Spotlight Profile
July 2003
From bottom left corner, clockwise:
Susan McBride, Letha Albright, Lisa Kleinholz and Denise Swanson
Right after I was asked to help with Spotlight, I got the great idea to interview the Deadly Divas about their promotional ideas. It was actually going to be my first interview. A sibling with some experience with this suggested for my first interview I should consider doing a single subject. I took her advice, but decided my next interview was definitely going to be the Divas. Boy, I had no idea what I was getting into. I’ve spent weeks trying to find a clever way to format this interview, but after much trial and error, ended up with a standard question and answer format.
According to a headline in the Nashville City Paper, “When It Comes to Promotion, These Divas Are Deadly.” The four ladies in question--Susan McBride, Denise Swanson, Letha Albright and Lisa Kleinholz--have traveled the country for several years, donning boas and tiaras to attract attention to their writing. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch web site noted, “the Divas have smartly distinguished themselves from the ever-growing pack by banding together to promote their respective works…these sassy scribes seem to know marketing as well as they know crime.” I found them all super to deal with, and they’ve given us some excellent advice on promotion. So sit back and enjoy as the Divas settle their tiaras firmly on their heads and chat about their books and experiences.
Welcome, Deadly Divas, to the internet chapter's spotlight!
IC
The four of you write very different types of books, publish with different sized publishers, have backgrounds in very different professions and come from all over the country. What brought you together to form the Deadly Divas?
SUSAN
After And Then She Was Gone debuted in April of 1999, I did about three months of individual signing events and realized what tough work being on the road was. It was nothing like I'd imagined. So I had an idea to get together at least four female mystery authors with first novels coming out within the year. I mentioned something about it on DorothyL, the mystery listserv, and heard from Denise and Letha. I wanted to call the group the “Who the Heck Are They? Book Tour 2000," but Denise said, "No way." So she and I batted names back and forth, and the Deadly Divas were born. We did two long road trips together, in Texas and California, in 2000, and then added Lisa to the mix in 2001. I love that we make it more like a theatrical performance than a simple book signing. We wear our feather boas and tiaras, give away lots of goodies, and do a panel discussion on "Why Nice Women Write About Murder." I feel like we practically have a cult following by now! Seriously, it's like taking a party on the road, and touring with Lisa, Letha and Denise is like having my sisters along every trip. I love it.
DENISE
About eight months before my first book, Murder of a Small-Town Honey, was to be published, Susan posted on DorothyL asking if any first-time authors would be interested in joining her to form a group to do book signing tours. Since it took me forever (five years) to get a contract, I had been hanging around on-line and at writer’s conferences, listening to authors talk about various subjects for a long time. At some point, their conversation always turned to promotion, and they all agreed that it was extremely difficult to get any interest for a lone author, not to mention emotionally wearing and expensive. So Susan’s idea of forming a group sounded like a wonderful idea to me.
I immediately e-mailed her and asked to be considered for inclusion. We e-mailed back and forth nearly every day for the next eight months and our first appearance as the Deadly Divas was July 2000 in Texas. We did a ten-day tour which was extremely successful, and Susan, Letha, and I have been together ever since. Lisa joined us about eighteen months ago.
LISA
I'm the latecomer. I joined the group formally in the spring of 2001, when the Deadly Divas needed a new member. The previous fall, I met Letha through the DorothyL list on the Internet. We had read each other's books and found that they had a lot in common.
Later that fall, at Magna cum Murder, I appeared on a panel moderated by Susan. Before the conference, I e-mailed her to suggest a few questions. Susan e-mailed me back saying something like, 'I have it totally under control.' Susan is very tactful so it wasn't that blunt, but I remember thinking, Hmm, who is this pushy dame? Guess that shows the "diva" side of both our personalities. We both have very definite ideas about how things should be done.
But, when we finally met on the panel, we had a great time. Susan is funny, very funny, even though her sleuth Maggie Ryan is probably the darkest of all the Divas' protagonists. Denise was there, too. She is a veritable fountain of one-liners. We ended up hanging out together most of the weekend. It was a hoot.
IC
What kind of promotion did you do before you became part of the Deadly Divas?
SUSAN
I didn't really know what was required of me before And Then She Was Gone came out, so I made up book bags with lots of goodies relating to my book (and a free copy) and hand-delivered or mailed those to stores where I wanted to sign. I was told those babies were better than anything the big publishers sent around, which made me very happy. Basically, I did three months of individual signings at bookstores, libraries and mystery conventions. I sent out loads of flyers and postcards (the kind with
my book cover on them), had jigsaw puzzles and mouse pads made up for bookstores. I spent a lot more money than was necessary because I tried a lot of different things. But the Deadly Divas has been, by far, the best promotional tool for me, and probably for all of us.
DENISE
I have a chronological list of what to do at what time. The list starts at twelve months before publication and continues through the actual pub date. Most of what I did was preparatory. I had my author photo taken, put my mailing list on labels, created a press kit, began a list of booksellers, reviewers, and librarians that might be interested in receiving galleys, ordered postcards, bookmarks, and promotional items, created a website, and arranged for individual signings in my local area.
LETHA
Fortunately, I hooked up with the Divas just as my first book came out. I was trying to figure out just how to promote my book when the chance came along to join with other mystery authors.
LISA
Before I was published I had no idea what was involved in promotion. Despite the little I'd read from Sisters in Crime, it was a very rude awakening. The worst part is knowing how much those book sales will affect your publishing future.
For my first Zoe Szabo mystery, Exiles on Main Street, I waited eagerly for the publicity department at HarperCollins to tell me what to do. They arranged for me to give a talk at the library in my old hometown, Port Washington, on Long Island, NY, which I had suggested. That was it. After a month or so, I realized I had to get off my duff and do things myself.
With the Divas, the work and expenses are shared. The publicity we do leading up to signings is more effective because of our gimmick and Susan's great knack of knowing just how to put things. The panels are always well attended because we send out PR materials so the bookstore or library can advertise our coming with boas and other Divas’ goodies. And people love the sense of fun the idea of “The Deadly Divas” projects.
IC
Do you all still do individual promotions or are you strictly a team?
SUSAN
No, we still do individual signings. We all live in different cities (only two Divas even live in the same state, myself and Letha), so it's impossible for us to do everything together. But we try to do a couple of major "tours" a year together and whatever other road trips we can fit in. It is much more fun to do Divas’ gigs than solo events.
DENISE
I do individual signings in my local area, attend mystery conferences such as Malice Domestic, Mayhem in the Midlands, and Deadly Ink, and do stock signings as I travel through different areas. I also send postcards when my new books come out.
LETHA
We each do our own thing when it works out best that way. For instance, my books are set in Oklahoma, so I’ve done several signings there on my own. Some Divas want to do more events than others or at times when we can’t all be there. We’re pretty flexible, and we may even invite "Honorary Divas" to appear with us from time to time. We may even invite a guy to join us on occasion: The Deadly Divas and a Dude. It hasn’t happened yet. I think the guys are scared of us.
LISA
The interesting thing that has happened to me is that through all the effort on the front-end, I get a lot of offers to appear on library and conference panels and do bookstore signings. So, yes, I do other things. I'm between books now, so I'm not pushing, but the offers keep coming. That's the payoff. When my next book, Sea of Bones, a stand-alone undersea suspense book set in the Florida Keys, comes out I intend to do a big push, both on my own and in tandem with the Deadly Divas when possible. Promotion is like childbirth, it gets easier each time you go through it.
IC
What is the most outrageous promotional stunt you’ve tried so far?
SUSAN
Outrageous? Hmmm. I think every one of our events is outrageous. I mean, how often do you see grown women wearing feather boas and tiaras in public? I've posed on a piano for a group photo when we were in Dallas, though the picture that made the paper was one where Denise was choking me. Denise and I danced at Malice last year during the auction to up the bidding on a "Tea With The Divas" which we'd donated.
DENISE
Anderson’s Bookshop in Elmhurst, IL, hosted a dinner with the Divas.
They pre-sold tickets, the price of which included dinner, our talk and one book. Each Diva hosted a table of 10-12 people.
LISA
Getting dressed up in a boa and tiara. Each time I do it, I think, “Can this really be me?” Some outrageous stunts go beyond the pale. I think a tiara is my limit. Someone asked me to show up on a panel as Zoë, who is a glam-punk princess. I thought about it, then decided I was not about to get a buzz cut, die my hair pink, and wear killer heels and kick-ass short skirts. There is a line between having fun and sacrificing your dignity.
Whenever we appear, Susan always reminds the audience that even though we like to have fun on our panels, we do take ourselves seriously as authors. The panels are a combination of fun, quick repartee, laughter, and discussion of our themes and goals as writers. If one of us gets too heavy or goes on too long, we do jump in and kid each other, because we like to keep it lively and entertaining. Audiences appreciate the mix.
A couple of times, we've done game-show spoofs. One was "The Cheapest Link". We were quizzed on the other Divas' books. I was so scared I wouldn't know answers to the questions I re-read all the books. As it turned out, the questions I couldn't answer were things like the world's biggest diamond ... things every Diva should know.
IC
Have any of your pet promotional ideas flopped?
SUSAN
I don't think any Diva-related ideas have flopped. I did learn that you don't need to spend a lot of money on gimmicky products to draw attention to your books. That sort of attracted me at first, until I realized most of the stuff ended up in people's junk drawers. Mostly, readers enjoy bookmarks and postcards, newsletters, that kind of thing. Small stuff that's easy to take home with them.
LISA
Not when I was traveling with the Divas. I was talked into doing a mystery-author panel (not with the Divas) at a statewide librarian’s conference that shall remain nameless. I thought it would be mobbed. They scheduled us on a Sunday afternoon and there was almost nobody there. It was disheartening, but, hey, you win some, you lose some.
IC
What is the funniest thing you’ve encountered on a book tour?
SUSAN
Oh, my gosh. We've had lots of funny moments. I remember drinking some punch at Whitestone Books during our California tour, and I didn't realize it had alcohol in it. I'm a tea-totaler, so I started feeling giddy very quickly. I was messing up words, and kept telling people those were the German pronunciations. Some Ya-Ya Sisters showed up in full regalia, gowns, tiaras, and boas. It was wonderful. That night was a full moon, which we went outside and howled at afterward. Explains everything, doesn't it?
DENISE
In California a group of women who had formed their own Ya Ya Sisterhood
attended one of our signings dressed in full-length evening gowns, boas, and tiaras. They adopted us and gave us Ya Ya names.
LETHA
The local paper in Madison, Wisconsin, listed our presentation as "performance art." We were worried that we might be expected to sing or dance, but the audience didn't seem too disappointed when we did our usual panel presentation.
LISA
At the Amelia Island Book Island Festival, we were featured authors at the library kicking off the festival. An amateur theater troop acted out short scenes from our books. One of their props was a life-sized blow-up doll that they used as the corpse. It was pretty funny, with actors delivering gruff lines at the "crime scene" with this ridiculous blow-up dummy as the victim. It got a lot of laughs.
IC
And the most unusual event at a book signing?
SUSAN
Is this where I'm supposed to tell you about the rash I got in California???
DENISE
During a signing in St. Louis an EMT arrived with lights and sirens blaring to get Susan’s autograph.
LETHA
A library patron in Joliet registered a complaint with the library about the Deadly Divas’ featured presentation: Why Nice Women Write About Murder. "I
don’t think NICE women write about murder," she told the librarian, "and I disapprove of the library hosting this event." Or something to that effect. So we like to joke that the Divas were nearly banned in Joliet.
LISA
The time when the emergency medic interrupted one of our panels in St. Louis to ask Susan to sign a book. In the middle, she got a call on her walkie-talkie, but waited until Susan finished signing, before running off to the emergency. Everyone thought we'd set it up, but it was for real.
IC
Anything really scary ever happen during your travels?
SUSAN
Um, one strange fellow at a bookstore in Texas. The staff asked if we wanted them to walk us to our cars, but nothing happened. Phew.
DENISE
At a conference in New Jersey we did a spoof of “The Weakest Link” and I played the ditzy blonde. A gentleman in the audience fell for the act and kept trying to get me alone. I finally had to tell him that my husband was upstairs in out hotel room and would NOT be amused at his continued attention.
LISA
So far the scariest thing is arriving at a bookstore and thinking, “Oh my God, what if no one shows up?”
IC
Can you give us some basic promotional tips that everyone can use to boost their book sales?
SUSAN
Oh, gosh. Build a web site and get active on-line. Mystery discussion lists are great and give you a good feel of what other authors are doing. Attend mystery conventions, even if it's just one or two a year. You'll make a lot of new friends that way and learn more about how the business operates. Carry bookmarks or postcards in your purse, just in case. Make friends with your local bookstores, particularly the independents. Having booksellers on your side is invaluable. Speak at libraries, schools, women's groups, and book clubs in your hometown. One thing I know is that gigs beget gigs. It's a wonderful thing.
DENISE
Depending how basic you mean, my first advice would be to smile and make eye contact while doing signings. On the next level I would say start early. You really should begin your efforts at a minimum of four months prior to the book’s pub date. And for the advanced promoters, a good piece of advice is to always keep building on previous efforts but don’t do the same thing again and again.
LETHA
Remember that bookstore owners and librarians are your friends. Learn their names, thank them for having you, send a note after the event.
LISA
*Give yourself twice as much lead-time as you think you need.
*Before you get the contract, but after the manuscript has been read by lots of readers who are not your relatives and who honestly seem to love it, ask your writer friends and acquaintances for blurbs.
*Get your mailing list together and keep it updated.
*Get to know your local bookseller and go to signings and panels at their stores as often as you can.
*Make friends with your local librarians.
*Get together a media list for your local area. If you are in a small to mid-sized town with its own newspaper you're in luck, because they'll cover you if you give them enough lead time and a professional looking press release. Those articles are great for the press kit.
*Try to get your book into the hands of as many reviewers as possible. Use your connections.
*Join author’s organizations and be an active member: Sisters in Crime, MWA, National Writers Union.
*Support other authors.
*Don't panic.
*Buy thank you notes and send them promptly after anyone does anything to help you.
*Opportunities can come from the most surprising places. And sometimes the promotional events that sound most promising can turn out to be duds. Keep smiling and try to maintain an optimistic attitude. Something you do that seems a total waste can lead to unexpected boons.
IC
What is the one most important thing to remember when you shift from writer mode to promotion mode?
SUSAN
To let yourself go and have a good time. Put on your party face and enjoy yourself, for heaven's sake, because it's not worth it otherwise. I told myself when I started doing promotion that I couldn't be afraid to make a fool of myself. And I have [made a fool of myself]. But I've loved every minute.
DENISE
This is tough because you are switching from being an introvert to an extrovert. You need to be outgoing and social.
LISA
Writing is introspective and solitary. Switching into an outgoing mode can be difficult for me. I try to relax and be myself. Readers, bookstore owners, librarians will connect because they love books just as much as I do.
IC
How do you balance your time between promoting your current book and still making your deadlines on your new one?
SUSAN
That's the trickiest part of it all, I think. If anyone knows the secret to juggling writing, promotion, and real-life, I'd love to hear it. You just do the best you can. I remember telling Libby Hellmann to set aside a certain amount of time per week to work on promotion, say ten hours. But that's hard to do. I spent the last three years going on the road for much of the year, which cut back on my writing time. I was working another job as well, so time was tight. I'm cutting back this year immensely to make time to
write. I've already finished a third Maggie Ryan book, Walk into Silence, turned in Blue Blood (the first "Deb Dropout" book), and aim to get the second "Deb" book written before the year is done. Each author has to see what works for her and stick to that. Much like the writing process itself, it’s an individual thing.
DENISE
Another tough issue. I also continue to work my day job as a school psychologist so I have to add that into the mix, as well as family obligations. I do the most intense promotion in the four months right after a book comes out, at this time
I do a lot less writing. In the next four months, I try to do only one to two promotional events a month and my writing intensifies. During the last four months I do little to no promotion maybe one thing a month at most, and I write five to six hours a day four to five days a week.
Recently my publisher has asked me to do two books a year, which means this year, Murder of a Snake in the Grass came out in April and another, Murder of a Barbie and Ken, will be released in November. I have cut my promotional efforts by nearly half.
LETHA
That’s a tough balancing act. I have a full-time job, so I write on weekends, which also happens to be the time we travel to promote our books. The key is staying focused on one thing at a time and writing like mad when I get the chance.
LISA
This reminds me of the old joke about how do porcupines make love. Very carefully. Basically it's impossible. I have a husband and two teenage daughters who can't be totally ignored, plus a day job as freelance writer and editor. I do what I can, try to write down everything in one calendar so I know where I'm supposed to be at any given day and time, and surrender to reality when I must.
IC
How much time do you spend on the road? How do you balance family, writing and promotion? It seems like maybe one job to many.
SUSAN
The past few years, I felt like I was away from home at least a couple weekends of every month, and I was doing in-town gigs in between. It's very hard, because most writers have day jobs, families, church, hobbies, and who knows what else, plus the writing and promotion. Sometimes I wonder how anybody ever gets a book written. It's tough.
DENISE
For my first book, Murder of a Small-Town Honey, I did over fifty appearances, which meant I was on the road nearly every weekend that year. I’ve cut down, but I would say I still am on the road at least one weekend a month. Luckily, my husband is very supportive and often travels with me as we have no children.
LISA
The sad reality is that most writers I know balance not only family, writing, and promotion, but some other income-producing activity as well, either full-time or freelance. So it's two or three jobs too many. Writing fiction is something you do for love, not for money or glamour, boas and tiaras notwithstanding.
But, gosh, that's why the boa and tiara and Divas shtick works so well, because it's ironic. We are mimicking the glamour picture many of us had of the writing profession before we faced the nitty-gritty reality. The audience understands that. We talk about it openly. And they connect to us on a human level because of it.
IC
Give us the sixty second book promotion workshop…The one part that absolutely, positively has to be done right to get and keep your book sales going.
SUSAN
Number one is to keep writing good books. There is no amount of promotion you can do that would build sales of a stinker. After that, I'd say, be sincere, be polite, don't hold a grudge, and give back to those who've helped you. If you start off on the wrong foot, acting like a jerk and alienating people in the business, you are sunk. People have long memories, so say "thank you" often and don't be too pushy.
DENISE
Keep your name out there. Name recognition and word of mouth is what sells books.
LETHA
See my basic promotion tip, above. I absolutely believe that it’s the most important way to spread the word about your books. If the bookstore owners and librarians remember you and think you’re a decent writer and human being, they’ll recommend you to their customers and patrons.
LISA
The biggest thing you can do is create an irresistible, entertaining, and enticing--but brief-- message about what your book is about and why people should be want to buy it and read it. A similar message about who your sleuth is and why she is interesting and appealing is also important.
IC
Okay, how about a little promotion among friends? Tell us about your current projects, what you’ve got coming up and what amazing new ideas you have to promote them.
SUSAN
I am so excited about my new "Debutante Dropout Series" from Avon, with Blue Blood debuting in February of 2004. The name of a secondary character from the second book (The Dallas Diet Club) was auctioned off at Malice this year and a copy of the manuscript for Blue Blood was auctioned off at Mayhem. I'm already plotting some "Divas and Debutantes" events with Deadly Divas and special guest authors, including a panel at Murder in the Magic City next year. I'll be Toastmistress at Mayhem in the Midlands in 2004, so I'll get to toast my friend and Guest of Honor, Kent Krueger.
DENISE
I mentioned that Murder of a Snake in the Grass came out in April. One new thing I’m trying with this book is appearing at my hometown library and doing a show called “Scumble River Trivia.” Since Scumble River is partially based on my hometown—Coal City, IL—and this is the fourth book, I figured there’ll be enough people in the audience who know the series to play.
For my fifth book, Murder of a Barbie and Ken, due out in November, I’m being interviewed by the National Association of School Psychologists for their monthly magazine. With nearly 30,000 school psychologists in the US, I’m hoping to stir up more interest in my school psychologist-sleuth.
LETHA
I’m revising my latest Viv Powers book, Bad-Luck Woman, and looking for a home for my Great Depression crime novel, Bed of Stone. I wish I had an amazing new idea to promote them. Maybe by the time they’re out, I’ll come up with something.
LISA
My current project is polishing Sea of Bones, an undersea suspense story set in the Florida Keys. It's about marine biology, sex, and sunken treasure--not necessarily in that order. I've spent a lot of time diving the reefs with marine biologists and attending coral reef conferences. Scientists give vivid slide presentations. I'd like to do a mini-slide show on coral reefs--the reef creatures, the scientists in SCUBA gear, the labs, and the microbes--as part of my book promotion
Who knows? Maybe Denise, Susan, and Letha will talk me into something a little crazier. But I will draw the line on costumes: No wet suit and no flippers.
IC
Ladies, thank you for your time. There are some real jewels of information here that can benefit the published and pre-published of our group. For more information on the Deadly Divas and their books, check out their web site at
http:\\www.deadlydivas.com
This interview was conducted during the month of June 2003 for SinC-IC
by Kadi Easley.
E-mail Deadly Divas
E-mail Kadi
Visit Deadly Divas at http://www.DeadlyDivas.com
Read an earlier Spotlight Profile
