AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

 

March 31, 2024 – Part 2

We walked the two or three blocks back to our hotel following a great reunion party. We had to stop at a signal before crossing the street, and two American guys on bicycles crossed the other direction and passed us. The signal changed, and we crossed.

As we reached the opposite corner, the bicyclists came back and stopped next to us.

One of the fellows looked at Larry. “I noticed your name on your jacket and wondered if you are the Larry Collins who wrote the book 31 Months in Japan.” (We were wearing our USJ team jackets with our names both in English and Japanese.)

This was curious because 1) I couldn’t figure out how he could have made out Larry’s name on his jacket as they rode by and 2) Obviously, he knew the name of the book. (People often get it incorrect. They get the number wrong or they change “months” to “weeks” or “days.”)

Of course, we confessed to being the authors.

“We really loved your book. We’re working on the project now, and all the challenges you wrote about, we’re still dealing with.”

“Yeah, the book has been a real help,” the second guy added. “We even gave a copy to our boss, Molly Murphy.” (I didn’t recognize the name, but I looked her up and discovered she is the president of Universal Creative out of Orlando, Florida.)

Turns out, they were returning to the park after a meal just at the same time we were headed back to the hotel. Two minutes earlier or later, and we would have missed them altogether.

They asked us about some of the people in the book, correctly identifying “Jurassic Mark,” with whom they had worked, and guessing at a few others. We asked if they were working with our friend, Tommy. We had just seen him at the reunion party. They were all on the current project.

We spent a couple of minutes answering questions and sharing some items not included in the book.

They had to get back to work, and it was getting cold outside. We shook hands and thanked them for stopping. The first guy said his name was Tom. I didn’t catch the name of the other one. As they rode off, I thought of all the times we had ridden our bikes around the park during construction, including on this same street. Of course, it wasn’t actually a paved road then.

To me, it felt like an echo from twenty-three years before. We still felt connected to this place where we had spent so much time.

This conversation emphasized the need to publish the Japanese translation. Our book was still relevant, if only to those still updating the park. From time to time, we’ve heard from those who are visiting Japan or who have gone there to teach English how valuable the book had been for them.

We first published it in 2005, and every year we still sell some. It is on Amazon, Walmart, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers. We also sell them on our website: http://www.lornalarry.com.

The next day, we confirmed the names of the both fellows with Tommy (Tom Fitz and Josh McMurray). I hope we can contact them again.

Once back in the hotel, we decided to stop at the little snack shop on the ground floor for dessert. By the time we had stopped socializing long enough to eat, the desserts were gone. This little shop had several ice cream choices. So we each got one and enjoyed our sweets.

Then we returned to our room to finish re-packing for the next day.

We went to bed, hoping we would get a good night’s sleep.

California Crime Writers Conference

We spent the past two days at the California Crime Writers Conference.

This one is held every two years, and we always enjoy it. We have attended several in the past. Why do we attend? Because we always learn something, and we get to see old friends we don’t see anywhere else.

For each Panel/Workshop session, several options are offered. It’s a regular smorgasbord of choices.

Since we write historical fiction, we chose “Bringing the Past to Life” for the first one. All of the panelists write in different eras, so the discussion was most interesting. Someone suggested looking for old maps as a resource. We’d never really thought about it, although we saw some doing the research for The Memory Keeper, and the book itself contains one. 

We already knew a couple of the panelists, but we met Rosemary Lord. She writes about the history of Hollywood, and did some voice-overs for one of my favorite movies, The Holiday. We’re now Facebook friends.

The next panel I attended was called “Killer Dialogue.” Anne Cleeland moderated a great group of authors. I so enjoyed some of their suggestions of how to make dialogue authentic and interesting, including using humor.

At lunch, Tess Gerritsen delivered the keynote speech on writing with emotion. We had heard her in 2005 at the Maui Writers Conference and enjoyed her both then and now. She talked about finding the thing you felt compelled to write about, but making sure you included the character(s) emotions. Since I have a short attention span, I keep finding different things I want to write, and some of the others move to the back burner. I know I do my best writing when I am fully engaged in the subject. And when Larry and I write together, I'm the one who writes most of the emotional scenes.

The panel on “Hallmark Mysteries” was fascinating. They had a producer, writer, and show runner for the channel. No surprises here. Their stories are formulaic (a single woman amateur sleuth—played by an actress too old for the part). How do you get your story made into a Hallmark movie? It’s really all a matter of luck and who you know. Sorry about that. However, they also pointed out that with so many places now producing content (Hulu, Amazon, Lifetime, Netflix, etc) the chances of your book or series being selected are much better than they were in the past.

On Saturday afternoon, they lined up quite a few “experts.” We then played a form of “speed dating.” The attendees sat at tables, and the “experts” moved from table to table. We each got to hear three different people, and their assignments were random. The first at our table was Scott Williams, the executive producer for writing on NCIS. He shared some terrific stories.

Next, we got to chat with Valerie Woods, who is a writer on the Queen Sugar series. She was fascinating. She is clearly someone who loves writing.

Last, was Cindi Parent CFO of Tule Publishing, a relative newcomer to the world of publishing.

The last event of the day was another keynote from Catroina McPherson. She was a delight. Born in Scotland, she has a terrific sense of humor. She titled her talk “Deep in a Bowl of Porridge.” She spoke about clues and how and when to insert them.

And this was only on Saturday!

My next blog will be on Sunday of the conference.

Abandoned

Over the last few years, I have observed a disturbing trend in publishing. Many, if not most, of the small and mid-level publishers I know have gone out of business, leaving their authors wondering where to go and what to do.

The first to affect us personally was Whiskey Creek Press. http://whiskeycreekpress.com/ The owners were very close friends, and our relationship with them was a personal as well as business one. Health issues forced them to sell their company. They were fortunate. At the time, another publisher, Start Publishing, was interested in obtaining the company. We had seven books with them, so it was easier to leave them with the same publisher, especially since they maintained the original website, even with the change in ownership. They also contracted with Simon and Schuster to distribute our ebooks. https://www.simonandschuster.com/search/books/_/N-/Ntt-Lorna+Collins

In 2016, the publisher of Wild Child Publishing/Freya’s Bower closed her publishing house. At the time, she explained that Amazon’s changes had made it impossible for small-to-mid-sized publishers to stay in business. Other publishers followed.

The same year, the owner of Oak Tree Press, Billie Johnson, had a massive stroke. It was not her first, but she had recovered from an earlier one, so her authors hoped she’d do the same this time. After a year with no royalties, I decided to request my rights back and self-publish my book, Ghost Writer. Some others did the same. However, in 2018, Billie died, and many of her authors were left without a publisher.

I have helped some of these to self-publish their books, but others are still trying to figure out what they will do.

Next to succumb was Desert Breeze Publishing, one of the most ethical houses I ever worked with. I edited for them for a few years. They also published several of my friends’ books. A couple of years ago, the owner had a serious car accident. She has been in nearly constant pain ever since. This, combined with the Amazon system’s policy changes, led her to stop doing business.

The latest publisher to fold is Mundania Press. This was one of the most respected of the mid-level publishers. Through the past fifteen years or so, they acquired several other small presses. However, they have been unable to pay royalties for a few months. Sadly, they, too, have given up.

When Oak Tree closed, our dear friend, Marilyn Meredith had her Rocky Bluff PD mystery series as well as quite a few other outliers published through Oak Tree. Another publisher, Aakenbaaken & Kent (also a friend), took the series and is currently re-publishing it. Larry and I self-published the others under Marilyn’s name. They now belong to her, and she gets all the royalties.

Her Tempe Crabtree mystery series was published by Mundania. We told her we would do the same with these. There were sixteen previously published books plus a new one, which should have been released months ago. She sent me the files, and Spirit Wind it is now available as of last Saturday in paperback and ebook. (Marilyn used my name for a character in a previous book, and she is back in this one—perhaps my favorite of all.)

In addition to the seventeen books in this series, Mundania had also published several of her other freestanding books. Thank goodness, Marilyn kept all of her files. (We share the same birthday, and we’re both very organized.)

So, now I’m at work trying to re-edit and re-format all the manuscripts. She has all the front cover artwork—thank goodness because these are gorgeous! But Larry has had to re-create the back covers and spines. This one turned out beautifully, so we are optimistic about the rest of them.

Many other authors are now left high and dry with no publishers and few options. Most do not have the skills necessary to self-publish their books.

The publishing industry has undergone a complete change during the thirteen years since we published our first book—and not necessarily for the better.

Have you had any experiences with being abandoned by a publisher?

Why Authors Need Business Cards

Several months after we published our first book, 31 Months in Japan: The Building of a Theme Park, we attended a writers’ conference because we were finalists in their contest. This experience proved to be one of the most valuable events in our writing careers. We met some terrific people (some of whom have remained good friends). We networked with other industry professionals. But, perhaps most valuable, we got lots of excellent advice and information.

One of the speakers was a marketing expert. In addition to the usual recommendations (have a professional-looking website, join LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), she emphasized getting business cards—and using them.

We already had cards, provided by the publisher, and had given them out during the conference, but the speaker pointed out why they were important and other ways they could be useful.

A primary reason to have cards is to establish yourself as a serious writer. Once your first book comes out, you are a published author. You need to emphasize your professionalism. Your website LinkedIn profile, author page on Facebook, and your cards all convey this idea.

For the first romance anthology, my second book, Snowflake Secrets, I made my own cards. Staples and other office supply stores carry blank cards.

At first, we had cards printed for each book and passed them out ahead of publication to increase interest. Vistaprint.com used to offer free cards for just the price of shipping. You had to use one of their basic designs, but fortunately, we liked them. This is still the least expensive source we have found. We are on their mailing list, so we also get additional special offers.

Once we were multi-published, we realized we needed author cards with our basic information on them. These are the ones we now use most often. Sometimes we use the generic designs. At other times, especially when they have a sale, we create our own design. This one is one of theirs.

For series books, we sometimes create one card to span the series. We did this for the first book of Larry’s sci-fi series The McGregor Chronicles: Book 1 – Saving Mike because we always knew he’d write more. (Book 5 is ready for publication, and he’s halfway through Book 6.)

So, how do we use them?

First, we always carry them wherever we go. If we meet someone and start to talk about our books, we can hand them a card and tell them to visit our website. (it’s listed on the card.) Since we now have seventeen published books between us, sending them to the website makes sense.

We have given out cards while standing in line at Disneyland, at the mall, and lots of other unexpected places. I recently gave on to a lady in a store. I think she used it because we sold one of the books we had discussed on about the same day we talked to her.

One of our favorite uses is when we eat in a restaurant. We usually pay with a credit card. When we sign the receipt (or leave a tip), we take out a card and write “Thank You” on the back. First, it is a nice gesture to the wait staff. Second, they may remember you. Of course, you have to leave a nice tip, but we always do.

We did this one day, and our waiter returned with two other ladies. One was the restaurant owner, and the other was an organizer of an upcoming event at the restaurant. Since the whole event focused on the history of San Juan Capistrano, about which we have written, we were glad to know about it. We attended, met some valuable contacts, and handed out more cards.

You never know when someone will use your card. We have been contacted by people who told us they had been given one of our cards by someone else.

I once worked for a company where, on the second day of employment, every employee received a box of business cards, whether or not they dealt with vendors or customers. When I asked why, I was told, “This is the cheapest form of advertising.” We have always felt the same.

Since Claire’s book, Trust the Wind, was published on her birthday, I had cards made for her as her birthday present. This time, I chose custom ones.

One of my dear author friends has separate cards made for each of her books and uses them to create interest prior to the book’s launch. She attends many author events, conferences, and book fairs where she can hand them out.

Do you have business cards? How do you use them?

Slick Deal From Guests Janet Lynn and Will Zeillinger

This week, Janet Lynn and Will Zeillinger, another husband and wife writing team, join me to tell you about their latest Skyler Drake mystery, Slick Deal. They write about Los Angeles and other areas of the west in the 1950s. They especially enjoy researching the details. Welcome, Janet and Will.

Our latest book, Slick Deal, begins on New Year's Eve 1956 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Clues to the first murder lead to Avalon on Catalina Island, off the coast of Southern California.

Santa Catalina Island was named after St Catherine of Alexandria in1602 by Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino. Before 1891, the city of Avalon was called "Shatto" for George Shatto, the second owner of the island. His sister-in-law Etta Whittley suggested the name be changed to Avalon.

We researched the name Avalon and were amazed by what we found.

Avalon is the mythological Celtic island where King Arthur's sword, Excalibur was forged. King Arthur was taken there to meet his death after being fatally wounded in the battle of Camlann, where he clashed with the witch, Mordred.

Like all mythical places, the island has been sought by scholars in many locations.

Some say it is on the hill of Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, England.

Others say it exists in Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria, England. Many say it is in northwestern France on the legendary Isle of Avalon. Spain declared it was in their country on Mallorca (Majorca) Island. Still others claimed it was the connection between Avalon and Helheim, the kingdom of the dead, in Scandinavian mythology.

In all locations where Avalon is said to have existed, a sea journey would be required to reach it. The island is associated with mythical peace and magic. Perhaps it is an earthly utopia, a harmonious bridge between the terrestrial earth and the celestial kingdom bridging what is real and what it could become in the presence of brave heroes, rulers, and kings.

The Avalon on Catalina seems like a magical city. After an ocean journey from Los Angeles, it provides a place to relax and enjoy the peaceful ambiance. It also presents a dichotomy between magic and peace and the return to real life upon departure.

Slick Deal presents these concepts as a metaphor for the clash between two affluent families. This is the fourth in our Skyler Drake mystery series.

Authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Lynn write individually. Together, they write the Skyler Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of the 1950s. Janet has published seven mystery novels and Will has three plus a couple of short stories. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.

Their next Skylar Drake Mystery, fourth in the series, Slick Deal, will be available April 16, 2018 and yes...they are still married!

Website for Janet Elizabeth Lynn

www.janetlynnauthor.com

Website for Will Zeilinger

www.willzeilingerauthor.com

Giving Away Book copies

Since we write books and have them published, family members and friends sometimes expect to receive free copies. However, authors can’t afford to give them away, as much as we might like to. Here are the reasons.

AUTHORS PAY FOR THEIR COPIES

Publishers don’t just give authors copies of their books free. For print books, the paper, ink, and printing all incur cost. So does shipping. If a traditional publisher publishes the book, they usually provide editing services and the cover art at their expense. When the book sells, the publisher and the printer receive the bulk of the proceeds. The author is paid only a small percentage.

Publishers charge for author copies, although at a reduced rate from the retail cost. In addition, the author must pay for shipping.

For self-published books, the cost is reduced, but not enough to hand out copies to everyone who might want one.

Even though it is possible to self-publish at no cost, additional expenses are required.

COVER COSTS

To produce a professional book, it is necessary to pay for unique cover art as well as hire a professional to lay out the print cover. It is possible to download stock cover art at little or no cost, but your book will look “generic,” and others may share the same cover design.

For The Memory Keeper, our friend and artist, Robert Schwenck, allowed us to use his beautiful painting of the ruins of the old stone church of Mission San Juan Capistrano on the cover. We hired Melissa Summers, who designed quite a few of our other books, to create the print cover. We are delighted with the result.

Larry is an artist himself. Several of his pieces decorate our home. He was able to create the covers for his sci-fi series, The McGregor Chronicles, using NASA star field photos, which are in the public domain. He was also able to create his own layout using the CreateSpace templates. Because this series came after we had already published several previous books, he understood the requirements. Most authors do not.

PROFESSIONAL EDIT

Regardless of which way the book will be published, every writer should hire a professional editor before submission to ensure the integrity and professionalism of the finished product. I am a professional editor, but even I can miss critical issues in my own books.

MARKETING AND PUBLICITY

Additional hidden expenses surround each book launch. In the past, we ordered inexpensive business cards printed with the name of the book, and handed them out for several weeks prior to publication.

We've also created our own video trailers for each book. However, some of our author friends pay others to create professional trailers and post them to their social media and websites.

Every author should have both a blog and a website. Website hosting and web design can be quite expensive, but the site should look professional. We are blessed with a son who took over the design and maintenance of our site several years ago. He does this for a living, so he has the necessary skills to produce an eye-catching and user-friendly website (www.lornalarry.com). Most people do not have this resource, so they need to pay someone as their webmaster.

We also plan a book launch event in conjunction with each new book. During the event, we serve refreshments and hold a drawing for prizes. All incur cost.

Unfortunately, published authors make considerably less today than in the past for a number of reasons. Even ebooks are not free. We can gift copies to people, but we have to buy them in order to do so.

So, although we’d like to be able to give our books to all our friends and family members, we are not independently wealthy enough to do so. When we do give someone a copy, please understand it is a gift with inherent cost to us.

Why Attend Writing Conferences

We just returned from a weekend at the California Crime Writers Conference. As always, we had a great time, saw old friends, met new ones, and learned a great deal.

We’ve attended conferences since shortly after our first book was published, and we’ve been asked why. Here’s my answer.

I suggested we attend the Maui Writers’ Conference a few months after we published our first book, 31 Months in Japan: The Building of a Theme Park. We had already planned a trip to the island for the same time, and one of my favorite authors, Gail Tsukiyama, was a presenter. Larry said he’d rather surf. That is, until he found out one of his favorites, Terry Brooks, was a speaker. Oh, and he realized the cost of the conference was tax-deductible.

He finally agreed to go, but said he’d drop me off in the morning, go surfing, and pick me up in the afternoon, except for the time Terry was scheduled. I agreed.

Once we arrived and he saw all the topics available, he decided maybe he’d go to one or two. It was a good thing we had another few days in Hawaii following the conference, because he never went surfing. Alas, the conference is no more, but we still have the memories.

We heard some awesome people speak, learned a great deal, which we’re still using, met some wonderful folks with whom we’re still in touch, and had a blast.

One person we met became the inspiration for our protagonist, Agapè Jones, in our cozy mysteries, Murder…They Wrote and Murder in Paradise.

We enjoyed spending time with others who understand when you complain, “My characters just won’t do what I want them to do.” They nod sagely, because they’ve been there, too.

Our first book was named a finalist for the EPPIE award, so we decided to attend the EPIC conference (EPICon) the following year.

This conference was smaller than Maui, but some of the attendees have become dear friends.

I met one of my writing partners at the first one. Together with three other friends, we’ve written the six Aspen Grove sweet romance anthologies: Snowflake Secrets, Seasons of Love, An Aspen Grove Christmas, The Art of Love, Directions of Love, which won the EPIC eBook Award, and our latest, …And a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe, soon to be available as an audiobook. She also introduced us to the independent publisher, who published our romances as well as our mysteries.

We also met the publishers for whom I have edited and formatted as well as several of my freelance clients.

For quite a few years, we presented classes and workshops at EPICon. Those became the foundation for speaking engagements, which we’ve been doing a lot more of recently.

Last year, we attended the Left Coast Crime Conference in Monterey, CA, where we got together with one of my publishers and several of her authors for dinner. We’d met her through a previous conference.

While in Monterey, we spent an evening with a friend who lives there, attended some great presentations, and participated as presenters on panels, made new friends and learned more about our craft. We also got to hear Elizabeth George and Sue Grafton again. We’d met both of them at previous conferences.

Why do we attend conferences? We have opportunities to network with other writers and industry professionals. We learn a lot. We keep current on the state of the publishing industry. We return home inspired and ready to get back to writing again.