You are going to be afraid the first time real readers read your book.
• You are going to be afraid no one will buy your book.
• You are going to be afraid of one-star reviews.

And I could list a hundred more things that, as a writer, you are going to fear.

But have courage. Face your fears and never let them rule you. Stand up to them. Take the hits. Fall down and get back up. Fail and try again. Get rejected and keep sending out queries. Get writer's block and keep writing. Get bad reviews and keep moving forward.

Canadian writer, Emma Donaghue wrote, "Fear is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing."

So this is what I want to give you as you go forward into 2017:

Be courageous.

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Melinda Marshall Friesen writes speculative fiction for young people and adults from her home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She's the author of Enslavement, Subversion, and  The High-Maintenance Ladies of the Zombie Apocalypse. She works in marketing and acquisitions at Rebelight Publishing Inc.

Book Marketing Chaos and Shortcuts to Success

I've been on a documentaries kick lately. One in particular sparked my interest. It was about chaos mathematics. Doesn't sound very writerly, does it? However, believe it or not, it really gave me something to think about in terms of book marketing.

First, we're word people, so let's get a definition down. We usually equate chaos with complete randomness, but this is not the case.

Chaos theory:the branch of mathematics that deals with complex systems whose behavior is highly sensitive to slight changes in conditions, so that small alterations can give rise to strikingly great consequences. (Google) This is commonly referred to as the butterfly effect.

Book marketing and, therefore the success of a book, is one such system. Hundreds if not thousands of systems combine to create an extremely chaotic system that Joe Writer is plunged into and told to swim once he has a published book. This is why there are no 7 keys to making your novel a New York Times bestseller. Anyone who claims to know the secret to this is trying to take your money. Certainly you can do a number of things that will increase your success, but you can't forecast trends, you can't dictate what movies are produced, you can't foresee what people's disposable income will be, you can't predict what other books will be released, or any number of other variables. 

While this could be discouraging, I find it encouraging. If you've worked hard at marketing and your book hasn't gone viral, don't feel bad. As authors do all they can to get our books noticed. We keep plugging away, in hopes that at some point this chaotic system will work in our favor. The longer and harder you keep at it, the better your chances. The more books you have in the marketplace, the better your chances. Don't give up just because your initial efforts aren't met with success. And please be extremely cautious about anyone who promises instant success, whether it would be vanity publishers, publicists, or marketing gurus. The system is just too complex to reduce it to a step-by-step process. 

That Moment When You Want to Quit

I remember my moment well. 

It was September of 2013. I’d just given my first pitch to a literary agent at a conference. For weeks before the conference, I feverishly prepared for that pitch, watching YouTube videos, researching, and gleaning wisdom from others who have pitched before. I wrote and rewrote what I would say. I practiced a dozen times in front of my very-bored children. I walked into that room, nervous, but knowing I’d done absolutely everything I could do to make the pitch the best it could be. I’d packed an atomic bomb’s worth of emotional and mental energy into that moment.

But, bombs have a tendency to explode.

I gave my pitch, but I failed to impress the agent.

I told myself it was okay, that I’d find another way. But, after receiving nothing but rejections on my work for years, I began to spiral downward. I struck the ground hard. I went to my room and detonated. I was done. I couldn’t do this anymore.

I’ve lost count of how many writers and other artists I’ve spoken to who have experienced “that moment.” I’ve watched friends withdraw and become depressed, hopeless. I’ve seen it so many times, that I know what exactly what’s happening to them. The industry has worn them down. Their strength has given out under the constant crushing weight. Their dream to do this thing they love, feels dead.

Have you been there? Are you there right now?

That weekend in 2013, I quit for about two hours. When I got beyond the tears and gnashing of teeth, I realized that, in my quest to be published, I’d lost sight of my first love—writing. Would I still love writing even if my books never achieved publication? Absolutely. I took a little break from querying to heal and focus on my writing.

I started sending work out again, but at a slower pace. I realized that I’d been sprinting and this is a marathon industry. I also realized that I couldn’t hold so tightly to my narrow dreams. Perhaps I needed to broaden them and allow them to take shape within the realm of reality. I invested in positive friendships with other writers for much needed encouragement, shoulders to cry on, and the often needed kick in the pants to keep going.

Most writers have experienced moments where they want to quit. These feelings are normal. The question is, what will you do with that moment? Will you allow it to win? Or will you keep going?

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Melinda Friesen, author of the dystopian One Bright Future series, writes novels for teens and short stories. She is an avid collector of rejection letters.