Many moons ago, writers wrote (longhand or via typewriter - that's Louis L'Amour, by the way - before the desk computer or laptop). They wrote from start to finish, printed off the pages, boxed it up, and sent off their book (to an agent, editor, or the proverbial slush pile.) Once they signed a contract, writers started the next book. Did they worry about promotion? Nope. Did the publisher routinely take care of the book's cover? The print run? Distribution?
Yup, yup, yup.
Things are a bit different now. Some western writers are hanging on to the "old ways" by their fingernails. A blog, what's that? Why do I need a website? Tweeting is just plain silly, like teats on a bull.
Some writers believe they'd rather not put a "face" to their name, especially on Facebook. What's so social about Social Media? Writers might believe it robs them of precious writing time.
While that might be true (and some people waste hours on Facebook), you can say the same about answering the telephone, watching television, playing video games, reading others' books, exercising their horse, even sleeping. "Call me old-fashioned, just don't call me late to dinner."
It's all about networking. Surely you've heard that term. And while life happens, so does change. And friends -- the times, they are a-changing.
The most successful business man is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good and grabs the new just as soon as it is better. Robert Vanderpoel
Every writer -- no matter the genre, no matter how young or old -- has to consider they are IN BUSINESS. A hobby doesn't fly with the IRS. So every serious writer needs the basics besides a solid plot, characters and a finished manuscript. YES, a finished manuscript, because writers rarely sell on proposal (unless you're already published with a good sales track.) You want to sell, and make money doing it. Right?
First off -- will you use your real name? Think about what "public" really means. If you prefer privacy, come up with a pseudonym. And consider the idea of "branding" -- just like the old days of cattle ranching. Say Double-Bar L aloud -- it rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? -- versus a surname difficult to pronounce or spell. Think about the bookshelf, too. Top, middle or bottom? Where do you want your readers to find you? Remember, many readers purchase on-line now so that's not as important as it once was.
Does a name/brand matter? Yes. Readers need to find you, unless you're Louis L'Amour, Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. It's a fact. Your name is ON your book, and "brands" that PRODUCT as yours. And readers want to do more than crack open the spine. They want to know more than the story. They want to know YOU, the writer. And that means taking to "social media."
So. You're an author, with a book -- or several. A WEBSITE can be cheap, and sometimes easy. But they often LOOK cheap and easy too, so consider that if you're working your way up the ladder of success. A website can be your first investment. It's relatively cheap to buy your "domain name" for a year -- and cheaper for three years. Avoid the URL of "authorname" followed by blogspot.com or wordpress.com because people will remember "authorname.com" a lot easier. You also need an ISP like GoDaddy or Hostgator or some other host for your website, paying a set amount per month. You could also hire your grandkid, a friend or someone who knows what they're doing to "set up" your website. Shop wisely, because you ought to know how to maintain and update your website once in a while.
Next, consider a choice between Twitter and Facebook. Unless you're willing to tweet (and that means NOT constantly promoting your book - keep that to once or twice a month) about anything and everything, avoiding politics, religion and sex, AND re-tweet other followers' 140-character tweets, forget it. It's useful to get your name out there, but not necessary. FACEBOOK will do a lot more for an author. Caution: if your timeline is filled with gross photos, jokes or rants between family members, change the setting to private. Keep that stuff far away from your author name/brand. I've often seen authors rant on and on about the school parking lot idiots, or their a**backward relatives, or spout F-bombs and worse, and thought, "Whoa. That's not professional." Remember -- keep your author name *sacred* and stay on "topic."
How? Create an AUTHOR PAGE and profile. Post updates of your books, reviews, print or ebook giveaways, writing tips, etc. Think visual, too! Share other writers' inspiring photos, quotes or interesting ideas about books, reading, writing or whatever might relate to your book. For example, when my western mystery Double Crossing debuted, I shared all kinds of information about trains -- with photos from the CPRR.org website, details about the Pullman Palace cars, maps of the cross-country transcontinental railroad route, menus of the station houses along the way, etc. Quick visuals often "tell a story" faster than a long stretch of words. Even this blog post has visuals to give the eye a rest and add color and interest.
Which leads to the last option I'll share about Social Media possibilities -- and in my opinion, is the most fun. PINTEREST -- what is it? Think "virtual corkboard" or "scrapbook" only on the web. See the "sharp point" on the bottom of the P? Yup. PINS.
It's easy to become a member, too. It's similar to Facebook in networking potential. And it's also a way to spend hours exploring ideas for characters, costumes, places, food, celebrities, films, books, whatever your little heart desires. The minute Pinterest appeared, I signed up. Hey, I'm an artist and love visuals!
How can you use Pinterest to your advantage? I typed Pinterest.com into my browser, and then typed "western books" into the search bar -- VOILA! Click here to see. From book covers to film posters to baby shower ideas, it's all there as a visual feast. It's also pretty
self-explanatory to create your profile and "boards" before adding "pins" -- for example, either uploading your book covers from your computer or inputting the URL of the purchase links from Amazon, B&N or Smashwords. I recommend the latter, in fact, because it's another way to nudge readers to buy. To the left, the graphic shows a sample profile with boards.
I can hear the grumpy (cat) men whining aloud. "Why, why, why would I bother to use Pinterest? It's mostly for women! Men go to the bookstore, they buy my books, I'm fine." Uh, huh. Sure. But don't men want *more readers* to buy their books? Why limit your readership? So get over it. Say YES. You'll thank me for it. Check out my book board by clicking here if you want to see. Then check out the rest of my boards while you're there.
The same goes for women -- I'm here in Western Fictioneers to network with a lot more male writers and readers than my books would normally reach. It's not easy learning to juggle all this "social media" with a writing career. How can you do it?
Time management, of course. And knowing your limits, because you can't cover the Ponderosa in a day on horseback. The same goes for networking. Unless you're as famous as the late Louis L'Amour, who has a website and videos about his career, and a staff to keep his name/brand alive.
Hey, great idea. Maybe one day...
Mystery author Meg Mims lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband and a 'Make My Day' Malti-poo dog. Meg loves writing novels, short novellas and short stories, both contemporary and historical. Her Spur and Laramie Award winning Double series is now among the Prairie Rose Publications book list. Meg is also one-half of the D.E. Ireland team writing the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery series for St. Martin's Minotaur. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
Long before the supermarket tabloids, the National Enquirer, Howard Stern, John Stewart or Stephen Colbert, there was … (wait for the drum-roll) …
THE NATIONAL POLICE GAZETTE
CRIME!
SCANDAL!
THE SENSATIONAL!
SPORTS!
GOSSIP!
And ... MORE!
The journalistic outlaw behind the National Police Gazette was Richard Kyle Fox, an Irish immigrant who worked at newspapers in Belfast.
In 1874, Fox and his wife emigrated to New York City, where he went to work selling advertising for the Wall Street Journal.
A short time later, he joined the financially-struggling Gazette in the same capacity. He also served as business manager to supplement his income.
Despite a steep decline in circulation, Fox saw possibilities where others did not.
In 1877, he managed to pull enough money together buy the enterprise.
And, he wasted no time implementing his vision to transform the Gazette into a media powerhouse, appealing mostly to young, single American men. Among the changes he made:
Continued coverage of crime, but tweaked the editorial focus to reflect the rising popularity of sports, providing extensive coverage of football, baseball, and boxing.
Redesigned the masthead to read, "The Leading Illustrated Sporting Journal in America."
Sponsored boxing matches, and strongmen events, offering championship trophies and belts. Fox capitalized on the fame of boxer John L. Sullivan in the 1880s, by periodically backing challengers to Sullivan’s title of heavyweight champion
Featured lots of illustrations throughout each issue, including engravings of mayhem and murder, sex, and anything else that would capture attention.
Expanded the number of pages from eight to sixteen.
Published the Gazette on distinctive pink newsprint that became its trademark.
In an effort to accelerate circulation, Fox offered reduced subscription rates for business owners who catered to urban American males, such as barbershops, barrooms, hotels, and others.
Although Fox re-designed the publication for maximum visual impact, he proved ahead of his time in terms of editorial style.
He featured BIG ... BOLD ... BOOMING ... PROVOCATIVE headlines.
He demanded brevity in storytelling.
The word minimalist could probably be applied to his staff of writers.
Reporters/writers adhered to a strict set of writing guidelines:
Avoid the loooooong … winding … road … of traditional news reporting.
Be succinct.
Get to the point.
Emphasize the specific.
Just the facts. Or, at least, exaggerated facts.
Various publications, today, reflect Fox's then-innovative editorial approach.
The changes and modifications Fox implemented paid off in a big way.
After a short time, circulation tripled, to 150,000 a week. It spiked as high as 400,000 for special issues. But those numbers were, in themselves, deceiving.
The readership was much broader because of the pass-along rate. For example, an issue of the Police Gazette could be read by as many as a hundred or so men at a barbershop or a tavern. Ad revenues soared, as well, rivaling some of the largest and most popular magazines.
The publication's editorial menu included wildly-exaggerated helpings of scandal, crime and violence, sports, theater, the tawdry, and a variety of buxom babes.
Its appeal transcended American borders, enjoying popularity in twenty-six counties. Even outlaw Jesse James read the paper and, once, sent the publication a letter.
Despite his success, Richard Fox learned the road to success can be monitored by watchdogs and do-gooders.
Well, ya got trouble, my friend, right here I say trouble right here in River City
-The Music Man
Trouble for the National Police Gazette came in the form of Anthony Comstock, New York City's famed moral crusader and postal inspector, who despised what he labeled as "vile illustrated weekly papers."
Comstock, who received his salary from the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, had Fox arrested several times.
Fox, and other publishers, paid numerous fines and maintained an on-going legal battle with this self-appointed regulator of American morality.
Between 1872 and 1915, Comstock arrested ninety-seven individuals for "advertising for selling abortifacients or indecent rubber articles, including contraceptives."
But his efforts failed to stop Gazette.
Fox served as editor-in-chief of the Gazette for 45 years.
After he died in 1922, the publication began to decline in circulation. It outlasted several changes of ownership and financial hardships before ceasing publication in 1977. It is, however, still available online.
As much as anything, Fox's brainchild was a victim of its own success.
His influence triggered a dramatic change in American journalism. Because of the success he enjoyed focusing on sports, mainstream daily newspapers began producing sections dedicated to sports news and features about sports personalities.
Other publications mimicked his bare-bones approach to writing and reporting, and enjoyed the same kind of success--even today.
The names of some frontier towns are uniquely American, often romantic, and always visual --cowboy towns, cattle towns, gold rush towns, logging communities and, of course, ghost towns.
Some of the names hold a certain fascination and bring to mind visions of cattle drives, and shootouts.
The more popular ones are legend: Tombstone, Deadwood, Abilene, Bandera Pass, Dodge City, Cochise --names synonymous with the 19th century Old West.
But, there were others – not as notorious – equally visual, and often humorous.
The founders of these towns followed no particular pattern. Sometimes, names changes occurred because there were other towns with the same name. Forest City, Colorado, for example, got changed to St. Elmo. One of the founders based the new name on the title of a novel he was reading at the time.
Here are a few examples of towns with unusual names. Some are still inhabited. Others stand as dusty, out-of-the-way ghost towns.
Total Wreck, Arizona. Now a ghost town in Pima County, the site got its name when miners discovered silver. John Dillon, who owned the claim, gave the settlement the name because he thought the mine was on a ledge that looked like “a Total Wreck.”
Bridal Veil, Oregon. Establishing during the 1880s during a logging boom. According to legend, a steamboat passenger on the Columbia River spotted a waterfall that she said looked like a “delicate, misty bride’s veil.” The town took the name when its first post office opened.
Crowheart, Wyoming. In 1866, Chief Washakie of the Shoshones, and Chief Big Robber of the Crow tribe agreed to a duel with the winner claiming the rights to the Wind River hunting grounds. Chief Washakie won the fight and, according to legend, was so impressed with the courage of the Crow chief that, rather than scalping the fallen warrior, he cut out his heart. What a relief! A couple of miles from the mesa where the fight took place, settlers founded a town, and named it Crowheart.
Miner’s Delight, Wyoming. This was one of the state’s first communities, founded during the mining boom in 1868. Also known as Hamilton City, the name Miners Delight came about after discovery of a golden lode – a miner’s delight – on a ridge above town. Today, the ghost town consists of 17 structures, salvaged through historic preservation, and provides a glimpse of early Wyoming life, and the gold mining culture.
Big Bug, Arizona. ProspectorTheodore Boggs founded the town in 1862, during the Civil War, along Big Bug Creek. He named the town after the large, brown beetles that lived in the area. As a side note, his mother was the granddaughter of Daniel Boone, which made Boggs a descendant.
Cripple Creek, Colorado. The town got its name supposedly because of a series of accidents. One story says drovers named the town when a cattleman building a shelter near a creek accidentally discharged his gun. The bullet hit another man in the foot. The sound of the gunshot frightened a calf, which broke its leg trying to leap over the creek. Cripple Creek is the site of the richest gold mine ever discovered on earth. Between 1897 and 1916, it gave up $340 million in gold.
Ten Sleep, Wyoming. Located at the base of the Big Horn Mountains, Ten Sleep is a small ranching community that got its name because it was ten sleeps – nights – from Fort Laramie –a method Indians used to measure distance. Ten Sleep was also the site of the Spring Creek Raid, in 1909, one of the last feuds of the West’s Sheep and Cattlemen’s War.
Baby Head, Texas. One of the more grisly names for a town, it got its name based on an incident in which Indians killed an infant, decapitated her, and placed her head on a pole on Babyhead Mountain as a warning to settlers. Founded in the 1870s, settlers named it Baby Head to commemorate the event. Baby Head Cemetery stands as the last physical reminder of the settlement.
The “most unfortunate” name for a town in the U.S., according to a poll across seven English-speaking countries, is Toad Suck, Arkansas.
I don’t really know whether this qualifies as an “Old West” town. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact date of its founding. Nevertheless, the name intrigued me. Located in central Arkansas, the town got its name “long ago” when steamboats traveled the Arkansas River.
If the water wasn’t at the right depth, the captains, and their crews, tied up to wait, and refreshed themselves at the local tavern. Locals said these men “suck on the bottle ’till they swell up like toads.”
