WHAT Am I DOING Here? Or: Let's Do Lunch

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Want to have lunch with Jenny Milchman and me?Okay, you're invited. Really! See below for details, date and time--AND for some truly valuable insight. 

The Story Behind a Book Event or, Why Do Writers Do This Anyway?

(also known as, Hank & Jenny Do Lunch)

by Jenny Milchman

When you think about a book event, two scenarios are likely to come to mind. There’s the one where the writer arrives in a town car with her name in the rear window, gets whisked off to a lushly fitted out green room, only to be ushered onto a stage before a vast, applauding crowd. And then there’s the one where she sits at a folding table whose legs wobble, setting up stacks of her own books, and twiddling pens that feature the title of said book while customers come up and ask where the rest rooms are.

What? The first one’s never happened to you? Me either. But I’ve had elements, so I keep hoping. And I basically refuse to do the second by this point. It’s too humiliating. I never know where those darn rest rooms are.

Kidding. But not about the humiliation part.

It all raises the question of why writers do book events in the first place. Do they accomplish anything for our sales? Our careers? Our humanity?

I want to dispel a few myths about book events. But first, you might wonder why I feel in a position to do so. Well, it took me thirteen rejection-studded years to get published, and after it finally happened, I did the next logical thing. Rented out our house, traded in two cars for an SUV that could handle Denver in February, pulled the kids out of first and third grades to “car-school” them in the back seat, and hit the road on a 7 month, 35,000 mile book tour. So, I’ve done an event or two in my time.

One of the highlights was a talk with Red Wonder, Hank Phillippi Ryan, at the Cambridge Public Library. Watch this music video, and see if you can find the shot of Hank! She and I talked about books, and the industry, and how it may try to kill us, but in the end leaves us a whole lot stronger. Hey, we’re suspense writers. Death has to figure in somewhere.

Now for those myths.

Myth 1: Book events are about selling books.

Fact: Whether you sell two-hundred books or zero, you have met potential readers in a different, more meaningful way than happens on crowded online platforms. You’ve also encountered an influencer—the bookseller, librarian, or book club leader whose radar your work is now on.

Myth 2: You should read at book events.

Fact: Reading is the one thing I’ve heard over and over tends to bore attendees—and a bored attendee isn’t a good potential reader. Instead, teach something related to your book (a regional specialty, a craft, a foreign language, a lesson in CSI or genealogy—get creative). Discuss the fascinating road to getting published, or the more general accomplishment of achieving a dream. Hold a writing workshop if it fits the crowd. Tell your 10 Best & Worst moments as a writer. Make the whole event Q&A.

Myth 3: A low turnout event is a dud.

Fact: The great Louise Penny quipped, “The only thing worse than an event where no one shows up is one where one person comes.” And indeed it can feel awkward to perform a talk for an audience of one. So my answer is—don’t perform. Just…chat. Really connect to that person. Who knows who she knows, and besides, you may make a friend. At some of my sparsely attended events, one of the few people in the crowd was, respectively, a book reviewer for a major newspaper, a book club leader, and the president of the Friends of the Library Association.

SO: Let's do lunch! Seriously. This year, as part of my third “world’s longest book tour”, Hank and I get to meet again at a luncheon event hosted by former bookseller Joan Lang. The date is June 17^th, the time is noon. In Pembroke Mass. Have a look at the poster for the event, complete with contact info so you can join us. Hank and I would love to see Reds readers in the crowd!

In this life of events, I know it’s going to be another high point.

Jenny Milchman is the author of Cover of Snow, Ruin Falls, & As Night Falls, and the creator of really long book tours.

https://www.facebook.com/events/616830125136166/ 

HANK: SO? Can you come to lunch? CLICK HERE! We're cooking up all kinds of prizes and surprises--including mentoring, query advice, personal chapter critiques and of course, free books! 

And how do you feel about book tour?

A Writer’s Bucket List; a guest blog by Jenny Milchman

Don't forget to check out Jenny's Writer's Wish List Contest!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm not sure Jenny Milchman needs much of an introduction. Her first suspense novel, COVER OF SNOW, won the Mary Higgins Clark award and, like her second book, RUIN FALLS, was an Indie Next pick. If you like your mysteries cold, moody and set in the Adirondacks (and really, who doesn't?) she's your go-to girl. 

Yesterday, I talked about the prison break from NY's northernmost maximum security facility. I thought the escapees - still on the loose! - would make a great story. Well, look at the description of Jenny's upcoming thriller, AS NIGHT FALLS:

Sandy Tremont has always tried to give her family everything. But, as the sky darkens over the Adirondacks and a heavy snowfall looms, an escaped murderer with the power to take it all away draws close.

In her isolated home in the shadowy woods, Sandy prepares dinner after a fight with her daughter, Ivy. Upstairs, the fifteen-year-old—smart, brave, and with every reason to be angry tonight—keeps her distance from her mother. Sandy’s husband, Ben, a wilderness guide, arrives late to find a home simmering with unease.

Nearby, two desperate men on the run make their way through the fading light, bloodstained and determined to leave no loose ends or witnesses. After almost twenty years as prison cellmates, they have become a deadly team: Harlan the muscle, Nick the mind and will. As they approach a secluded house and look through its windows to see a cozy domestic scene, Nick knows that here he will find what he’s looking for . . . before he disappears forever.

Opening the door to the Tremont home, Nick brings not only a legacy of terror but a secret that threatens to drag Sandy with him into the darkness.

Is getting out ahead of a national news story a "you made it" moment for writers? I would say so. Here's Jenny to tell us a few other items on her list of made-it moments.

On my blog—which isn’t the phenom Jungle Red is, of course, but home to a loyal group—I have a forum called the Made It Moments. About 300 authors have appeared, sharing the moment when they knew they’d made it. The entries vary wildly. (Come on over and read them! They’re a font of inspiration). But my point in sharing this today is that the message of the Moments is that we’d better pay attention to the small ones. The ones that could get missed. Because if we sit around waiting for John Steinbeck to walk up and say, “OK. You’re a real writer now…” Well, that may never happen. And not only because he’s deceased.

In that spirit, I thought I’d share 10 Moments I’m striving for that I hope are attainable. They’ll let me know I’m on my way…even if I never quite feel I’ve made it.

• A reader quotes one of my lines to me. You know the words we pour over, and lovingly caress? How great would it be to know that those words spoke back to someone? This is my Taylor Swift moment. Before she got famous, Taylor said how great it would be to hear fans singing her lyrics at a concert. Now, millions do.
  
  
• I see someone reading one of my books when I’m out and about. This happened to craft mystery writer, Lois Winston, on the subway, I believe. How cool! I think I’d walk up and hug that person. They’d think I was a nutcase and never read one of my books again.
  
  
• I see someone reading a review of one of my books when I’m out and about. This is close to the above. Except that in this case, I sidle over to the person, all clandestine-like, and intone solemnly, “You should really buy that book they’re reviewing.” Unless the review is a bad one. Then I would sidle over, all clandestine-like, and mutter, “Ignore it.”
  
  
• I go into a library and somebody is taking one of my books off the shelf. Another variation on the same theme, I suppose. Except that I remember being that kid in the library for whom each book was a precious jewel in a treasure chest. I couldn’t afford to buy books as a child, and libraries saved me in many ways (the least of them financial). To know that my work is now part of that chain would probably make me weepy.
  
  
• Somebody recognizes me. I waited so long to be published—it took thirteen years—that my brother finally gave up and decided to fill the role of #1 fan. Now when we are together, he’ll periodically break into this croggy, lifetime smoker voice and say, “Hey! Aren’t you Jenny Milchman?” I’d like for this to happen…and it wouldn’t be my brother. 
  
  
• At a book event, they need to bring in extra chairs. Some Reds readers may know that I do a lot of book events. (Like, a real lot. Of the past 24 months, I spent 11 touring, and we’re about to head out again). So needless to say—but I’ll say it—I’ve entered my share of empty rooms. Comes with the territory, and a night spent talking to booksellers is always a night happily spent. Or rooms with 1, 2, or 10 attendees, and I like those, too. Truth to tell, I love ’em all, or else I probably couldn’t do so many. I’ve even had a smattering of events with triple digit attendees. I remember going to see Louise Penny at The Tattered Cover in Denver and it was SRO. Louise walked up to the podium and said something gracious and Louise-ish, like, “I want you to know that I don’t take a single one of you here for granted.” I never will either. I’ll even get you a chair.
  
  
• My books are in bookstore windows. OK, this has actually happened already. As I mentioned, I do a lot of events, and booksellers are smart about using their real estate. (Thank you, Malaprops, in Asheville, North Carolina! You rule!) But it’d be super cool if it happened so often that I didn’t run over to the window, press my face against the glass so I looked like a smushed fish, and jump and down, screaming, “That’s my book! That’s my book!”
  
  
• Two generations in a family read my work. Maybe I have to write a lot longer for this to happen. But Lois Duncan—who was celebrated as a Grand Master at this year’s Edgar ceremonies—was and is my favorite YA suspense novelist, and introducing my own daughter to her work was and is one of the great joys of my reading life. Oh, and once I even got to introduce my daughter to Lois in person! And that put things all kinds of over the top.
  
  
• Somebody sends me something. Not in a creepy way, like hand-delivered to my house. But you know, maybe in care of my publisher or agent? And not something creepy, like a finger. But it could be a cake. I like cake. Or a miniature, which I collect. Or a book they love. Or a picture of him or her reading my book. Which would bring this whole list full circle.
  
  
• But wait! There’s more. If you’re reading this post, I’d love to get to meet you along the road. Your road or mine. I’d love to hear where you’re at, with your writing or your reading, and I’d love to connect. I think that’s the real feeling behind every single item on this list. Connecting with readers and other writers. That’s why we’re all in this game.

Those are 10 items in my bucket. What are some of yours?

Photo ©Don DeBold under a creative commons license.

Special for Reds Readers! I’m announcing a giveaway for the first time ever on this blog. Anyone who pre-orders my forthcoming thriller, As Night Falls, is eligible to win a Writer’s Wish List, or give one away to an emerging writer in their life. Please see here for details: http://jennymilchman.com/as-night-falls/giveaway

Jenny Milchman  lived for eleven months on the road with her family on what Shelf Awareness called “the world’s longest book tour.” Her debut novel, COVER OF SNOW, won the 2013 Mary Higgins Clark award. RUIN FALLS was a Top Ten of 2014 by Suspense Magazine. Jenny’s third novel, AS NIGHT FALLS, is an Indie Next Pick and a summer 2015 release.

Jenny is Vice President of Author Programming for International Thriller Writers, and the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, which is celebrated annually in all 50 states and 6 foreign countries.

You can find out more about her and her books at her website, friend her on Facebook and Goodreads, and follow her on Twitter as @JennyMilchman.