Debbi Mack – Book Cracks New York Times Bestseller List
Debbi Mack is a hardboiled crime writer – which is probably what studying and practicing law for twelve years will do to you. When I interviewed Debbi, she had written a number of books including two in the Sam McRae series.
Debbie also has a Master of Library Science degree which means that she’s good with both a book and a gun.
Darrell - What's a typical day of writing like for you?
Debbi - To the extent any day is typical, I suppose it's generally structured to that take care of marketing and administrative matters first. Once I have those out of the way, I usually set aside anywhere from two to four hours to do research and/or writing on my work in progress. Occasionally, the opportunity will arise to work on a short story or even a script. Now and then, I've managed to pull one of those together, while still working on a novel. I've tried, but find it difficult to work on two novels simultaneously. I have no idea how other writers manage to do it.
Darrell - What made you want to become a writer and how did it happen?
Debbi - I don't know if it's genetic or my upbringing, but I've always wanted to be a writer. I think if you'd handed me a pencil after I emerged from the womb, I'd have probably started scribbling a story about what it was like to be born. I think writers are people who simply have the innate urge to communicate in some form or other. In the case of fiction writers, the urge is to tell stories. Where does this comes from? Most likely from reading them, I think. Perhaps from hearing them, too. My mother used to tell us bedtime stories. Sometimes oral bedtime tales, actually. Do mothers still do this? Is oral storytelling still alive and well? Just wondering.
Darrell - Mystery books often seem to lead the list of ebook sellers. Do you think certain genres have an advantage in relation to ebook sales?
Debbi - All good storytelling involves the element of suspense in some fashion. Suspense is an element inherent to the mystery and thriller genres. Therefore, by virtue of being genres that require a necessary element of fiction in order to work at all, mysteries and thrillers have an advantage over other genres that might get by with other less compelling plot devices. At least, that's my theory.
Darrell - Your books are for sale for only 99 cents and you're up there rubbing shoulders on Amazon with Jonathan Kellerman and Mary Higgins Clark. How important is pricing?
Debbi - Extremely important, particularly for a new and unknown author such as myself. For good or ill, after your book is written, it becomes a product. As such your name is the book's brand. My name isn't Sue Grafton or John Grisham or Stieg Larsson, which is to say I'm not highly recognizable. I once made a comparison on my blog between my book and a can of peas. The ones with Libby on the label, people are willing to pay more for. The generic kind, not so much. Even if the peas are just as good. Unfortunately, at this stage of the game, my name is not yet well enough established for my books to be perceived as being much more than "generic" mysteries. Hopefully, as more people read the books and become familiar with my writing, this will change. I know for some readers, this is already true. With any luck, word of mouth will help to establish my name more firmly as a brand and, at some point, I'll get more comfortable with raising the price of my books. For right now, this price point is working for me. And if it ain't broke, why fix it, right? :)
Darrell - Do you have any advice about marketing and how you get yourself known out there?
Debbi - There are so many ways to market, the choices can be overwhelming. The first thing to do is sit down and plan your marketing strategy. Think about where your readers hang around online and focus your marketing toward those places, if possible. Among those places, is there a blog or list where you can write a post, be interviewed or have your book reviewed? Every time you get an interview, guest post or review posted online, be sure to blog about it. Oh, did I mention you'll want to have a blog? (I have five, but I'm an idiot. :)) Also, get on Twitter and Facebook. You'll want to tweet all your blog posts and post them to Facebook. Twitter, in particular, is a most powerful tool for reaching readers and engaging with them, as well as promoting and marketing your work. My advice on Twitter: follow pretty much anyone who isn't a bot or a spammer. You never know where it might lead. All sorts of people hang out on Twitter. And it's just awesome in general. Do more than talk about yourself. Engage with others. Retweet fun and interesting stuff. Say meaningful or silly things. Just be there, play nice, spread the word and all will be well.
Find ways to cross-promote your work with other authors. For example, my first novel IDENTITY CRISIS includes an excerpt from Joe Konrath's THE LIST at the end. In exchange, Joe includes an excerpt from my novel at the end of THE LIST.
Along with building a strong following on Twitter and following people back, you can greatly enhance your book's visibility through the occasional use of online promotional book launches. The idea is to provide an incentive of some sort for people to purchase the book on a particular date, thus boosting the rank with a particular goal, e.g., reaching the Top 100 in Paid Kindle. Even if the goal isn't met, the effort can have a marked long-term salutary effect on the book's rank and sales.
Paid sponsorships with Kindle Nation Daily, the Frugal eReader and other similar sites are also well worth considering.
Darrell - What advice would you have for writers who are trying to get their first novel published?
Debbi - For the purposes of your question, I'm assuming the novel is written and as ready for publication as you can make it. At this point, you have two choices: 1) try to get it published through traditional means either by finding an agent who brokers a deal with a large publisher or making a deal on your own directly with a small publisher; or 2) self-publish the book, market and sell it yourself.
At one time, the conventional wisdom was that choosing the second option was tantamount to career suicide. This is no longer the case. In fact, self-publishing has become a highly desirable, if not preferable option for fiction writers. However, keep in mind, it isn't an easier way to succeed as an author.
The only way to achieve success in this business is to work hard and write the best story of which you're capable. Since people have to know about your book before they'll buy it, you have to tell them about it. So, whether you land a traditional publishing deal or self-publish your book, be prepared to market and promote your work. Develop a marketing and promotional strategy and do a little bit every day (see marketing tips above). In addition, keep writing. Move onto your next project. The work doesn't stop with just one novel. Not if you intend to write for a living. Rinse and repeat. :)
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