by Sylvia McNicoll | Nov 7, 2012 | Sylvia McNicoll
This endcap is located at my nearest Indigo at 1250 Brant Street, right next to the new Marshalls.  I’m signing there this Thursday, November 8 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Chris Chehowski, the enthusiastic new manager there, invited me on this his Plum Rewards night.  People enrolled in their free Plum Rewards program will get scratch and save cards, the first 25 will get a free prize.  There will a singer, refreshments.  It’s a general customer appreciation night.  Check out the details here: http://www.facebook.com/events/203414569793017/
I’m looking forward to meeting new readers and maybe getting some shopping done myself. As per my custom, IÂ will be offering my up own renowned Mars Bars Squares and cheerfully answering questions from eager writers or readers. And of course signing! Â Not just my latest Red Maple Nominee, crush. candy. corpse but also Grave Secrets and Last Chance for Paris.
We’re still pondering about signings being a good use of authors’ time. So far so good.
Late breaking news: Â November 27th and the endcap is still up. This morning I received an email from a Burlington reader Amy who says she picked up crush. candy.corpse from the end cap, read the back blurb and ended up buying it. Â She said she isn’t a big reader but she loved the story, and cheered for Sunny at the end. Â She also picked up another of my books and intends to read more of my titles.
Signings seem to be the only way to connect with a non school market. Â
by Sylvia McNicoll | Oct 28, 2012 | Sylvia McNicoll
Guests at the Author Appreciation Party
Authors love to party and we love being appreciated. So when Wendy Mason and Christie Harkin invited us to an author appreciation party, we showed up in droves. (Full confession, camera battery was dead and Frankenstein and his bride did not attend, my daughter, the bride here, is the author of soon to be released Wardroids, though)
What we did, besides eat and drink, was discuss books, publishers and awards. Librarians and literacy consultants also showed, they were very appreciative of us and that felt wonderful.
I met Jennifer Lanthier and looked at her lovely Heather’s pic’ The Stamp Collector. I chatted with Barbara Reid (Picture a Tree) and Deborah Kerbel (Under
the Moon) who are both nominated for Govenor General Awards. Afterwards I rushed to Indigo for Deborah’s book. Then I talked to Mahtab Narsimhan (The Tiffan) about our Red Maple nominations. I’d long ago bought and read her novel about a boy whose life went a different direction because of a message misdirected in a lunch box.
Readers might be surprised to learn that these awards do not pit author against author. Most of us are good friends and admire each other’s work. We know how difficult a job writing can be. Ah but so much fun, especially the parties. And I love to enjoy someone else’s story. We are our own best appreciators; we love to read. I can’t tell you how many times I heard authors tell each other at this party that they’d read or were going to read each other’s books.
The Red Maple shortlists ten fiction (and ten non fiction) books for grade 7 and
8 students to read and select one favourite. Hurray if that’s my book or Mahtab’s. But both our books can be your favourite, or all ten. Or you can like each for a different reason. You can read those ten and read our other titles and decide you like a different novel much better. I would definitely read Deborah Kerbel’s and I will buy Barbara Reid’s Picture a Tree. I also bought The Town that Drowned by Riel Nason. She wasn’t even at the party and her novel is on the Red Maple list.
The bookshelf in my heart holds many titles and so can yours.
by Sylvia McNicoll | Oct 22, 2012 | Sylvia McNicoll
A Genuine Red Maple
The Red Maple program will get into full swing around January, so I’m told, but I received my first note regarding the awards, the day after the announcement. I think it had more to do with bookstore signings than the Red Maple.
Most authors despise these events. Bookstore customers slink around you, averting your eyes, or ask you where the washrooms/mugs/giftwrap is. No matter which award you’ve won, your audience stays away in droves. Hey, they’ve already read your novel.
Everyone who is nominated has already won a larger readership.
Nobody lines up for your autograph; you have to call out to distant passerbyers. I make treats: so for crush.candy.corpse I call out, “Hey, want to try a Mars Bar square.” and when I draw them in, I quickly spew about the story and hope to hook them into buying. At the end of a good four hours of this, I will have sold 30 books.
So what makes it the least bit worth while? If you don’t make the tree lists and you haven’t had any author visits for a while, it’s a way of reaching out to the public. The sales clerk may develop an affinity for you and your titles and may hand sell for a while. The store may keep a display of the book for a very short while.
The real payoff I think, though, are the new readers you make, independent of school, teachers,
librarians and awards. Takes reading out of the have to, hate to category. Makes broccoli into chocolate again, if you know what I mean.
Chloe would be such a new reader. Chloe, if you’re reading this blog post, can you answer this question: would you have read crush. candy.corpse if your cousin had not met me and bought you Last Chance for Paris? Do you think you ever would have read Last Chance for Paris? Authors out there did you ever make a contact who you felt was worth your four hours? Yes or no, are booksignings worth it. Weigh in!
Here’s Chloe’s note, published with her kind permission.
Hi,
My name is Chloe and I am in grade 7 at Immaculata in Ottawa, Ontario.
I read your Last Chance For Paris book which my cousin Claire had got signed for me at a chapters in Toronto this summer and was so excited when our schools teacher librarian Mme. Charon told us one of your books was on the list. I want to email just to tell you in person congrats on your nomination and you will probably be getting my vote. Thank you so much if you actually read this and again congrats!
Your number 1 fan,
Chloe
by Sylvia McNicoll | Oct 15, 2012 | Sylvia McNicoll
Writers love libraries, they’re our paradise.
The angels who help us around there are the librarians. Â Over the summer a flock of the angels spend their times reading all the Canadian children’s books and making lists of ten for each tree award. Â Each different tree represents a different age group. The Silver Birch is the tree for grades four to six for example. Â My novel Bringing Up Beauty won this award and I would say it launched my career even though I’d written eight books before it.
Only ten books make a list and I think the criteria cannot  be that the books are the best, but rather that they are appealing in unique ways.  I’m not sure.  I just know fabulous books make the list and fabulous books don’t. Being nominated for a tree award by a group of these angels sends us halfway to heaven.  When I write a story, I’m always hoping for an audience of readers, a big audience.  When you’re nominated for a tree, all the schools participating order a set of your novels.  That delivers many readers to my story.
So I’m very happy to announce that Crush. Candy. Corpse was nominated for the Red Maple Award. Â This would be for grade 7 and 8.
I love the competition on the list and hope to read all those books. Hope you will too.
by Sylvia McNicoll | Oct 6, 2012 | Sylvia McNicoll
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| A snail galloping through Bronte Creek |
The other night at writers’ group, I read a new scene from a story with the working title What the Dog Taught Me This will make the fourth rewrite for this book and I should have it perfect by now. In this scene a dog galloped.
One of my friendly colleagues suggested that horses galloped. That to her it was a very horselike move.
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| Worf aka Brownie in my book has white socks which make him horselike too |
I thought about this but then said that while it was a verb often reserved for horses, by allowing the dog to gallop it made him more horselike. In point of fact the real dog I based the story on, always reminds me of a horse. He has a horse brown smooth coat and when he’s calm well, I feel like I’m patting an equine animal.
Do you like that verb? Can you picture this big brown Australian cattle dog moving his legs in unison quickly off the ground like a horse?
Well, then this morning I took my dog to Bronte Creek where they have this great leash free hike and there in the path was a snail, his head all stretched out of his shell and I remembered a book I wrote called The Big Race. The kids in it competed by playing baseball, reading for crocheted bookworm prizes and racing snails. While doing research for this first chapter book, I learned that when snails move slowly, the verb used is creeping. But when snails move quickly, and quick is relative, they gallop.
I used to tell my grade 2 and 3 audiences about this little known fact. Then I
would imitate the starting horn at the races and show some ceramic snails “galloping”. Ah memories! Wish that book was still in print.
In any case I think it’s easier to picture my fictional dog galloping.
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| Same colour as my fictional dog, this horse is
not galloping though |
by Sylvia McNicoll | Sep 30, 2012 | Sylvia McNicoll
Lately I’ve been attending many birthday celebrations, lovely events, unique in that they are celebrating the birthday of a book. Â Today on the celebration of my own birth, I attended Gillian Chan’s launch of A Call to Battle, Scholastic Canada. Â If you read nothing else on the war of 1812, you must read this young boy’s diary of his experiences in the battles. Â What is lovely about a book launch is you meet so many different authors. I decided to survey some to find out what tips they might offer to hosting such an event.Â
 Tip 1  Rukshana Khan (author of Wanting Mor)  Don’t have one! Use the money on a mailing list to a school.  Lest that sound too grumpy, other writers, Jo-Ellen Bogart for example, agreed that these events were fraught with anxiety (will anyone come?)and expense and that at the very least you shouldn’t have a launch for each and every book.  Hard, books are children, which ones do you favour, which ones aren’t allowed to have a party.Â
 Tip 2  Gisela Sherman (author of Grave Danger) Use it as an opportunity to celebrate an achievement with friends and don’t worry about sales. See already we have controversy.  Writers are just like that.  Being a party girl myself I agree with Gisela.  Who wants to do a mailing list?  Where are the cupcakes in that?
 Tip 3  Lena Coakley(Witchlanders)  Don’t host your launch to coincide with the actual release date. Oh man that’s a good one.  I would add don’t plan one too far in advance.  You really need to have the books available.  Pub dates can be moving targets. Often books are late or held up somewhere. My latest Crush. Candy. Corpse was available two weeks in advance of the March 12 release date and to be safe I planned my launch for April 1.  By that time, curious friends and family could have bought their copies already.
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| Jennifer Maruno created a stunning display of Cherry Blossom Winter and cupcakes at a Different Drummer Book Store launch. |
Tip 4 by Marsha Skrypuch(One Step at a Time) Don’t marry your launch to a book store.  She launched her latest at a train station in Brantford.  I loved it.  Trains thundered in dramatically in between questions and readings. Jo Ellen Bogart (Big and Small, Room for All) noted her favourite launch was in a one room old school house in Toronto for a book called Jerimiah Learns to Read, very well attended she thought at least in part because it was on a Toronto subway line.
Tip 5 by Anne Gray (Healer’s Touch) of course feels the opposite way. Â Host your celebration in a lovely intimate bookstore like Bryan Prince in Hamilton the way Gillian Chan did or in A Different Drummer, the way Jennifer Maruno and I did. Â That way your attendants can look at all the books while they’re milling about. Â I also think there’s a possibility of a drift in audience coming and purchasing multiple copies too.
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| Gillian Chan dresses in authentic custom made clothing from the era circa 1912 |
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| Marsha Skrypuch brings tears to my eyes when she describes Tuyet’s experiences as a Vietnamese orphan. |
Tip 6 Â Jo Ellen Bogart says to invite your illustrator. Â It helps if she’s famous like Babara Reid (Picture a Tree). The illustrator then brings all her friends and family. Â Some writers I know join with other authors to have larger launches for just this reason. Â If you’re an Ontario librarian, watch for the CANSCAIP Mass Book Launch to be held at the OLA Super Conference, Friday, February 1 noon till 2ish.
Tip 7 Me,  Use social media the way the dental receptionist uses her phone to remind you about your appointment.  Facebook and tweet the date, time location, etc. frequently, so your friends and family don’t forget to come and also so you get more joiners.  I would print up a written invite for the luddites in your world.  Hard copy lingers on the fridge.
Tip 8 Me again. Â Avail yourself of different listings. Â CANSCAIP and Canadian Children’s Book Centre have events pages.
Tip 9 Â Gillian Chan (A Call to Battle) Â Okay she didn’t tell me this directly but she thanked the Dundas Star on Facebook. Â I will say approach your local newspaper to try to get some free publicity. Â In a perfect world, they announce the event in advance, send a photographer and write up a piece about the event afterwards. Â We’re trying to create a buzz here people. Â Everyone needs to read about your work at least three times in order to be nudged into buying.
Tip 10 Â Me again. Â Supply some goodies. Â They can link to what your characters ate in your book or just be your trademark cookie or square. Announce them on your various Twitters and Facebook invites. Â Wine isn’t necessary and requires all kinds of permits. Â Have that at home later with your feet up.
Ten+ top secrets, where’s the + you’re asking? Â Some pithy wisdom as a long time writer: Â there are no secrets to a great launch. Â So many wonderful ideas fail spectacularly due to the weather or a random parade or sale at a store nearby. Â Try to have fun bringing your literary child into the world so that if everything falls flat at least you didn’t strain yourself.
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