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Smart Branding or Super Boring?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

When we pick up a Stephen King book, we have expectations. Danielle Steel? Expectations. John Grisham? Expectations.
It’d be very odd to open a book by Ted Dekker only to find something reminiscent of Karen Kingsbury. Very confusing. Sort of like these pictures.
Readers have expectations. And as writers, it’s good to satisfy them.
But here’s where I start to get confused. Here’s where I’d love to have a conversation and see if we can’t figure this thing out.
Satisfying expectations is good. Writing a predictable book is not.
There are some big name authors out there who have a very specific, very defined brand. Like Nicholas Sparks. Nobody can argue with the man’s success or the commercial appeal of his books. But still, I’ve heard people complain about his work. And it’s always the same complaint. “After the first few novels, they all start to feel the same.”
I want to create a brand. But I don’t want to write predictable novels. Nicholas Sparks can get away with it because he’s, well, Nicholas Sparks. Me? Not so much.
Let’s Talk: What say you? How do we satisfy our reader’s expectations without writing predictable books? How do we establish our brand, but stay fresh at the same time?

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When it Starts to Feel Real

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I was talking on the phone to my critique partner, Erica Vetsch, several weeks ago, after I signed the contract and announced the news on my blog. She asked, “Does it feel real yet?”

My response? “I don’t think it will feel real until I see a cover.”
She laughed. “Or when you get your first round of edits.”
Wise words from a woman who knows.
Anyway, I thought I’d give you all an update.

What’s been happening in my writing world since signing the contract? And does it feel real yet?
Two big things have happened.
I got my first paycheck.
I’m not going to lie. It was bizarre. I would have taken a picture of it and edited out the amount, except it wasn’t from Random House (like my contract was). It was from my agency. Which makes it no less exciting, just less fancy.
So, did my first paycheck make this whole publishing thing feel real?
Nope. Not really. Don’t get me wrong. I was super stoked (yep, I said it), and depositing the check into our savings was all kinds of fun. But for some reason, there was still this disconnect. Which leads me to the second thing that has happened.
I found out which book is getting published first.
My agent submitted three books to Waterbrook Multnomah. They contracted two, but hadn’t decided on which two. I think this is where the disconnect came from. I didn’t know which book I’d get to hold in my hands first. I was trying very hard not to set my heart on one book over the other.
On Tuesday evening, I got word from my agent that we will officially start with Beneath a Velvet Sky (title might change). And a little bonus? My editor (who I’m super excited to work with) left a comment on one of my blog posts.
Both of which made me a little giddy. Both of which made everything feel a lot more real. If things can be more or less real.
Now I have about a month to read through the manuscript one more time before I send it to my editor.
How do I feel about this?
Um…a little nervous. I’m going to read through this book, knowing that other people are going to read it too. Not just close friends, or my agent, or my critique partners – but strangers. People I don’t even know. This book will be in Barnes and Noble. The Christian Book Store. Amazon. And holy cow…even as I type this I start to hyperventilate just a little.
Yep. It’s definitely starting to feel real.
Let’s Talk: If you’re published, when did it start to feel real for you? If you’re not there yet, at what moment do you think it will start to feel real? What part are you most excited for?

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4 Ways Out of a Slush Pile

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

My stack of books to be read (often referred to as TBR pile) grows and grows. I will be honest. Some of the books in there? I should have read by now. In fact, some have been in my TBR pile for over a year. They’ll rise to the top, and I’ll pick them up, look at the cover, thumb through the pages, then slip it further down in the stack again.

Every time I do it, a little voice in the back of my head whispers: Will this happen to your book, Katie?
Yikes!
Slush piles are everywhere. They don’t just belong to agents and editors. Readers have them too. So how do we stay out of them?

The truth? I’m not sure. I’m guessing there are a whole bunch of factors that play into a book’s time in a slush pile. I’m also guessing some of those factors aren’t in our control. But since that’s not a very helpful response, I came up with four factors that, for me, make a book rise quicker to the top (or bypass the pile altogether):
  • Title
  • Cover
  • Back cover blurb
  • First page
The importance of a standout cover: I got a book in the mail the other day. A free one. I’m sad to say I judged it by the cover and tossed it aside. Wow. That’s harsh, huh? But it’s reality, and most likely, our readers will respond the same way. We peruse a bookstore and look for those killer covers. I think that’s why I’m so eager to see the cover of my book–I know what a big role it will play in getting people to pick it up.
The importance of a standout title: Several weeks ago, Janet Grant with Books and Such Literary wrote a wonderful post about the importance of titles. Agents, editors, and readers see a ton of them each year, so it’s ultra imperative that we create, in Janet’s words, “something so stellar we blink our sleepy eyes, perk up and say, ‘Whoa…what did you just say?'” When a title does that for me, I turn the book over and read the back.

The importance of a standout blurb: This is the agent, editor, or reader’s first taste of the story, so we want to make it shine. We can’t disappoint, especially if the cover and title deliver. We want our blurb to introduce intriguing characters, major conflict, and the promise for something special between the front and back cover.
The importance of a standout first page: The title can be intriguing. The cover breathtaking. And the back cover blurb promising. But if the book doesn’t pass the final test, back to the bottom of my TBR pile it goes. And for me, the final test is the first page. I almost always read the first page of a book before committing to the whole thing, and if it doesn’t grab my attention immediately with a question I need to answer, then I just won’t make the time to read it.
So there you go.
Cover. Title. Back cover. First page.
Those are my four criteria for plucking a book off my stack and keeping it in my hands.
I know most of us don’t design our covers. We don’t write our blurbs. And many times, we don’t choose our titles. But still, as writers looking for readers (or agents, or editors), we should do everything we can to make sure these four stand out. And once we’ve done that, we need to make sure the story underneath them satisfies. Because satisfying our readers is the best way to not only get readers, but to keep them.
Let’s Talk: How big’s your TBR pile? What makes you shuffle some books to the bottom over and over again? How important is the title, cover, back cover blurb, and first page to you as a reader? Is there anything you think is more important than those four?

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