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My guests today are New Romantics Press, who are four authors: Lizzie Lamb, Adrienne Vaughan, Mags Cullingford and June Kearns. As members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme (“RNA”), they ‘decided to take destiny into their own hands, form New Romantics Press and publish their novels in 2012. They were further inspired by the success of E L James’ 50 Shades of Grey which took the publishing world by storm’. Find out more on their website, which includes a blog, and information about their books. In this blog post ‘A Fresh Page’, they talk about what they achieved in 2014, and their plans for this year, which include going to the RNA Conference in July (see you there ladies!).
My guests today are New Romantics Press, who are four authors: Lizzie Lamb, Adrienne Vaughan, Mags Cullingford and June Kearns. As members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme (“RNA”), they ‘decided to take destiny into their own hands, form New Romantics Press and publish their novels in 2012. They were further inspired by the success of E L James’ 50 Shades of Grey which took the publishing world by storm’. Find out more on their website, which includes a blog, and information about their books. In this blog post ‘A Fresh Page’, they talk about what they achieved in 2014, and their plans for this year, which include going to the RNA Conference in July (see you there ladies!).
I’ve known Lizzie Lamb since I first joined Twitter in
October 2011, and have met her several times at RNA events. Lizzie has a
fantastic sense of humour, and it’s always a joy to bump into her at these
events. Below is a photo taken by me, of Lizzie and Adrienne at the RNA Winter
Party in 2012.
L-R: Lizzie and Adrienne |
New Romantics Press have a noticeable presence on social
media, as individuals and together; both on Twitter and Facebook. And they
organise events locally like this Literary Lunch at The
Belmont Hotel in Leicester. Doesn’t their flyer make it look enticing?
I’ve invited these lovely ladies to answer questions on marketing
books, as they have so much advice to give. Thanks to all of you for agreeing
to be guests on my neetsmarketing blog! Here are my questions:
Whose idea was it to market books as a group, and how
did you go about organising yourselves?
Adrienne: I can’t actually remember whose
idea it was. The fabulous Regency novelist, Amanda Grange set us on our way, and
we were all at the same stage regarding having a novel ready for publication.
It did occur to me, with my PR hat on, that it would be much more of a story if
not one, but four writers decided to publish their debuts together, so that’s
what we did.
We were surprised at how much media interest there
was, articles and interviews in local newspapers and magazines, with BBC Radio
Leicester inviting Lizzie and I into the studio for a chat! It was great fun to
be on the receiving end of such enthusiasm, even Sir Terry Wogan gave me a
shout out and Lorraine Kelly of ITV wrote us a lovely letter of encouragement.
The Author Event ‘Roadshow’ was my idea, but this
was based on June’s original idea for us to self-publish and ‘exhibit’
ourselves in London. We started low-key in Leicester in December 2012 and
played to ‘packed houses’ in two local pubs, two smart hotels and a church
hall. By December 2014, we had made it to London, hosting our very own ‘Author
Showcase’ at Waterstones, Kensington High Street, no less. Go us!
We tend to fall quite naturally into our roles, and
work well as a team. Lizzie is definitely ‘Head Girl’ keeping our diary dates
in check and making sure ‘agendas’ are up to speed. June is an excellent No 2,
always the voice of reason, calm and considered, her PR skills are excellent!
Mags is Director of Transport, managing train budgets and connections et al
with aplomb and I try to keep abreast of the industry and any marketing
initiatives that might benefit it us as a whole.
'Author Showcase' at Waterstones, High St Kensington: Adrienne chats to Kate Bradley from HarperCollins |
Your website and flyers look so
professional. Adrienne runs a PR practice in Leicestershire and is editor for
the RNA magazine, Romance Matters (the latest edition was fabulous, by the way
Adrienne!). Does Adrienne come up with lots of your marketing ideas?
Adrienne: Thanks Anita, but again it really is a
collaborative – we’re all creative peeps from professional backgrounds and have
definite ideas of how our book covers, flyers and posters should look.
June and her film-maker daughter
Mary are responsible for the video, Mags’ son created the artwork for her
cover, and Lizzie and hubby ‘Bongoman’ work hand in glove on Lizzie’s corporate
image too.
It is important to point out that
when we go about a project we do engage professional help, for example we work
with an entire team of editors, proof readers, graphic designers, website
creators, photographers etc., and we each pick individuals that suit our style,
way of working and budget. Oh, and we do have a ‘Budget’ or War Chest as Lizzie
likes to call it, and yes, she holds the key, it’s her Scottish blood, and
besides, I’d blow it all on champagne …so PR sweetie!
Adrienne meeting one of her heroes, Bryan Ferry |
You all live locally to each other, in Leicestershire.
Were you friends first? Do you meet often to make plans, and do you workshop
each other’s writing? Is it important that you know each other’s books inside
out, so you can promote them for each other?
Mags: The bedrock of our friendship is a
shared passion for writing fiction and the ambition to have our work published
and read. Lizzie, June and I first
met at Leicester Writers’ Club. Then, a little later Adrienne joined us at the
Leicester Chapter of the Romantic Novelists Association formed by Lizzie and
June in 2009. At the end of a Chapter meeting - on 4 May 2012 - the four of us
were bemoaning our frustrations to author, Amanda Grange. Thanks to her, our
Guru, the New Romantics 4-New Romantics Press were born.
We held our
inaugural meeting on 27 June 2012 at The Yews, a local gastro pub, where else,
and it has been non-stop regular meetings, making plans for launches,
promotions, publicity, for reviewing progress, for re-focussing ever since.
As writers we are all quite different – Rom-Com,
Historical-Period, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Relationships - and we each
have our own strategies for testing our work. Lizzie and June critique each
other’s work as they go along. Adrienne submits her finished draft to her
mentor, author June Tate; Me to
the critical ears of a dozen other writers at a weekly Workshop. We each admire
and enjoy reading each other’s novels, and as friends and collaborators are, of
course, committed to promoting them.
How has being members of the RNA helped with your
writing careers? Do you find it essential that you attend the RNA conferences
and events, and meet other members through social media?
Mags: As members
of the RNA's New Writers’ Scheme, we all agree the Scheme has been an enormous
help providing constructive criticism of manuscripts we have submitted, and
encouragement to continue writing. Also, as you suggest, over the years we have
been members, RNA conferences and events have provided invaluable insights and essential
information about the publishing industry as a whole. They are also fun where
we meet lots of other lovely writers. So, yes it is important to meet other members through social media, and make their
acquaintance in person at RNA events.
You’ve put on some great events, such as
the Literary Lunch mentioned above. How do you sell most of the tickets, via
social media or by promoting them locally, or a combination of both?
Lizzie:
Local events are a great way of getting news about your books to a wide range
of readers. Reach those readers by
email, word of mouth and posters in shop windows. Use a mixture of social media
contacts – Facebook, Twitter, emails, and face-to-face contact. Our Literary
Lunch came about through Adrienne’s business contacts and her lovely bank
manager who is very supportive of local initiatives. We’re already being asked
when we’re holding the next one. Maybe a pre-Christmas lunch, next time . . . just to ring the changes.
Our best event was, without a doubt, the author
event we held in Waterstones, High Street, Kensington in November 2014. A
different crowd that evening – a mixture of RNA members, publishers, editors,
agents and business colleagues of June’s son Patrick (a lawyer).
How do you manage your Twitter account and New Romantics Press Facebook Page as a group, do you take turns? Do you use your
individual Twitter and Facebook accounts to promote your novels too? How often
do you blog and update your Facebook Page?
June: Regarding Twitter, we all have individual accounts, as well
as access and responsibility for @NewRomanticsPress.
The problem is that Twitter’s such a time-consuming beast!
Although we all accept its importance – the fact that it introduces us to an
incredibly wide audience and (there’s no doubt) sells books - it can feel
overwhelming. Especially as we’ve discovered that promo-ing and retweeting isn’t
enough. You need to talk to people, make friends, support others. Eek! If you’re
out all day, it’s just too much.
That’s definitely the advantage of a team. We can support
each other in ways, and at times, that suit us best. The same applies to
Facebook accounts and pages. Lizzie set the example here. She had an account
long before having books to sell, and had already built up a strong following
of friends and supporters.
One of us posts a blog on the New Romantics Press page every
month (topic of our own choosing) and we reblog others that we’ve posted
elsewhere. We are all now asked to contribute to other people’s blogs. This has
increased our visibility.
Do you think you sell more books by working together
as a team?
June: Oh, we
certainly sell more books by working together. Again, this is where the team
comes into its own. We share ideas, industry info, promotional hints and tips –
and most importantly, promote and support each other.
Best of all, there’s always someone to say: ‘Why not try
this?’ and ‘I can help you with that.’ Invaluable!
Which three tips would you give to someone about to
self-publish?
Lizzie:
Write the best book you can and then . . . canvass some honest opinions about
it (not your best friends!). If you can afford it, have it critiqued by someone reputable. I used the Hilary Johnson
agency for Tall, Dark and Kilted (the agency is known to the RNA.) Or, join the
RNA/NWS and send your novel in to be read by a published author. But remember,
no one knows your book better than you.
Next, pay for a good proof-reader.
Readers might forgive a weak plot line here and there, but they won’t let you
get away with sloppy grammar, typos and continuity issues. Finally pay someone
to format your novel for Create
Space and Kindle – I’m pretty techie, but I willingly hand that bit over to
someone else.
Thanks to you all for being such fantastic guests! I’m sure
that anyone intending to publish a novel as an indie author or via the traditional route will find your answers informative, and inspiring.
I wish you all much success with your writing careers. Hope to
see you at the RNA Summer Party, (next Thursday!) and at the RNA Conference in
July.
Take
a look at Adrienne’s beautifully presented author page, and here's her ‘Escape with Me’ video:
My next guest on the neetsmarketing blog will be Sue Moorcroft on 5 June with a post on 'Balancing Writing with Social Media'