Unconventional friendships of the Internet variety

The official description of my new novel, The Long Way Home, reads like this: In this heartwarming and humorous novel, four strangers brought together by grief join forces for a road trip that becomes an unexpected adventure and a journey toward reconciliation, healing, and love.

When people ask me what the book is about I usually say it’s the story of four women, strangers at the start, who wind up going on a road trip together. I like the idea of a storyline involving a journey that leads to unconventional friendships, and I find it apropos given how I arrived at this place in my career.

I’m happy to say I’m an author with books published by Amazon Publishing and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, but this is a fairly recent development. Back in 2009, having tried and failed to get numerous novels published traditionally, I self-published six books on Kindle. My goal was to reach readers who hopefully would like my books (and maybe make a little money too).

My books weren’t out for very long before I got an email from a reader named Kimberly. The heading of her message said, “YOU ARE HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  The email exclaimed over my books, and used even more exclamation points. I read her words many times, thrilled beyond belief that someone loved my work. Kimberly and I had almost nothing in common, as I was to find out over many emails. She lives in Las Vegas, I’m in Wisconsin. She’s young; I’m kind of… not so young. Kimberly has dogs, I have kids. And on and on. And yet, we connected in a profound way.

Around the same time, another reader, Alice, discovered my books and took it upon herself to talk them up on the Amazon message boards, which led to other wonderful readers mentioning them to others. Alice single-handedly started the kind of buzz marketing departments try to create, but can’t without genuine word of mouth recommendations.

Just as I did with Kimberly, I connected with Alice, first through the message boards, and then via email. Alice lives in Massachusetts and has a very different life than mine, and yet, just like with Kimberly, we’ve established a friendship of the Internet variety. I’m extremely grateful to her, since I’m convinced her efforts led to the increased sales that earned me my publishing contracts. Plus, her emails, like Kimberly’s, make me laugh.

In The Long Way Home, the four main characters would never have met socially. They’re of varying ages, from early twenties to mid-seventies, and the circumstances of their lives are vastly different. Yet, they each have something to offer. There’s Jazzy, a young psychic, grappling with how to live her life while getting messages from spirits; Marnie, who’s wasted years letting other people make decisions for her; Rita, who desperately wants to know the truth about her daughter’s death, and Laverne, a widow, who has no idea how to filter what comes out of her mouth. Mishaps happen on the road, and the four women have to rely on each other.

In the book, as in life, it turns out that the person you might not have picked as a friend is exactly the person you need.

I my case, I’m glad that through this novel I can properly thank my new friends, the two women I never would have met socially, or otherwise. I asked Kimberly if I could name a character after her and she enthusiastically said yes (followed by many exclamation points). 

The book is dedicated to Alice. I thought it was the least I could do.

I'd like to thank the Academy...

I had a book come out this week. Sales are steady and it's been well received so far. I'm also in the thick of writing (finishing?) another novel, and am making travel plans for the summer, so I feel busy. I realize I'm not actually busy. Mothers with small children are busy. So are transplant surgeons, caregivers of terminally ill people, folks who run businesses etc. I'm not really that busy--I just have a lot to do. There is a difference.

Anyway! I haven't kept up with my blog or any of the other social media things the way I should have, although I am on top of laundry and email, which makes me feel oddly proud.

The new book, The Long Way Home, is flying off the virtual shelves (or at least that's how I picture things). Best of all, I've already gotten three emails from readers who used the L word. Be still my heart. I knew the publishing team had favorable things to say about the book, as so did my early readers (writer friends, my mom, and Alice), but I had no idea how actual readers would react. It's always dicey. So it's heartening to get emails that say things like, "I've been going through a difficult time lately, and your book was just what I needed to give me a lift." I am honored.

With this book, the acknowledgments are in the back, which is fine, but I'd like to shine a light on my thanks, so I'm going to cut and paste them below as well. Unfortunately, there are always people I realize I've forgotten to thank. It's a horrifying thing. I'm usually in bed, almost asleep, when this realization hits me and I feel terrible but there's nothing I can do if the book is already in production. For this novel, I'd like to tack on an enormous thank you to Jaime Flores of Monocle Designs for designing the perfect cover. He does beautiful work and I'm grateful for the results.

If I'd been using my head, I also would have given advance thanks to Barbara Ostrop, who is doing the German translation for the novel. But of course, I wasn't using my head. Dankeschön, Barbara!

I'd also like to acknowledge my friend, Michelle Schrubbe, for naming her GPS "Garmina." One of the characters in the book does the same, something I stole right from Michelle. (As a funny aside--I've come to find out that many people give their GPS device a name. My friend Gail calls hers "Bossy Betty," and my brother-in-law calls his "Judy" as in "Judy Garmin.")

So without further ado--the acknowledgements in The Long Way Home:

Once again, my eternal gratitude goes to Terry Goodman. He’s a good man and terrific publishing partner, and I really like him too. Maybe someday I’ll drive a convertible and be as cool as Terry. Probably not, though.

When I think of Amazon Publishing, it’s the people who come to mind. The team has always gone the extra mile for my books, and what author wouldn’t love that? Kudos to the always efficient and personable Jessica Poore. She assures me I’m never a bother, which can’t possibly be true, but I appreciate her saying so.  A big thank you to publisher Victoria Griffith, who once said I’m one of her favorite authors. Now my goal in life is to become her absolute favorite.  Thanks also to Jeff Belle, whose signature I treasure.  I’d like to acknowledge other members of the team including Jacque Ben-Zekry, Sarah Tomashek, Katy Ball, Katie Finch, Brooke Gilbert, Rory Connell, and Nikki Sprinkle. My apologies to anyone I inadvertently excluded. My gratitude is enormous even if my memory is faulty.

When it comes to this novel, Jeannée Sacken started it all by using the phrase “women on a road trip” in the context of a different conversation.  Thanks, Jeannée.  I always cherish our talks, but this one was particularly helpful.

Advance readers Geri Erickson, Gail Grenier Sweet, Alice L. Kent, Neve Maslakovic , and Jon Olson gave me valuable feedback and needed reassurance, and I owe  them all, big time. Thanks, guys! Your collective wisdom made this a better novel. (And Jon—I really do know the difference between the hood and the trunk of a car. I have no idea how that particular snafu happened. Someone must have snuck in during the night and changed it on me.)

Charlotte Herscher read every word of the manuscript multiple times, suggested improvements, and caught numerous errors, thus saving me from certain humiliation. She’s an editing wizard and I was the lucky beneficiary of her skill and care.  Any remaining mistakes, however, are really and truly mine.

To Jennifer Williams and Jessica R. Fogleman, copyeditors extraordinaire--thank you for lending your expertise to this book.  Your patience and attention to detail did not go unnoticed.

Publicist Kathleen Carter Zrelak is an absolute wonder. She got me past security and in front of a camera at ABC Studios, something I still can’t get over.  There’s no one I’d rather have lunch with at the restaurant in the Trump Tower, even if we did have to sit at the bar because we didn’t have reservations.

I raise a glass to Kimberly Einiger who thinks I’m funny and who also allowed me to use her name for one of my characters. Kim-ber-ly. Three syllables of awesomeness.

My husband Greg, always supportive, was particularly so with this book when he did the majority of the driving from Wisconsin to Colorado and back again, in just four days, so I could fact check some of the more pertinent  details.  My driving makes him a little nervous, so I suspect he wasn’t being completely altruistic, but that doesn’t diminish the joy of getting to be a passenger for thirty hours. Thanks, Greg!

I love my kids beyond measure, and I’m lucky they keep me up to date on so many things. Credit goes to Jack, Maria, and Charlie, just for existing, and also for making Mother’s Day the best holiday of all.

Book bloggers are the unsung heroes of the publishing industry.  I’ve been the recipient of many thoughtful reviews, and I don’t take any of them for granted.  My thanks to book bloggers everywhere, now and forever. 

And finally, if you’re one of those people who respond to my books, connect with my characters, and enjoy my stories, you have my heart. Because of you, I get to write for a living. I am sending infinite thanks your way. I hope you can feel the love.

On Writing Outside of Your Genre

Just a quick update--not because I have anything earthshaking to share, but I was getting tired of seeing the cover for The Long Way Home on the last two posts and I wanted to push them down on the page. The Goodreads giveaway is still on through the end of the month, but after that, I'll probably take the post down because it will be confusing.

Like a lot of writers, if I'm notably absent from blogging and Twitter and Facebook etc. it's because I'm engrossed in working on a book. And that's been the case recently. I've also been doing some pre-book release stuff for The Long Way Home--things like sending out books to book bloggers and letting some local media outlets know the release date (May 1st!) is coming up. The marketing department could have handled this, but I offered to do it since I've found that people are more receptive to personal emails. The marketing department does plenty on their end, so I'm glad to do my share.

This is the first novel of mine that wasn't originally self-published, which is a little nerve wracking. Before, when a book went out in the world, I always figured that if it got bad reviews and was universally panned, I'd just take it down. No harm, no foul. Now that I have all these other people involved, I don't have that option. Of course, having the other people involved has a million benefits to it, so I'm not complaining. I'll just feel better when the readers have spoken (and hopefully like the book).

The book I'm writing now is a complete departure for me. This goes against conventional publishing wisdom. Usually they tell authors to find a niche and stick with the niche. It makes it easier to market the books, readers know what to expect etc. And that makes sense, to a degree. Except we're not making widgets here. I love to read different types of books and I love to write different types of books.

And you know what? I think publishers don't give readers enough credit. I didn't read Stephen King's latest book and get confused because it wasn't a horror novel. I read the description ahead of time and looked at the cover and figured it out--it was a time travel story. Not that hard.

I once read an interview with a literary agent who said, (and I'm paraphrasing), "I tell my clients that they must write at least two books in a given category first, before they switch to something else." Good advice? Yes, overall. But what's with the word "must"?  What if a client has the greatest idea in the world and is on fire with wanting to write it--should they set it aside to work on something they're less enthused about just to fulfill this dictum? I don't think so.

Have you ever read a book by an author and thought something like, hmmm... I loved her first six novels, but this new one seems tired? I always wonder if the author herself/himself feels tired of doing the same thing, but is required to stay on track to fulfill publisher requirements. The ho-hum writing reflecting the author's state of mind. 

A PR person (not from my publisher, thank God) once said to me, "You're all over the place." And I don't think she meant it in a good way.

Now that self-publishing is becoming more accepted, I think we're going to see a lot of authors writing all over the place. It's already been done by big names like Stephen King, Nora Roberts, and Neil Gaiman, because no one was about to tell them no. And now the rest of us have the same option.

Personally, I'm loving the freedom to write whatever I want. My current WIP (that's writer speak for "work-in-progress") is a young adult novel with paranormal elements. I envision it as the first in a series. Is it any good? I hope so. All I know right now is that I'm having big fun writing it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is a great time to be a writer. Probably the best time in the history of the world.

Later,

Karen

The cover of THE LONG WAY HOME

THE LONG WAY HOME by Karen McQuestion release date May 1, 2012

In this heartwarming novel, four strangers brought together by grief join forces for a road trip that becomes an unexpected adventure and a journey toward reconciliation, healing, and love.

~~~

At long last, I have a cover for my new novel, The Long Way Home! And I'll go on record as saying I absolutely, positively love it.

Getting to this point was quite a process. Months ago I started to see cover concepts via email, most of them varying combinations of roads, cars, suitcases, and maps. All of them were fine, in their own way, but none of them was the cover.

Finally, around the time I was getting a little panic stricken about not having a cover, the publisher brought in Jaime Flores of Monocle Design to get a fresh take on things. I spoke to Jaime and my editor during a phone conference-- a memorable conversation especially because my editor kept saying I lived in Minnesota and when I corrected him and said I was in Wisconsin, I got the feeling he thought they were essentially the same. Those people on the coast think they know so much. Fly over country, indeed. If they only knew what Wisconsin has to offer they'd be flocking here in droves.

Anyway, I did appreciate being able to  give the designer my thoughts. Since I don't have a great talent for the visual arts, most of my suggestions covered what I didn't want. Basically, I didn't want pastels, landscapes, or dissected women (if you've looked at covers of women's fiction lately you know what I mean). I did want a cover that would stand out and be memorable.

In short order, Jaime came up with seven possibilities, all of them terrific. Seriously, not a bad one in the bunch. I narrowed it down to my two favorites, one of which was the predecessor of the cover you see above. That cover was tweaked a bit and I received the final version in an email ten minutes ago. Yes, the book comes out in a month and I finally have a cover.

Whew!

The timing was a bit of a nail biter, but now that I've seen the end result I have to say it was worth the wait. Thanks so much to my editor, Terry Goodman, and to Jaime Flores, the genius designer who knew what I wanted, even if I couldn't articulate it.

Now I'll have to find something else to worry about. :)

Celia and the Fairies is #3 in Deutschland!

I quickly took a screen shot so that when I wake up tomorrow I'll know it really happened. Celia and the Fairies, my middle grade fiction, published in English, is currently ranked third on the Amazon Kindle bestseller list in Germany.  

Why did this happen? I honestly don't know. I've heard that Germany is a big market for translated American books, and I also know that many Europeans speak fluent English (putting Americans to shame in the foreign language department), but I have no idea why my story about a little girl who sees fairies in the woods behind her home is doing so well right now.

But I'll take it.

And now I'm off to bed. Guten Nacht! 



Letters, letters, I do get letters!

Okay, I lied. I hardly ever get letters. But I do get emails and lots of them. Not as many as when the Wall Street Journal article came out in 2010 (thank goodness) but plenty, and most of them are really, really nice.

They fall into these categories:

People who want me to go somewhere: writing conferences, book club visits, library talks. I almost always say yes if it's nearby and I don't have a conflict. I no longer do workshops, the kind where I actually instruct, complete with handouts and Q&As. As much as I enjoy that, it takes a ton of preparation to do well, which takes away from my writing time. I found that one three-hour workshop on a Saturday took two days of prep: making copies, organizing my notes, outlining etc. Plus, the anticipation stresses me out. Ask me to show up and talk and I'm good to go. Otherwise, not so much.

Emails from people who want me to do something for them: blurb their books, mention their books on Twitter or Facebook, answer questions about publishing, buy their book. I always answer and some of this I do, but not much. I refer most of the self-publishing questions to the FAQ page on my website telling them to scroll down to the bottom to find helpful links. I've actually become wary of saying too much in emails to people I don't know, because recently it backfired on me when someone, without informing me, used my friendly email exchange as quotes in a negative article. He took my words out of context and actually made up whole sections, which he attributed to me.

Book bloggers sometimes email asking for a copy of one of my books for review. I always make sure they get a copy. Sometimes I have extra copies here at home and I'll send it out myself, other times I contact the publisher.

Sometimes people email asking if I will do a Q&A for their blog or site, or else if I'll write a blog post. If I'm knee-deep in writing a novel (which is always), I tend not to want to do a blog post, but Q&As are fun and easy, as long as there aren't too many questions, so most often I'm agreeable. I've met some really nice people this way--other authors, book bloggers, journalists. It's generally a plus for me to get the word out about my books, which I appreciate.

I also get emails from people who've read and enjoyed my books. These are my absolute favorite. Seriously, two sentences can make my day. If you ever feel compelled to email an author, musician, artist,etc. but don't because you think it won't make a difference, think again. Everyone loves positive feedback, and when you work in solitude, it doesn't happen that often. (As an addendum to this, I'm sure Stephen King and J.K. Rowling have probably heard it enough, but if you want to send them an email, feel free to do so.)

Other emails give me updates on my Facebook and Twitter account, both of which I've sadly neglected. Ditto for Goodreads. These emails just make me feel guilty, like hearing from a relative you've been meaning to call. I'm particularly hopeless at Facebook. It's a lifeline for the next generation, I know. They love the ease of it, the way you can share things (photos! news! comments! articles!) in a few moments' time. Me, not so much. I always hover over the button wondering, will anyone care about this? I hate to be a bother. I suspect I'm just not a social media person.

Spam comments for the blog come into my email for my approval. Spammers always post on older threads, as if I won't see them. They say things like: This is a very interesting post. You have managed to sum things up nicely. I will share it with all my family and friends. And then there's a link to some pharmaceutical thing. Lately I've been getting a lot of comments that look like they're written in Russian or Polish. And I mean A LOT of comments. Maybe one every other day? I'm never curious enough to Google translate. I just delete.

Work correspondence. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that I can say things like, "My publicist says..." After so many years of being unpublished, it still feels pretty dreamlike. So I secretly feel very grown-up and accomplished when I send an email to my publisher asking questions about marketing plans or tax issues. The other day my son asked something when I was in my office and he was in the other room. I yelled out to him, "Just a minute. I need to finish this email to my German translator." When I said it I wasn't trying to be a show-off, but he was impressed and believe me, that almost never happens.

Personal emails from people I actually know. I love it when I can shoot back a response and not worry about grammatical mistakes etc. Email is great for sending links or photos, or a quick comment about something. My younger sister has two extremely cute little boys and sometimes I'm the lucky recipient of a photo or anecdote. I'm sure she also posts these on Facebook, but knowing I'm out of the loop she sends them to me via email. Seeing those little faces on my computer screen is a definite day-brightener.

And that pretty much covers what comes into my inbox. Feel free to share any email stories of your own.

Later!

Karen

A title has been chosen.... THE LONG WAY HOME by Karen McQuestion

I have a new novel coming out May 1st. It's the story of four women, total strangers at the start of the book, who wind up going on a road trip together.

The entire time I was writing the book, I called it "The Road Trip." That was the name of the Word doc., that's what I called it when I discussed it with family members. As far as I was concerned, that was the title.

In December, I let my editor at Amazon know I had finished another novel. He read it and said he loved it. We did our usual back and forth with the contract, and then discussed various other publishing details. In one of our phone conversations he said, "So how attached are you to the title?"

Me: You don't like my title?

Smart Editor: It's not that I don't like it. It's just that it's a little generic.

Generic? Like store-brand green beans? No. I wasn't seeing it. I loved the title. Not only was it easy to remember, but it also said what it was, much like The Help, or any of Nicholas Sparks' books (The Notebook, The Guardian, The Wedding, The Choice etc.).

It turns out that no one at Amazon Publishing was all that crazy about The Road Trip as a title. One of the women in the office, upon hearing it, assumed it would be a comedy like the movie, The Hangover, which it definitely is not. The book is humorous in parts, but it's not crazy madcap fun. I didn't want to use a title that was misleading.

Smart Editor: I have an idea for a title. It's a line from the book. What do you think of 'The Possibility of Flying'?

Me: Hmmm...

I wasn't crazy about his suggestion. I thought it sounded too literary for my type of novel. Plus, I didn't remember it being a line from the book (turns out, it is).

Finally, some brilliant marketing person devised a plan. If I was on board, they'd have me come up with four possible titles, then post them on the Kindle Facebook page and let people vote on their favorite. Let the readers decide! I thought it was a great idea. I came up with four suggestions, including mine and Smart Editor's. At the beginning of the month they posted the promotion on the FB page. It looked like this:

What would you name Karen McQuestion's upcoming novel? Take a look at the book summary below and then tell us which title you like best... or come up with one of your own. However you vote, we can't wait to hear from you!

Cast your vote by posting your favorite title in the comments:


1. The Road Trip

2. The Possibility of Flying

3. The Long Way Home

4. Arriving at Destination

5. [Other: ______________ ]


BOOK SUMMARY:


Marnie is just thirty-five when her boyfriend, Brian, drops dead of a sudden heart attack in the house they've shared for nearly a decade. Though stunned by his death, Marnie feels the greatest grief for Troy, Brian's son whom she has raised and loved as her own since he was just four years old. After Brian's death, Troy is reclaimed by his train-wreck of a birth mother, who whisks him far away from Marnie.

Desperate for solace, Marnie ventures to a grief group at the local rec center. There, she finds unexpected allies, three strangers who join her on an impulsive road trip from Wisconsin to Las Vegas to reconnect with Troy.

Along for the ride are fifty-something Rita, prim and ladylike on the outside, seething with rage on the inside over the murder of her daughter; Laverne, Marnie’s introverted landlady who is crippled by grief for her late husband; and Jazzy, a beautiful young psychic driven to the grief group by an unseen voice.

Together the women embark on what will become the adventure of their lives, a journey toward reconciliation and healing.

777 votes later, the people had spoken with The Long Way Home being the clear leader. None of the other three titles came close, which was an eye-opener for me.  A lot of people came up with their own ideas, incorporating words like heart, grief, and journey. One commenter suggested Recalculating, which made me laugh. Many of the suggestions were outstanding, making me think title selection should be open to the public more often.

Thanks to everyone who voted. It was fun to read all the comments and I'm feeling a lot better about the new title knowing so many people liked it.

Because Amazon is quick and efficient, the page for the book has already been created, although there's no cover displayed just yet. If you're interested, you can see it here: The Long Way Home  

I was amused to see that someone had clicked the "Like" button on both the paperback and Kindle page of the novel . Since very few people have read it yet, I think I have an idea of who that could be.

Thanks, Mom!

When I get the final cover image, I'll post it here. Hopefully it won't be too generic or look too literary.