Victor Valley College

Thursday evening I had the pleasure of speaking and reading at Victor Valley College in Victorville, California.  What a fun event.  Five authors read and answered questions for an SRO audience.  The event was conceived by former student and VVC faculty member, Pat Wagner.  It was her first event of this kind, but I am sure from the response from the audience and authors that it will not be the last.  Congratulations, Pat.  I have pictures, but I can't find the cord that connects my camera to my computer. Oh, well.

I had my first experience with autographing in the digital age.  Many students who had already purchased Boyfriend From Hell online brought autograph books.  And two people had me autograph their Nook covers.  How cool! That was a first for me. 

And now for serious business. If you read my last post you know the time has come for me to take some time off.   I plan to take some R&R from right now until Monday the 21st.  No Twitter, Facebook or blogging for a week.  No book marketing--or writing. I will try to keep up with my emails.  If you see me tweeting or on FB you will know I was not able to take a week off without some Internet stimulation.  Wish me luck. 

For those of you who would like to win a copy of Boyfriend From Hell and Earth Angel, I will be holding Goodreads giveaways next week, while I am off.  The Earth Angel giveaway is from May 14th thru the 17th.  Boyfriend From Hell is from May 17th thru the 20th.  Head on over to Goodreads on the dates given and win.  Good luck.

Peace.

How To Take Time Off

While the title to this week's post poses an answer, the truth is, "how do I take time off?" is a difficult question for me to answer.  To begin with, I don't know how.  It's not that I am some super driven workaholic who can't stop (although I have to admit I am driven), it's how do I stop and keep things afloat?

Like many of you, I am a writer.  I am a full time writer, which means writing is how I earn my living.  I do not have a side job.  I do not teach or consult.  My days are spent writing and marketing my work.  And for me, that is a full time job.  This year two of my novels (Boyfriend From Hell and Earth Angel) reached the top 10 on the Amazon ebook Best Seller list for Children's & YA books.  They did not arrive there by happenstance.  It took a lot of marketing to get my books there.  But I have noticed that I spend far less time reading than I once did.  The time I once spent reading, I now spend writing and marketing.

But the time has come for me to take a much needed break.  I've been feeling the burnout coming for some time.  And so I plan to take a week off.  A week of R&R.  A week where I will try not to tweet, or Facebook or blog.  A week where I will recharge my batteries, hopefully for another year.  But here's the thing--I feel that as soon as I stop, my sales will stop.  This week I have cut down on my marketing, and already my sales have begun to slip. So instead of me spending the week resting, I will spend the week worrying.  So, I have a question for you: how do you find the time to take a break without worrying that when the break is over your career will be over, too?  I'd love to hear any and everybody's thoughts on this.  In this new digital age, it is getting harder and harder to get away from it all.  Please tell me how, or if, you do it.

For those of you in the Victorville CA area tomorrow, Thursday May 10th, I will be speaking and reading at Victor Valley College at 5pm.  The students in the writing program have read Boyfriend From Hell as an assignment, and I hear they will have lots of questions for me.  Five other authors will also participate. The event is open to the public.

Peace.

Hollyweird Lands At Imajin

After nearly a year of publishing back and forth my Hollyweird series has landed at Imajin Books out of Canada.  Last Monday I signed a two book deal for the first two books in the series. We began talks with Imajin publisher, Cheryl K. Tardif, a few weeks ago. She is an awesome person, and I am excited to be a part of the Imajin family.

 

 

The Hollyweird series is my first with a biracial character--fifteen year-old necromancer, Kristine Golden. It's a bit darker than my other books, but you will still find my inimitable sense of humor.

 

 

The first book in the series, entitled: The Zombie Always Knocks Twice, will be out some time this summer--either July or August. If you'd like a sneak peek, I am doing a guest post as part of The Bookish Brunette's Zombie Craze in May. Please check her blog for my guest post.

 

 

The second book in the series, Mommy Deadest, will be out some time next year.  

Peace.

Marketing: by Sal Conte

This is not one of those The Way I See It posts done by E where you might find some useful advice about marketing.  This is a guest post by me, Sal Conte.  Any advice offered or opinions expressed here are purely my own, and not those of E. Van Lowe.  Okay?

I am seriously upset, so upset I can see steam rising off my forehead.    I am not upset with E (although I have been from time-to-time).  I am upset with you, dear reader.  When I reacquired the rights to my 80s horror classics Child's Play and The Power, and decided to bring them out as ebooks for those of you who had been clamoring for the books since they went out of print more than ten years ago, E told me I needed to do some marketing.  I told E I didn't need to market my books.  I am Sal Conte.  I brought out Child's Play with an all new forward by yours truly, along with a new short story The Toothache Man just before Halloween with little fanfare aside from a few tweets.  E told me I wouldn't sell any books.

I am here to report that E was wrong.  I met with the White Whisker rep on Tuesday and he reported that between October and March 31st I sold a grand total of 5 books.  FIVE BOOKS in six months!  That would not be bad if E had set the price at $10,000 a download as I had requested.  I explained that Child's Play in particular was in huge demand and could easily go for 20 grand, but I owed it to my fans to keep the price reasonable.  At 10 G's a book 5 books would have netted me some nice coin.  But E set the price of Child's Play at $1.99.  I told him at that price he was going to run out of downloads in two days.  Did you know it's impossible to run out of downloads?  You do now.  At any rate, I can't even buy a Happy Meal with what I've earned from Child's Play. E then did the unthinkable and set the price of The Toothache Man at ninety-nine cents.  Wanna know how many copies of The Toothache Man I sold in 6 months at 99c?  I am embarrassed to tell you.

I'm not embarrassed for me.  I did my part.  I am Sal Conte.  I am embarrassed for you lazy slackers who actually need me to market the books BEFORE YOU BUY THEM.  It's pathetic if you think about it.  But okay.  I see the error of my ways.  I was counting on you guys to show a little initiative. I get it. I am now going to do some marketing for those of you who seem to need it.  Please follow the 5 steps below:

MARKETING

1) Click on one the links in quotes "The Toothache Man,"  or "Child's Play."

2) You will arrive at the selected book's Amazon page.  On the upper right hand side of the page you will find a BUY button.  Click on that button as well.

3) You will be asked how you want to pay for the book.  Click your choice.

4) If you do not receive an email saying you bought my book, repeat steps 1-3 until  you get it right.

5) If you wish to purchase both books (and you should-hint, hint), you must complete steps 1-3 for each book.

Bonus: Write a damn review and post it on the book's Amazon page.

Consider yourselves marketed to.  If you buy a few books over the next few months I will begin selling my other 80s classic, The Power.  If you do not buy books, I will be back with more "marketing."  And next time, people, I won't be so friendly.

Thank you E for the use of your blog.  Marketing is harder than I thought.

Phew!

Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge Final Results

Last week's Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge will probably be our last.  We only received 5 entries this past week.  There was a time when we were getting over 20 entries per contest.  I feel there's just not enough interest for me to maintain the contest.  I had a great time hosting the challenge, and coming up with  all the fun questions.  Hopefully my next contest idea will catch on better than the Challenge did.

Okay, now for the good stuff.  As I said, I had 5 entries last week.  All were correct.  The film was Jackie Brown.  The line was uttered by Ordell Robie played to sinister perfection by Samuel L. Jackson.  The scrambled actor's name is: Michael Keaton.  Like I said, there were 5 entries, but there can only be one winner.  The final winner of the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge is Jeanette Jackson.  Congratulations Jeanette.  Your $10 Amazon gift card will go out some time today.

That's all for today.  Remember, I have two novels coming out this year:  Hollyweird #1: The Zombie Always Knocks Twice and the third book in the Falling Angels Saga, Heaven Sent.  I will keep you posted on updates on the novels and the other madness in my life. 

Peace.

Fan Letters From The Third Grade

A few weeks ago I did my first ever reading for elementary school children.  I participated in career day at Corona Elementary where I read from my novel Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, and had a very funny encounter with a third grader.  If you'd like to read about the encounter it's posted on my Facebook Fan Page.  Click on the link, and scroll down to about the center of the page.

I found speaking to, and reading for such a young audience both refreshing and rewarding.  This afternoon when I got in I saw a large envelope from Corona Elementary in the mail.  It felt like a velo binder.  I knew they had taken a few photos of the Career Day guests as we gathered and I assumed it was a photo or two.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and found a binder filled with letters to me from Third graders.  One of the beauties of being a nine year-old, In case you've forgotten (I know I had) is that when you write a letter you always include a piece of personal art.  I got such a kick out of the artwork included that I thought I would share a bit of it with you here.

Diana's artwork included three sad-faced zombie boys pursuing her for her brains!  I know you can't see it, but Diana is depicted reading my book.  The bubble over her head reads: "Sure do love this book."  I sure did love your letter, Diana.  Thank you.

Francisco, got even more personal.  His personal art shows zombies attacking both me and him.  I am dressed as a police officer, with a gun.  Francisco is a fire fighter, staving off a bent-necked zombie with his fire hose.  And see that zombie in the left hand corner--that thing in front of his head is a bullet from my gun.  Francisco wrote "I want to be a writer, too.  You're cool."  You are, too Francisco.  And thanks for being responsible and letting the adult handle the fire arm--even if he doesn't know how.

Antonio, really took creative license with my book.  He not only has zombies attacking the poor defenseless children (you can tell the children because their hair seems to be on fire), he's got a robot, a ghost, and Oh nooooo!  A PUPPET!  In Antonio's world, puppets are creepy--sort of like mimes.  I love your imagination, Antonio.

Christian, decided to be very cinematic and go the black and white route, rendering his drawing in charcoal.  I believe we have a film maker in the making.  Thanks, Christian.

What I like about Brenda's artwork is the vivid color... AND the fact there are no zombies in the drawing.  Flowers, clouds, a blue sky and a smiling Brenda reading my book.  She seems to be enjoying it, so who cares if there are no zombies when there's a big old smile.

That's a representative sampling of what I received from the third graders at Corona Elementary.  The book of letters is the best parting gift I have ever received.  There's nothing that warms the heart more than a letter from a child that comes with personal art.  Third graders are very expressive. You can learn more from their drawings than you can from their letters.  Judging from the tone of the drawings, I was a big hit with the kids.  Thank you, Corona Elementary.  You guys were a big hit with me as well.  Hope you will have me back.

I hope you guys out there enjoyed these letters as much as I did.

Peace.

Win Big With My Latest Challenge

Spring has sprung, and that means summer isn't far behind.  I love summer.  it's my favorite time of year.  I was born on the second day of summer--June 22nd, but that can't be why I love it, since I don't remember being born.  I think I love it because when I was a kid that's when I had most of my fun.  I love the warm weather and summertime activities.

This year I am doubly excited about the advent of summer, because this summer my long in development novel The Zombie Always Knocks Twice (Waterstreet Press) comes out.  Which is why I am taking a moment to give away a free $10 Amazon gift card.  The Zombie Always Knocks Twice is the first book in my Hollyweird series, which, I guess, is the perfect segue to introduce this week's Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge.  For our latest challenge I looked for a movie with a springtime theme but settled on a multi-cultural movie.  I chose a multi-cultural theme because the heroine of my new Hollyweird series, Kristine Golden, is mixed race.  She has a black mother and a white father.

Kris is a fifteen year-old necromancer who lives and goes to school in Hollywood.  In the series Hollywood is not the glamour town of motion pictures. As Kris explains in the first book: My Hollywood is a shambling, decrepit town where dreams come to die.  Where everything comes to die. 

Hollywood as it turns out is a pretty Holly-weird place.  Please check back for updates on my road to publication.  I am very excited about this new book. And now for the challenge.  You have to do three things to win:  Guess the name of the actor who made the quote below.  Name the film the quote is from, and unscramble the name of an actor who appeared in the film.  Remember--you have to answer all three to win.  Just one entry per person will be accepted.  The winner will receive a free $10 Amazon gift card.  On Monday I will draw a winner from all the correct answers, and post the winner here next Tuesday.  Are you ready for the challenge?

In what film did a character say: "Uh-uh-uh... I didn't hear you wash your hands."
Who was the actor who played the character?
Unscramble the name of the actor below:

Nick Theoameal

Easy peasy, right ;-) Since I know you're all going to get it right, here are a few things you will need to do to qualify to win. You need to do #1 or #2, plus the three remaining things listed below:

1) Be a registered follower of this blog, or
2) ...follow me at http://evanlowe.com/

3) leave a comment on this blog in the comment section on any of my posts anytime during the week of the current challenge. DO NOT put your answer in the comments, instead…

4) send your answer to me at info@evanlowe.com

5)mention the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge either on your blog or in a tweet the week of the current challenge.

Do 1 +3,4& 5, or 2 +3 ,4& 5 and you are entered to win.

Remember, you must do four things to qualify to win.  And although it's called the Tuesday Trivia Challenge, you still have until Sunday to come up with the correct answer.  I do the drawing on Monday. Enjoy the challenge, and stay tuned for updates on my new book.

Peace.