Adventures in PubSmart (Part Two) by Kate Tilton

by Martina Boone

We’re thrilled to introduce part two of Kate Tilton’s recap on PubSmart, the great writer’s conference she attended down in Charleston, SC from April 16 to 18. The information Kate has gathered is invaluable, so whether you’re an author with a published book (or one coming out soon), or an aspiring author, take advantage of the bounty of tips gathered from some of the most eminent media experts. Here you go! : )

Adventures in PubSmart (Part Two)

by Kate Tilton

This was my favorite master class, social media. There are always new things to learn about how to master the platforms of social media. As a social media manager it was encouraging to hear many of the tips I regularly give authors be given by social media pros. Check out the tips below and if you missed part one of the PubSmart series check it out here.

Master Class

Social Savvy & Media Mastery: Take Your Message to the Masses
Speakers: The founders of PubSmart, Brenda McClain, Jacqueline Gum, Kathy Meis, Kendra Haskins, and Shari Stauch, accompanied by Porter Anderson

Brenda McClain	Jacqueline Gum	Kathy Meis
Kendra Haskins	Shari Stauch	Porter Anderson

Tips for authors:

Figure out what you need to say, what is your subject, your attitude towards the subject, who is your audience, what do they think of your subject, what do you want your audience to feel and do, and how will you get them to act.
Identify the groups that can help you achieve your goals.
Use your website as your home base with social media driving traffic back to your website.
Have a way for people to subscribe by email on your website.
Keep your website fresh and up-to-date.
Make sure you have social sharing buttons on your website.
Make a commitment to your social media and let others know it, e.g. I will blog once weekly.
Follow the 20/20/20 rule: 20% of your time on research, 20% on digital content, and 20% on engagement.
Use more visuals! A picture on your blog will increase the share rate.
Interact beyond social media with sites like Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it! Don’t argue online. You will never win and it turns people away.
Pick one or two platforms to focus on and develop instead of trying to be on all of them.
Twitter is a language; look up people’s handles to give them credit, use hashtags, use your name and not your book title, make your bio informative, and use your picture instead of your book cover.
Answer the comments you get!
People want to meet YOU. Follow what you love and have the guts to share.
Make sure you have a copyright on your website. It is easy to do: just put Copyright year content first posted/current year – your name – All Rights Reserved. For example Copyright 2007/2014 | Kate Tilton | All Rights Reserved.
Make sure your website is responsive, meaning it can be easily viewed on a mobile device.

Highlights:

Social media & blogging is the key to growing your audience.
It is not about who has the most fans but who has the right fans. The real key is getting fans that will amplify your message.
You need to start now, not later.
The trend is towards visual. Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram show this.
How you converse with others will bring people to you or push them away.
Your role in social media is to engage socially to build a following. Think about talking as the creator instead of as the sales person.
It can be easy to connect with other writers and forget about why you joined these sites, so make it a point to reach out to readers.
Social media is NOT a marketplace! Conversion does happen but it is social media, not sell media.

Brenda McClain, Jacqueline Gum, Kendra Haskins, and Shari Stauch are the wonderful women behind Where Writers Win and part of the PubSmart committee. Kathy Meis is the founder of Bublish, a discovery platform for authors, and a member of the PubSmart committee. Porter Anderson is one of the best publishing reporters of our time. For more information about each speaker please check out the PubSmart website.

If you have any questions about this article, publishing, or social media I would love to hear from you! Just leave a comment below or connect with me on my website, katetilton.com.

Related articles:

About Kate Tilton:
Kate Tilton has been in love with books for as long as she can remember. Kate believes books saved her life and strives to repay authors for bringing books into the world by serving as a dependable author assistant. A cat-lover and fan of many geeky things, Kate can likely be found curled up with the latest Doctor Who episode, plotting world takeover, or assisting authors and readers in any way she can.

Kate is also a self-proclaimed Twitter addict. You will find her hosting #K8chat, her own creation, every Thursday night on Twitter from 9-10pm Eastern.

Website: http://katetilton.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/K8Tilton
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/k8tilton/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/K8Tilton
Instagram: http://instagram.com/k8tilton

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Apr 26, 2014

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Promotion

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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