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- Column - From the Trenches - |
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July 9, 2000 Strength in Numbers: Devising The Deadly Divas By Susan McBride Author of And Then She Was Gone A writer’s life is often a solitary one. Words composed at the computer or on paper are likely penned in solitude. So I think it’s always been assumed that when an author hits the road to promote her published work, she’ll venture out with just a suitcase and an itinerary to keep her company. Going it alone is hard work and often not as gratifying as we’d like. There are no first class plane tickets and limos for most of us. Few get the star treatment with expensive ad budgets. But signings are necessary to sell books, especially in this day and age when the competition for shelf space is fiercer than ever. So is there some truth in the old adage about more being merrier? Does that work for signing tours, too? The women of Nuns, Mothers and Others and the Femmes Fatales have certainly proven that events featuring a group of mystery authors can draw bigger crowds than a solo act. Which got me to thinking…. Knowing what a hard road lay ahead of me on promoting a first novel by a small press, I started talking to other new mystery authors last year at ClueFest, just two months after And Then She Was Gone debuted. I wondered what they thought about possibly banding together in a "Who the Heck Are They? Book Tour 2000" and taking advantage of the added publicity it might bring. Four seemed like a manageable number and, if we were from different parts of the country, all the better. It would give the rest of the group exposure to readers in another’s home territory. Last fall, I put together the first four members of the WHAT? Book Tour 2000. Within months, that roster had changed, and then it changed again. How was I supposed to find the right mix and keep them together? But somehow, things fell into place when Denise Swanson [Murder of a Small-Town Honey] and Letha Albright [Tulsa Time] both with first books debuting in 2000, joined up with me and another founding member of the group, Sherri L. Board [Angels of Anguish] whose path into mystery authordom began in 1999 as mine did. After having read these ladies’ work, I realized what a wonderful combination we made of different writing styles and personalities. It was all that I could have hoped for. Denise is the one who came up with the moniker The Deadly Divas. We latched onto that as the perfect name to describe our group of "Authors With Attitude." By spring, we had agreed to do two joint signing tours, the first from July 13-22 in Texas and the next leg from October 7-14 in California. Splitting up tasks, Denise and I set up signing dates with bookstores throughout the Lone Star State, always checking with the others in between for suggestions and approval on decisions made. Email has been a lifesaver, making for quick responses to any discussions that arose. Beyond touring dates, we also wanted to put out a newsletter that would reflect our personalities and writing styles more than just reprinting bios and book descriptions that already appeared on our individual web sites. We decided to do a quarterly newsletter, the first of which came out this past month, complementing it with a joint web site at http://hometown.aol.com/deadlydivas which links to our individual sites, bookstores, an email address to get on our newsletter mailing list, and also highlights our upcoming schedule. In addition, we’re getting t-shirts made up to raffle off at book signings. We’re putting together Diva Baskets to be auctioned off at conventions such as ClueFest and Bouchercon, and we’ve gathered up plenty of wonderful goodies for free giveaways at events. Phew! A lot of work, you say? You bet. Enough to keep a publicist endlessly busy. That’s why having a group makes things better. You’re never in it alone, and there’s always support from the others when you need it most. Like the song goes, "You’ll never walk alone." As Letha puts it:"What if my book is like the proverbial tree that falls in the forest that no one hears? Publishing is a tough business, and there are lots of good books for people to spend their time with. How can I get them to choose mine? That’s where The Deadly Divas come in. No one knows who I am, and it might be hard to attract anyone to a book signing. But when readers have four authors to choose from, even if they don’t recognize our names, they’re more likely to take a chance and come see what we have to offer." Sherri has a similar take on the subject: "I joined The Deadly Divas first of all because I liked Susan’s drive for promoting new authors. Secondly, I joined because I was well aware - after touring alone for a year - of the benefits of group signings. For me, being in a group means above all, more support from other new authors who are going through the same things as I am. We learn together and have the strength in numbers rather than the uncertainties that come from promoting by yourself." Strength in numbers also helps with expenditures. Although we each pay for our own travel costs, we can split up things like rental cars, supplies, postage and whatever’s necessary to promote ourselves and our events. For those who are budget conscious - and who isn’t - dividing by four makes for much smaller and more controllable costs for each member. Ordering twenty t-shirts from a printer can cause anxiety for a single author, but, when the group pitches in, it’s hardly a frightening amount. "It’s such a boost to my morale to have three other women to travel with, to share ideas with, to pool resources with," Letha admits. "I couldn’t do all those things on my own." But the benefits aren’t all about our pocketbooks. The emotional bonus of going out on the road with three friends is equally important, if not more so. I have come to know Letha, Sherri and Denise so well in the months past, and I can’t imagine now not having them along for the ride. Sure, we’ve had a few bumps in the road, but none have been major. There’s always someone there to smooth things over and keep things from ever getting blown out of proportion. After all, we’re supposed to be enjoying this author stuff, aren’t we? It’s what we’ve worked so hard for, dreamed of all our lives? The goal of the Divas is not to get so wrapped up in details that we forget to stop and smell the proverbial roses. And luckily, we seem to have enough sense to know when it’s time to lighten up. Nerves are natural for touring authors, especially when you’re making your debut. With TULSA TIME due out just as the Divas’ Texas Tour kicks off July 13, Letha feels the pressure and is grateful not to be going it alone. "I think the most important benefit I’ve gained so far from The Deadly Divas is the reminder that we’re supposed to be having fun," she says. "When I start obsessing about something, I email one of my fellow Divas, and they come back with a little joke or friendly note, and I’m reminded that this isn’t life or death. If we can’t have fun, what’s the point?" Viva las Divas! For our Texas Tour 2000 schedule and to sign up for our newsletter, please visit our web site. -- Read our reviews of - And Then She Was Gone Murder of a Small-Town Honey Tulsa Time |
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