JP McLean

Writing Addictive Fiction

Book Promotion

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I’ve been trying on this new straitjacket called Book Promotion, and it doesn’t fit very well. Press releases are bulging out in all the wrong places and my arms are tied up in a frustrating search for comps and target audiences. I have so many questions: How do you write a press release? Where do you send it? How do you find books comparable to your own? Where are your readers hanging out?

Woman with her back to cameraThese are just a few of the book promotion questions I’ve been asking Google, Goodreads and anyone else who promises an answer. I’m spending more time lost in Internet rabbit warrens than I am writing. And I’ve got to tell you, I much prefer writing fiction than writing press releases.

What’s the point?

But I’ve learned something in the process:  researching comps does have a purpose (other than frustrating novice marketers like me).

Case in point, as part of the marketing research, I went through the exercise of identifying the target market for Awakening.  Next came brainstorming where this highly discerning market congregates and shops, and then what other books they’re reading.

That’s where the interesting bit came in.

The Gift Trilogy is an urban fantasy.  The urban fantasy genre often draws from other genres, like mystery, romance or thriller. My books draw on the thriller genre—which isn’t unusual—what sets them apart is that they don’t have vampires, werewolves or alternate universes.  Not that I don’t enjoy those elements – I do (just check out my Goodreads page) – I just didn’t put those elements in my books.

So … maybe the frustrating struggle with the straitjacket was worthwhile.  Maybe it helped me identify my books’ “Unique Selling Point.”  Apparently that’s very important.  And it might not be much, but it’s a start!

You Wrote a Book?

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Winter with laptopAfter my friends get over the shock that I wrote a book, the question I get asked most often is, “What prompted that?”

Good Question

Like many people, I’d entertained the thought that it would be great to write and work from the comfort of home. But I dismissed the notion thinking I’d never have an idea big or captivating enough to fill a book.

Then I came across the story of Stephenie Meyer, who wrote the very successful Twilight books. Those books grew out of one scene that she wrote based on a dream. One scene!  The thought stuck with me. Could it really be that uncomplicated?

I Gave it a Shot

Late in the fall of 2010 with a long, rainy, west coast winter set in for the duration, I pulled my computer into my lap and started playing. I wrote one scene; an uncomplicated one.  It started life as a paragraph. I rewrote it a dozen times and with each rewrite, I added detail and nuance. That first paragraph quickly expanded into a page, and then two.  The more I wrote, the more absorbed I became in the process. I learned about writing from different points of view, and the structure of past, present and future tenses. I learned the importance of using all the senses to paint a picture, and the super power of a good simile or metaphor.

Ideas Came Out of Nowhere

Ideas came at me out of nowhere and soon my one uncomplicated scene matured into the gangly first draft of Awakening. No one was more surprised than me that first time I typed “the end.” I lingered on Cloud Nine blissfully unaware of how much work was still to come.

I am so grateful I had the time that winter to explore that one uncomplicated scene. I’ve discovered a passion I didn’t know was in me and now my one scene has turned into a trilogy.  Who knows where it might take me next?

Update:

That one-off book, come Trilogy, ended up as a series. You can read about The Gift Legacy here.

 

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

First Public Reading

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JP McLean reading from AwakeningRecently, I gave my first author reading of my debut novel, Awakening.

Public Speaking

Do you get nervous when speaking in public? In previous jobs, I’d given a few large-scale presentations. In the beginning my nerves were so bad I’d get sick to my stomach. But with each event, my nervous energy settled down. In time, my nerves levelled out at a manageable buzz.

That manageable buzz is what I expected when I signed up to read from my new book at this year’s Denman Island Readers’ and Writers’ Festival (link).

Turns out my work experiences didn’t prepare me at all. On July 20th, I got up on stage, spoke into the mic and read from Awakening for the first time. My whole body shook, sweat prickled, my voice cracked. And this despite having read the piece aloud dozens of times.

A Bad Case of Nerves

I’m still trying to figure out why my nerves were so bad. Fear, I suppose. Would the audience like my work? Would they judge me? Would I blow my timing?

As it turned out, the audience didn’t toss rotten veggies on stage. Instead, I heard gasps and laughter (in the right places) and they clapped at the end. And our moderator, Des Kennedy, didn’t have to come out with a hook to yank me off stage.

Whew! Survived the first one.

Update: In 2013 I picked up some valuable tips about reading from my work in public. You can read about it here.

 

Coming Soon, JP McLean’s Debut Novel, Awakening

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JP McLean author photoJP (Jo-Anne) McLean’s debut novel, Awakening, is coming soon. JP lives and writes from her home on Denman Island. Her debut novel is an urban fantasy thriller. Awakening* is the first book in The Gift Legacy and it’s coming soon. Look for it in hardcover, paperback and e-book from FriesenPress.

Release Date TBA
353 pages
$19.99 Cdn

Have you ever dreamed you could fly? Emelynn Taylor did.
Except . . . it wasn’t a dream.

*Update! in 2017, The Gift Legacy books underwent a rebranding. Awakening is now titled Secret Sky. You can read about the rebranding here: JP McLean’s debut novel gets a makeover

When Emelynn Taylor wakes up in the emergency room, her injuries present Dr. Avery Coulter with more questions than answers.

Who is this guarded young woman? Why was she found in the middle of Sunset Park? How can she have injuries consistent with falling from above the tree line? Seemingly from nowhere?

And, more importantly: Why is she lying about it?

The truth is stranger than anyone could have imagined – least of all Emelynn herself.

Nine years earlier, during the same summer she’d lost her father, 12-year-old Emelynn accepted a ‘gift’ from a mysterious woman called Jolene.

Now, as she recovers in Dr. Coulter’s emergency room, she’s left wondering if that blessing was really more of a curse.

Jolene’s gift planted the seeds of incredible power within Emelynn – but what’s the point of such abilities if you can’t control them?

Her emerging gift of flight, for example, nearly killed Emelynn when it sent her plummeting to the sidewalk in Sunset Park. Next time, she might not be so lucky.

But Emelynn is determined to master her abilities, and returns to the seaside cottage where Jolene had once granted her this ‘gift.’ There, Dr. Coulter guides Emelynn in uncovering a secret society of others just like her, who inhabit a mysterious world-within-a-world that challenges everything Emelynn thought she’d known.

But the more she uncovers, the murkier the truth becomes. Soon, Emelynn is left questioning the motives of those she’d trusted the most – and is forced to rely on her barely-mastered powers in a desperate fight for survival.

Secret Sky is the first book in the thrilling, otherworldly The Gift Legacy series by JP McLean. Seamlessly blending paranormal mystery, fantasy, and romance, this beautifully written and deeply resonant adventure will swoop you into a vivid, new reality and leave your imagination soaring.