Crime writers and readers have been discussing the proper etiquette for collecting e-mail addresses for a newsletter or new-release announcement. Some readers are quick to say that any unsolicited communication is spam and will turn them away from a writer forever. Ouch!
I came across these guidelines for a writer’s website recently and saved them to consider/implement later. I’m re-posting them, with modifications and comments, in case you find them useful.
1. Don’t put everything on the front page. The landing page should have a welcoming message and a lot of white space. Don’t use any graphics except the cover of your book so people know they’re in the right place.
I finally visited the Eugene Police Department’s crime lab. Criminologist Jason Petersen gave me a two-hour crash course in processing evidence. I heard a lot of chemical terms that, fortunately, I have on my recording, because they didn’t stick in my brain. I learned that what real evidence technicians (versus the CSI kind) spend most of their time doing is processing latent fingerprints and watching/editing surveillance videos. Here’s the photo highlights.
Recently two authors on the mystery listserv Dorothy L announced their publisher was dropping their series. Dozens of mystery readers/fans expressed dismay and disappointment. They wanted to know what they could do to help keep the series alive. They wanted to start a campaign! The outpouring of support for the first author inspired a small publisher on the list to step in and pick up the series.
The first bad moment came when it occurred to me that I wasn’t wearing a parachute. Here I was on my way to jump out of an airplane, and all I had on was a dirty blue jumpsuit and a body harness. Tremors of raw vulnerability washed over me. I worked through the moment, telling myself that Tim—my quiet, but quick-to-smile instructor —was wearing not one, but two parachutes. Any moment, he would hook our harnesses together in five distinct places.
Today I am 50.
If you only knew how hard that was to say. I’ve struggled to get my brain around this number for weeks now. I thought for a while if I never actually said it out loud, no one would know, and I could keep up the illusion that I was still in my late forties, which sounds so much nicer. But’s that crap.
