I’m pleased to show you the cover for the next book in the Rifton Chronicles! I’m loving the bright colours of these cosy urban fantasy covers!
Available: one pub. As is, where is.
Who buys a burnt out pub for their niece’s thirtieth birthday? Katie Cochrane’s aunt, apparently. Faced with the decrepit building, Katie does the only logical thing—starts her own restaurant.
But the Rifton Pub has issues, and fire damage is the least of them.
Patrons who haven’t even had a drink start showing up ‘drunk’ around Rifton, and Katie’s liquor license is suspended.
When the Rifton Garden Group takes notice, Katie is forced to concede that the ‘demon drink’ isn’t responsible for her troubles, but another sort of demon altogether. And it’s going to take all of Rifton’s witches to banish what has taken root.
Another cosy urban fantasy set in Rifton. You might never look at your garden the same way again. Perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes!
I recently participated in ALLI’s SelfPubCon, which focused on the business side of writing. There were sessions on using social media, monetising YouTube, website design, using AI for marketing … I watched video after video that made my brain turn off. Video after video teaching me how to cash in on the advertising deluge we all suffer from online. How do you get those irritating ‘commercials’ into your YouTube videos (so you can make money on them)? How do you use Facebook Ads? How do you cash in on third-party advertising on your website?
Ugh!
I hate the constant bombardment of ads for crap no one needs. Do I really want to be a part of that, even if it can make my writing business profitable? Is that really why I write—so people’s interest in my writing can sell salad spinners, ‘miracle’ weight loss pills and erectile dysfunction products?
I despaired until I stumbled across a session on selling physical books. The panelists in this session talked about selling books at markets and fairs, doing school visits, exploring unusual sales outlets like tourist destinations, how to encourage people to buy your books face-to-face.
Yes! This was my kind of marketing. The kind of marketing I’ve been focusing on in the past year. Talking to people, talking about my books, being in the same physical space with potential readers, watching how people interact with my books. Getting that personal connection with readers in the real world.
Start talking to me about SEO, CTR, and ACOS, and my eyes glaze over. But throw me into a room with a bunch of potential readers, and I’m all over it. Watching the session on physical book marketing, I finally realised that it’s not that I can’t understand the online marketing game, it’s that I don’t want to.
Making money from random pop-up ads in my online content goes against my values. Putting my own random pop-up ads in someone else’s online content goes against my values. Bombarding potential readers online every day goes against my values.
And that’s okay.
I don’t have to participate in that madness.
And, yes, perhaps if I had to pay all my bills with my writing, I would feel differently, because god knows it’s hard to make a living selling books at markets. But I like my day job. And while I would love to write full-time, I know that I gain a lot of writing benefit from my day job. I would be a poorer writer without it.
And if making art is about expressing yourself and your values, then why wouldn’t your marketing reflect that as well?
Indeed, how could I, in good conscience, make money from plastic widgets advertised on my website when my books and stories contain so many environmental themes?
So I will continue to trot out my books at local markets, beside other local artists. I’ll continue to work on the board of the Tamariki Book Festival to help other authors do the same. I’ll chat with readers, listen to grandparents talk about the sorts of books their grandkids like to read, discuss dragons and my favourite dragon books with kids, hand out stickers and bookmarks, visit schools and tell children how hard writing is even for me. And I will sell a few books, sign people up for my newsletter (people who actually want to hear from me), and probably end up spending half what I’ve earned buying art from others.
Is that so bad?
Sounds perfect to me, because it is much more aligned with my values. It values personal connections and supporting others. It recognises the value in the art itself, rather than measuring the value of the art in terms of what else can be marketed alongside it.
And maybe I won’t ever be able to support myself with my writing. But I will be true to myself.
And … um … not to deluge you with marketing, but if you happen to be in the area, come say hello and pick up some Christmas gifts at these upcoming markets:
Like many writers, I’m often discouraged at how difficult it is to actually make a living by writing. And like many writers, I dream of the day when writing actually pays the mortgage and the power bill.
To hopefully take another step closer to that day, I’ve started a Ko-fi page, where readers can give a one-off donation, or buy a monthly subscription to get stories and behind-the-scenes peeks not available to anyone else.
For as little as $1 a month, you can get access to Two-minute Tales: weekly podcasts of micro-stories written just for you. Or purchase a $5 or $10 subscription for more stories, sneak previews, and early access to stories and books.
By subscribing, you’ll not only help me afford the editors and cover designers I need to produce more books, but you’ll also help me transform my books into audiobooks, which I’ve been wanting to do for years.
This is my first foray into offering a subscription service, so let me know if there are other things you’d like with your subscription. I’m sure I’ll be adding things as I go.
Head on over to my Ko-fi page to find out more about how you can join me on my writing journey!
I’ve recently sent out my next book, Demonic Summoning for the Modern Gardener, to beta readers. It’s a more fleshed out tale than my husband read and commented on last month. A few weeks ago, I mentioned on the blog that my husband had requested more carrot cake in the story. In my rewrite after his comments, I made chasing the perfect carrot cake a sort of running gag/tiny subplot through the book.
Then I decided I should include the perfect carrot cake recipe in the back of the book.
I had already developed the perfect carrot cake recipe, so that was easy to include. But the frosting … I’ve made some very good carrot cake frostings, but I can’t say I’ve hit on the perfect frosting. Everyone agrees, of course, that carrot cake must be frosted with a cream cheese frosting, but there’s a lot of variation among cream cheese frostings. I’ve had them too sweet, too grainy, too dense …
No better excuse for baking!
So last night I whipped up a carrot cake and tested out a new variation on cream cheese frosting. This one has no butter—just cream cheese as the fat. It also contains lemon zest and lemon juice for a bit of added tartness. Lots of potential to be awesome!
Flavour-wise, it’s good … the texture, not so much. It’s too gummy. Not fluffy enough. Definitely not the perfect frosting.
But never fear, we’ll suffer through this almost perfect cake (have I mentioned that I’ve had two pieces of it already, and it’s been only 12 hours?), and then I’ll make another!
Because I couldn’t let my readers down with sub-standard carrot cake, now could I?
If you have a favourite cream cheese frosting, let me know—maybe I’ll try it out. How many cakes do you think it will take to reach peak frosting?
As a writer, I tend to focus on plot. I love a good action scene, and I also enjoy writing dialogue (probably stems from loving to talk, myself. LOL!). Over the years, I’ve developed a method for outlining my novels that’s sort of a mash-up of different methods I’ve read about.
I start with a good old-fashioned plot mountain diagram—the kind I introduce to my primary school students. On the plot mountain, I pinpoint major plot targets. Where does the story start? Where does it end? What is the climax point? What are the key events that lead to the climax? What are the key points in the main character’s arc?
If there’s a lot going on in the plot, or a complex set of character arcs in the story, I’ll then map the key plot targets onto a story flow chart drawn onto a large sheet of newsprint. On the flow chart, I’ll add more details about how the action will progress, what characters will think and do when faced with the challenges I present them, and how various plot threads will intertwine and interact.
From the flow chart, I’ll break the story into chapters. For each chapter, I’ll write a one-paragraph summary of what needs to happen in the chapter. What plot points need to be reached? What character development needs to occur? What information do I need to withhold so it can be introduced later? The chapter summary is focused on plot and character. I don’t really consider where or how the action will take place, only what must happen in that chapter.
From the chapter outline, I write my first draft. The outline keeps me on track and ensures I don’t forget things or muddle timelines or plot threads. It makes it much easier to write the first draft, because I can focus on one chunk at a time, without worrying that I’m forgetting something.
Unfortunately, it also enhances my tendency to write sparsely in my first draft. It encourages me to race from plot point to plot point, character development point to character development point.
In the words of an editor years ago, my early drafts need more ‘tea and biscuits’. They have too much plot, not enough setting. I was reminded of the tea and biscuits comment last week, when my alpha reader (my husband, a wonderfully brutal critic), told me I needed more carrot cake in my current work in progress. He also encouraged the addition of a full chapter of nothing but cleaning and tidying. LOL! He was right. The cake and the cleaning are both vehicles for fleshing out settings and characters, revealing the depths and complexity of both so my readers feel like they are experiencing the plot themselves.
In the past week, I’ve added over 7,000 words to my manuscript. That’s a whole lot of tea and biscuits! And I’m sure there are more to be added.
Should I change my outlining method to include tea and biscuits? I’ve considered it, but the truth is, I’m always daunted by that first draft. Knowing I’ve got a yawning stretch of 30 chapters standing empty ahead of me is terrifying. I find it one of the most difficult and unpleasant tasks in the writing process. My outlining method eases me into the task, breaks it into easily accomplished chunks.
And once I have the first draft down, the fun begins. A fellow writer, who writes lush, emotionally charged stories, once mentioned that they layer in the emotions after the first draft is finished. That they have different editing passes to address different aspects of the story. The idea has stuck with me. The story doesn’t have to be fully fleshed out in the first (or second, or third) draft. I’ve learned to enjoy layering in the details that make a story complete, and I can only really enjoy adding those details when I know that the structure I’m adding them to is solid. It’s fun to go back to a story and add some cake, some tea and biscuits. It’s fun to take a conversation and ground it in the place in which it happens, to establish a character’s motivations by showing them in action in a mundane task.
And so the theme for my week’s work is, let them eat cake.
Less than three months until Dragons of AotearoaNew Zealand is released! I’ve had so much fun working on this book, and I can’t wait to share it with you. I’m especially excited about the awesome illustrations created for me by the amazing Lily Duval. Look for a cover reveal in June, and the release of the book in July at the Tamariki Book Festival!
A world-first guide to dragons, written in consultation with the dragons themselves.
Hidden for centuries, Aotearoa New Zealand’s dragons step out of the shadows in this unique and informative guide.
Here you will find information about:
All eight dragon species found in Aotearoa
Dragon biology and evolution
Dragons’ unique culture and customs
New Zealand Draconic language
The history of dragon slaying in New Zealand
Dragon conservation
How to stay safe in dragon country
With a foreword by the founding members of the Dragon Defence League, and special commentary by the dragons Rata and Foggy Bottom.
A couple days ago, I sat down at my desk, knowing I had a lot of ‘business’ to deal with. I was determined to complete these necessary but uninspiring tasks (cashbook marketing, etc.) quickly, so that I could get on to the writing I wanted to do.
First job was to check my email.
And this was the first message I opened:
Hi there Robinne I bought your whole Dragon Defence League Series at the Spencer Park Market and you personalised one of the books for my son Mathew. I just wanted to write to let you know that he absolutely loves the first book and is over half way through and keeps telling us all about what is happening in the book. We have never seen him so glued to a book before and he never tells us what is happening so it has made a massive impression on him so thank you so much for writing them.
Well, there’s no better way to start your day than that! This is exactly the sort of thing I live for as a writer. To make an impression, to capture the imagination of a reader is the whole point of writing. And to have my book be the book that opens a child’s mind to the wonder of stories is something special, indeed.
It reminds me of the real reason I write. Oh, I would love to be able to make a living at this. The validation of a living wage would be amazing.
But it’s not why I write. I write to connect with others through words. There’s something magical about having an impact on a reader you have never met.
And I’m regularly reminded that I’m not the only writer who has to fund their passion with other endeavours. On a recent episode of Writing Excuses (a writing podcast I highly recommend), the topic of the week was how to fund the writing life. The whole point of the episode was that it’s okay, normal, and totally possible to purposely engage in money-making activities to support your writing habit, and that choosing activities that feed into your writing is the key to making the most of your time.
So, yeah, I teach three days a week in order to support the two days a week of writing. And because I teach students within my target audience, I know what my audience likes to read, know what sorts of life experiences they have, understand how current events resonate (or don’t) with them. I have an eager and ready population of beta readers at my fingertips, and a ready source of story inspiration.
It’s no different from when I was running the Bugmobile, my science outreach programme for schools. Bugmobile fees barely covered my costs, though I was charging schools as much as I possibly could. So I funded the Bugmobile by doing much more lucrative heritage interpretation consulting for various local and national agencies and organisations. The consulting work was interesting, but not my passion. But the skills to do both were similar, and it was a way to ensure I could continue to run the Bugmobile.
I will admit I ended 2023 feeling guilty for ‘wasting’ so much time, money and effort writing books and stories that don’t pay the bills. But I’m launching 2024 with a different attitude. And with a new realisation.
Back in 2005, when I first developed the idea for the Bugmobile, I wrote a mission statement. I don’t remember it exactly, but it was something along the lines of connecting people with the amazing nature found in their back yards and encouraging people to explore the world around them. I have realised that I’m still doing that as a writer. When I closed the Bugmobile and started writing, I felt like I’d cut off an arm. How could I stop interpreting the natural world?
The answer is I never did stop. I just don’t think I realised it. My Dragon Defence League books, which captivated Mathew, are a celebration of the landscapes and natural history of Aotearoa New Zealand. Yes, I’ve put dragons in there, but only to illuminate our relationship with the natural world and how it’s evolving over time. Only to give me a tool to envision a different way we might think of the natural world and our place in it. Digging deeply into all my stories—fantasy, science fiction, climate fiction, horror—they all contain elements of heritage interpretation.
The truth is, while I believed I was building a business, first with the Bugmobile and interpretation consultancy, and now with the writing, I’ve actually been building a life. A life with meaning and direction.
I still have to make sure I’m paying the bills, and I still need to spend time worrying about marketing, but putting my writing in the larger context, and reminding myself of the larger goals I have for my life, helps me to let go of the feeling that net profit from the sales of my books and stories is the primary measure of success.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy my books. They’re great! Fun reads, and full of environmental themes … Go on, you know you want to.
It’s the time of year when an author’s thoughts naturally turn to …
…marketing.
Yes, it’s sad that I have spent more time considering how I’m going to sell books this holiday season than I have planning my family’s Christmas celebrations and summer holiday trips.
This year, I’ve decided to explore the summer market scene. My first market is coming up this Sunday.
The North Canterbury Creative Market will be held from 11 am to 4 pm on Sunday, 3 December at the Rangiora Showgrounds (156 Ashley St, Rangiora). I’m really excited about this market, not just for the possibility of selling some books, but also because there will be over 80 stalls bursting with locally made awesomeness. I can’t imagine a better place to find unique Christmas gifts that support local creatives.
I’ll also have a stall at the Spencer Park Market and Gala from 10 am to 4 pm on January 1st and 2nd. This event is sure to be a fun time for the whole family, with food, rides and games in addition to over 115 craft and market stalls. I can already taste the mini-donuts …
In the pursuit of sales, I have also joined 76 other fantasy and science fiction authors to offer you an amazing lineup of gift ideas this Christmas. Check out some of these awesome books, either for yourself or those readers on your gift list.
And finally, I’ve discounted my e-books on Smashwords for their End of Year Sale. From 15 December through 1 January, my books are 50% off, along with zillions of other discounted or free books from other authors. This is definitely a sale to take advantage of. Stock up on reading material for the holidays.
And once all that marketing is out of the way, yeah, I guess I need to think about what I’m getting folks for Christmas … And I definitely need to spend a few days at the beach.
Robinne Weiss 