Successfully Branding a Mystery Series

I want to give a warm Cozy Mystery Magazine welcome to Molly Snow, and award winning goofball who writes clean and adorable mysteries and romance novels!

We're super lucky to have her guest posting today, so I'm gonna zip it and let her talk!

**

First, a hello to my fellow colleague and friend, Traci Tyne Hilton. Thank you for having me guest post. I’m thrilled!

So, a little about me: I write YA romances, and enjoy that very much. My heart also has a place for mysteries, so I co-write with my mother Z & C Mysteries under the pen name Claire Kane. The first book in the series was published in 2011, called The Riddles of Hillgate. Our mysteries are very clean, and are full of adventure, so you can feel safe sharing them with your daughters.

My mom and I, like any publishing entrepreneur out there, when we hit “Publish,” wanted our series to be a success. We worked hard on producing quality products that were edited, formatted and designed to capture interest and show professionalism. It wasn’t until the third book in the series, Hexes and X’s, was produced that I started to wonder if one or more of these areas we worked so very hard at perfecting wasn’t up to par. Traci  was actually the first (as my memory recalls) to tell me that I should reconsider the covers.

The covers were all designed well, they looked professional, so why wasn’t that enough?

Two reasons:

1.) There was no branding to speak of. Each cover was so unique to itself, a buyer couldn't tell by glancing at a multitude of random thumbnails which books belonged together. Which isn't good. You want potential readers to see a series as a series, all cohesive; it provides an even greater sense of professionalism, an identity (super important!), and a way for buyers to click around easier to purchase.

2.) If a reader sensed any sort of branding going on whatsoever, the covers still failed to do their purpose. Why? The impressions they gave were off. They looked far too serious, and sometimes too dark or horrific. So, not only was there no brand, the first impression, the “judging the book by its cover” thing, was messed up. This is a big deal, because authors do not want the wrong readers checking out their work; it risks earning low reviews: “I thought I was going to read this type of book,and what I got was something else. ONE star!!!”

So..., thankfully someone spoke up and told us what was obviously wrong with our series! It took some convincing for my mother to be open to seeing alternative covers (even a little working behind her back to surprise her!), but when something clicks it clicks.

Our newer covers hit the mark! You can easily see they are branded together: the fonts, illustrations, silhouettes, author names. And—oh—the feelings they exude are perfect. No one will ever mistake one of our books for something they’re not. If you write mysteries, make sure your brand is clear in these ways, and it can save you a lot of time and wondering what could be wrong.

The moral of this story is, I’m a bit grateful now that the series hasn’t yet been a success. It would have sent mixed messages with the old covers, and garnered lots of bad reviews! There is a time and season for everything. This series is finally ready to face the world without any regrets.Wheeee!

**

Molly Snow is a Top 10 Idaho Fiction Author, awarded by The Idaho Book Extravaganza. Her works include quirky teen romances "BeSwitched" and "Fallen Angel." Also a speaker on writing, her school assemblies have been featured in The Contra Costa Times and The Brentwood Press. Snow is married to her high school crush, has a set of silly twin boys and a bobtail cat named Meow-Meow.

Find all of Molly's books at amazon.comAmazon.com

Check out more of what Molly's been up to--including her blogs--at mollysnowfiction.blogspot.com!

Good Clean Fun and Games

 

I had a blast hosting my first Facebook Launch Party this weekend! We had games and prizes. It was a great chance to for me to get to know the readers and fans a little better!

It was such a kick I thought I'd bring some of the fun over here.

So...without further ado: A Party Game!

Game: Test Your Imagination
Prize: Free ecopy of Good, Clean Murder: A Plain Jane Mystery
*Prize Determined by Hat Draw on Friday March 8th!*


Agatha Christie liked to kill off characters with a sandbag. This always cracks me up. Who has sandbags lying around? How many of us could really wave a bag of sand around, much less deliver a deadly blow with it?

To enter to win a copy of the book, please post the most absurd murder weapon you can imagine in the comments--and how it would be used to kill!

***
While you are thinking of your weapon, enjoy this snippet from Good, Clean Murder!

Jane tucked her lemon-Pledge-soaked dust rag back in her apron pocket and moved on to the laundry room, the chemical citrus wafting away with her. She needed to strip the beds and get the laundry going if she was going to get out to her next house on time. On her way past the laundry room, she grabbed a hamper.

Then she stopped. Monday was laundry day. Laundry day and payday. The envelope full of cash was always pinned to the bulletin board with her directions. That envelope was supposed to buy her books today. Standing still with the hamper on her hip she debated. Stop now, call Pam, and ask for directions and money, or just keep working? The laundry would take two hours, whether she was paid or not, so she moved to the master bedroom. She could call Pamela after she had the first load in the machine.

Jane pushed open the bedroom door with her hip.

In a smooth set of motions perfected over her two years as a housekeeper, she set the hamper down, grabbed the end of the comforter and pulled all of the bedding off the bed. Then she looked up to grab the pillows.

Bob was still in bed.

“I am so sorry!” she whispered. She backed away from the bed.

Bob hadn’t seemed to notice her.

Heat rose to Jane’s face. What a complete moron! She should have knocked. She could have given him the chance to wake up a little. She looked away from the bed, waiting for him to speak.

He didn’t say anything.

In fact, Bob hadn’t moved a muscle when his covers had come flying off him. Surely, if a big guy like him had moved, she would have noticed.

She stepped back to the bed.

Bob was very still, and his face was pasty.

Jane’s heart thumped against her ribs, like a small, hard fist.

Bob was not well.

Her feet felt like bricks as she pulled herself across the Persian rug to the side of Bob’s bed.

He was wearing an A-line tank top—a wife-beater. His huge shoulders were covered in brown wiry hair.

She had never seen Bob’s naked shoulders.

Jane placed two shaking fingertips under his jaw, and turned away. She couldn’t feel a pulse. She moved her fingers across his thick neck, trying to find even the faint hint of life, but it wasn’t there.

Jane shoved her hand into the pocket of her jeans and yanked out her phone. 911. Must call 911.

“Ambulance, Police, or Fire Department?” The voice of the 911 operator was steady, solid.

“Ambulance, please!”

“Where are you located?”

Jane gave the operator the address of the Crawford home.

“An ambulance will be right there. Can you stay on the line with me?”

“No, I can’t. I’ve got to call his wife.”

“I understand. We’ll be right there.”

Jane ended the call and began scrolling through her phone for Pamela’s number.

Pamela could be at the gym right now, or at the salon, or with the board of directors dealing with the business. She could be anywhere.

Jane found their daughter Phoebe Crawford’s number first and hit send.

“This is Phoebe.” Her voice was rough like she had just woken up.

“Phoebe, it’s Jane Adler. I’m at your parents’ house and your dad—” Jane’s voice broke, but she took a deep breath and continued, “I called the ambulance. I think it was another heart attack. Can you get here?”

“Slow down, what?”

“I’m at the house, and I think your dad has had another heart attack. The ambulance is on its way. Can you make it over here? Do you know where your mom is?” How did Phoebe not understand? Jane walked to the window to watch for the ambulance. Her knees felt like water.

Phoebe yawned on the other end. “That’s awful,” she said. “I had a rough one last night. Call me when he’s at the hospital and I’ll be right there, okay?”

“But I’m just the cleaner…you need to be here. Or your mom.”

“Oh, you’re that Jane. I wondered who this was. Call me when you know what hospital he is at and I will meet him there, okay? It’s just another heart thing. He’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think he’s going to be fine.” Jane saw the ambulance turn the corner, its lights spinning and siren blaring. A fire truck was right behind it.

“Okay, so call me later.” Phoebe yawned again and hung up.

Jane pressed her lips together.

Bob was definitely not fine.

***

Good, Clean Murder is available now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, 

and other fine ebook retailers.

Traci Tyne Hilton is the author of The Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery Series, and one of the authors in the The Tangle Saga series of science fiction novellas. She was the Mystery/Suspense Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler Contest, a finalist for Speculative Fiction in the same contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. Traci serves as the Vice President of the Portland chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association.

Traci earned a degree in History from Portland State University and still lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.
More of Traci's work can be found at http://www.tracihilton.com

Production Notes

*Post Blog Publication Note: THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM! Good, Clean, Murder is Now Available*

Since I am inches away from publishing Good, Clean, Murder, I thought I'd share some of the steps it took to create it!

First, I brought pages and pages of the story to my critique group. My critique group is amazing, and led by none other than the man who wrote Writing Fiction for Dummies. They gave feedback on pacing, character, action, dialogue--and anything else they thought I was doing wrong.

While I was still writing it,  I polished the beginning to within an inch of its life, and sent it off to a couple contests. As the prizes included feedback from agents and publishing house editors I knew this would be invaluable for me. I finaled in both contests, and won the mystery category at the Phoenix Rattler. (You can read more about that here and here.) Contests and crit groups are a great way to help develop a story.

After that it was time to refine and polish. I sent the whole story to a couple of beta readers. Beta's give your book a "second" reading and give you feedback on weaknesses and strengths of the story. My romance beta let me know she thought my description of the male romantic lead wasn't handsome enough. I decided that was worth fixing! After betas my little baby went through three professional editors and then another reading by yours truly. I have to say, for that final read through the kindle and it's note taking function was a life saver! No more staring at a bright white screen and trying not to add more mistakes than I fixed!

With a clean document in hand, it was time to format. Like editing, many writers chose to hire professionals for this. I have done it both ways--though when I hired formatting help, it was for the paperback books which I find more challenging. This time I decided to do it all myself because there were certain features I wanted to learn. I won't give away all of my new tricks but I will say that the mobipocket app is a life saver, and I wish I had been using it all along.

Towards the end of the project I hired a graphic designer (Andrew Rothery) to create the cover. This is another aspect of the job I can handle myself, but prefer to hire out, as usually my vision is beyond my ability.

I began my story in June of 2012, so all in all, creating Good, Clean, Murder has been an almost ten month project!

Now I'm going to get really open, and share how much all of this cost. If you are a writer considering self publishing, this is the kind of nitty gritty that really comes in handy. Good, Clean, Murder is my most professional book to date, and also likely my most expensive to produce. The cost of the cover was about $80. The cost for the three editors was around $400. Entrance to the two contests cost me $50 total.  Prizes for the launch party will come in around $100. Advertizing for the release will be $60. We can round up and say that producing Good, Clean, Murder was $700. All of my other mysteries made a profit by their second month, but none of the others cost even close to this much to produce. We shall see if the prizes and advertizing do their job. *praying!* As for hiring three different people to each edit it, I will never regret spending that money. I know where my talents lie, and it isn't in self-editing!

To win some of these fun prizes, stop by my Facebook event on March 2nd! I'll have games throughout the day with prizes ranging from signed copies of the book to Plain Jane coffee mugs, to a gift certificate for a great online yoga studio!

Thank you all for being a part of this process!

Traci Tyne Hilton is the author of Good, Clean, Murder, The Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery Series, and one of the authors in the The Tangle Saga series of science fiction novellas. She was the Mystery/Suspense Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler Contest, a finalist for Speculative Fiction in the same contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. Traci serves as the Vice President of the Portland chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association.
Traci earned a degree in History from Portland State University and still lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.
More of Traci's work can be found at http://www.tracihilton.com

Kindle? Nook? Sony? or Kobo?

By Nancy Jill Thames

Ereaders - take your pick!

Hang onto your hats, dear readers. Things are changing right before your eyes! The other night I began reading an old paperback in bed. I confess, I thought holding a book again instead of reading on a device would be a cozy experience. Instead, I realized the book had yellowed to where I almost couldn't read it, and I needed a light to see the pages. Oh, dear me!

I will confess knowing enough about ereaders and bottom lines to tell you, from what I've read, the four best choices are a Kindle, Nook, Sony or Kobo. And unless you are a "techie" these choices are your best bet.

In researching information I did learn that using your iPad or other tablets are not the best way to go. It's due to the weight and short battery life. Okay, so I use my iPad to read. But it is difficult unless you're reading on a plane with a pull down tray to support the device.

Simply put, you want a Kindle if you're buying books from Amazon, a Nook if you're buying books from Barnes and Noble, and a Kobo or Sony if you're buying books from most other online sites. Notice I said most other online sites. That's a whole different story. Click the link under the photo for a better understanding of ereaders.

In any case, it's my opinion that eventually ereaders are the future. Libraries already have ebooks available and add more every day. Schools are using them as early as Kindergarten and even college textbooks are now online.

More importantly, the choices we now have are endless, with the self-publishing industry booming! We at Cozy Mystery Magazine appreciate your readership and understand the thousands of choices of cozy mysteries out there now. Thank you for reading our books and giving us wonderful reviews. By doing so you make our books more visible to audiences around the world. 

What ereader do you use? Pros? Cons? 

 Have a lovely weekend, dear readers.

See you in my books!

 ~Nancy Jill

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mystery novelist Nancy Jill Thames began publishing Christian fiction in 2010. The author of six books in the Jillian Bradley series, she is an award winning blogger and is listed numerous times on the Author Watch Bestseller’s List, this in addition to winning first place for her Chocolate Cream Pie.

When she isn’t plotting her next book, she spends time with her six grandchildren in two states, tags along with her husband on business trips, and plays classical piano for her own personal enjoyment. She is an active member of the Leander Writers Guild and supports the Central Texas SPCA with a portion of her book sales.

Nancy Jill is busy working on book 7 "The Ruby of Siam" a mystery taking place in London, England.

To learn more about the author and check out her books, please visit her blog at  
Cozy Mystery Author, Nancy Jill Thames.

CONTACT INFORMATION

jillthames@gmail.com

To view and purchase her books on this site, please visit the Cozy Book Store.

Milkcases, candy stores, little old ladies and murder? What could they possibly have in common? They’re all inhabitants of a street called Spyglass Lane in a town called Mystery.

I first moved to Mystery when I was about ten, and discovered a wonderful series of books about a girl name Nancy Drew. I loved the town of Mystery and as I grew older, I met many good friends. Agatha Christy, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dickson Carr and his alter ego, Carter Dixon. Sometimes I ventured to the outskirts of town and met strange, new friends such as Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt. At first I was a little unsure of whether or not they belonged in Mystery, but soon the whole town welcomed them.

One day a new street was constructed or whatever they do to make streets. The signpost said Spyglass Lane. Being of a curious nature, I checked it out and found just what I’d been looking for.

I’m Frances Devine and I’m an author who loves to write, among other genres, cozy mysteries. One day as I was having lunch at my local senior center, I had a call from my daughter. She gave me news that would change my life. A new cozy mystery line was being formed by a well known faith-based publishing house.

I was pre-published at the time, although I did have one historical romance proposal out there on a publisher’s desk. But the chance to write a mystery? I didn’t have to be told twice. I went home and wrote a chapter by chapter synopsis and three sample chapters over the weekend and sent it off, breathless with fear and hope. God is good. Soon, I received an email from the editor with an offer for a contract. This was the beginning of a couple of years of extreme joy as I wrote my three Miss Aggie mysteries with one of  the best editors in the world.

Sadly, the joy didn’t last forever. The new line couldn’t withstand the sinking economy. Although the first two books of my series, The Misadventures of Miss Aggie had made it to print, book three didn’t. At least not in its original form. Some of the authors in the line didn’t see their contracted books published at all.

But you simply can’t keep a good mystery writer down. Last year, we had the opportunity to be part of a new e-book venture sponsored by MacGregory Literary Agency, and since the rights to our cozies had reverted back to us, many of us jumped at the chance to see a new home for our mysteries. So Spyglass Lane Mysteries was formed. Our books are thriving in their new home and can be found on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble. In fact, they’ve done well enough that our fearless leaders have given the go ahead for new books.

You can find out about the books and their authors at www.spyglasslanemysteries.com with links for purchasing depending upon your type of electronic reader.

If you love mysteries with humor and romance, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I’ve read nearly all of them and intend to grab the ones I’ve missed. Fortunately for my insatiable appetite for more cozies, most of them are priced at 99 cents and occasionally a freebie is offered. My three titles are Miss Aggie’s Gone Missing,Miss Aggie Cries Murder, and Rest in Peace, Miss Aggie.

Oh yes, besides authors and readers, we also allow editors, publishers, designers and agents on Spyglass Lane. We all get along quite nicely.

Frances Devine, author of ten published novels and three novellas, grew up in Texas, where she wrote her first story at the age of nine. She moved to Southwest Missouri more than twenty-five years ago and fell in love with the people, the hills, the fall colors, snow, and Silver Dollar City. Frances attended Ozark Technical College and Southwest Missouri State University when she was in her fifties. She is the mother of seven adult children, has fourteen wonderful grandchildren, and is eagerly awaiting her fifth great-grandchild. Frances has always loved to read and considers herself blessed to write in one of her favorite genres, cozy mysteries, of which three have been published in both print and electronic versions.