Blog | Alison Morton Author

Social media vs. work/life balance

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author in possession of a book must be in want of social media. Okay. that’s corny, but it’s true. But how hard should we pursue out courtship of social media and should we toss our head, be defiant and stick up for our principles, yet concede that old fashioned prejudice is out of place in a modern publishing relationship?

Leaving aside dodgy metaphors, how should we reassess this, given the ubiquity of social media. Be honest, who doesn’t stretch out their hand for their smartphone first thing in the morning? Apparently the majority do within 5 seconds of waking. I can’t quote the source as I was only half listening to Radio 4 as I was checking Facebook.

I’ll come clean. I LOVE social media: I’ve used Twitter since July 2009; I’m a keen Facebooker; I love blogging; I’ve even given talks to authors on using it. I could spend all day (and night) on it, making and talking to friends on five continents. That’s what human beings do, communicate, isn’t it?

Here’s the ‘but’.

Note the word ‘continent’. This is what we aren’t. It’s the fatal trap of doing it because we can. Twitter lures us, blogs seduce us, Facebook entraps us. And what Google+ and Pinterest do belongs in Fifty Shades.

Authors now have the privilege and the fun of interacting with each other and even better with their readers. Information (properly sifted and checked, obvs) is at their fingertips. Opportunities, events, connections are many and rich. You can read journals, newspapers, academic research at the click of a mouse. You can also do daft quizzes and rant at will.

I can’t keep away from SM in the same way I can’t stop eating chocolate. But I could manage it better. Turning it off completely is a nonsense, but to get any work done I’ve found setting limits is sensible. Of course, it’s not that simple.

My first task in the morning (after checking my phone) is to write a ‘to do’ list for the day. Yes, despite my electronic calendar, I use a pen or pencil on paper because the physical act makes the list stick in my brain. Then I set my day’s goals in priority order; today writing this blog post is first task. Next will be my column for The Deux-Sèvres Monthly, then another post for this pre-launch week. (My fifth book, INSURRECTIO, is published and launched at the London Book Fair next week on the 12th – eek!) Normally, I’d be working on my next book, but this is the modern world of publishing so it’s almost wall-to-wall social media this week.

After each piece of ‘proper’ work is completed, I reward myself with a quick peek at social media. But now, I keep a firm eye on the clock. I post a review, comment on other posts, announce something like a cover reveal, repost an interesting or provocative article and have a chat with one or two people. Then it’s back to work.

Social media is part of today’s world and for any author, mainstream or indie, an absolute given. This is where your colleagues are, the readers are, the world is. Ignoring it is like shutting the door on people. But everybody has to work, eat and talk walks. Balance is the trick and like everything else, you have to work at it.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, will be published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

What the OU did for me and history

David Puttnam congratulating me at the degree ceremony

Study can broaden, widen and enrich your mind – that was a good enough reason for me when I signed up to do an MA in history with the Open University. I’d had to leave studying history at school because it clashed with Latin. (Who put that timetable together?)

We won’t go into the details of the paper chase needed to secure my place; let’s say it was thirty years since I graduated with my BA in French, German and Economics and the course had ceased, records had been destroyed and the university had changed names twice. But being a hoarder, I had kept a load of course admin and stayed in occasional touch with my personal tutor. Somehow, I persuaded the OU I was a suitable candidate.

After that first seminar in February 2004, my mind was reeling. I hadn’t been in academic study for three decades and the teaching methods had changed drastically. Whilst I’d remained passionate about history all my life, and had done well in the history modules in my first degree, I hadn’t operated at this formal level for decades.

I had committed to three years’ hard graft and every spare waking hour devoted to research, study and writing. What else would you do in your non-earning hours but plough your way through academic textbooks in German, track down clues in the Bundesarchiv, read oral histories taken in German, traipse up and down to the British Library, the German Historical Institute Library, Imperial War Museum plus weekly seminars, then regular meetings with your tutor? And writing, revising and editing all the time. My fingers were almost paralysed after a three hour written exam at the end of the first year. I could hardly lift my pint of cider afterwards in the pub.

But I don’t generally start anything I don’t mean to finish. And I was investing in myself and had faith that it would be worth it!

The big bonus was that because of my first degree, I could read source material in the original German, which was a good thing as there was very, very little in English.

Three years later in 2006 I emerged with an MA (with distinction!). My masters’ dissertation was seen to be groundbreaking – the first academic account on the subject written in English. My tutor urged me to take it to the next level. But I was tired. I was running a business, a family, was active in the local business community and plotting to move to France.

Inexperienced as I was, I didn’t know how to get it published. In the end and several years later, I tidied it up, set up a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account and self-published it as a book. The learning curve was steep; apart from formatting and finding a decent cover picture, there were 200 academic references to bookmark and hyperlink. But people buy it from time to time…

And the title?
Military of Civilians? The curious anomaly of the German Women’s Auxiliary Services during the Second World War. It’s an unknown piece of half a million women’s history I brought into the light. I’m rather proud of it.

But what was it about and how is it relevant to my new book INSURRECTIO? I explain all on my Roma Nova blog …

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, will be published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

Me and events - an author steps out

Signing books

When you write and publish books, you know there are various steps on the way, mostly involving hard slog, rewrites, critiques, revisions, back ache, more edits, proofs, eyes watering, etc. Once your book is out, you’ll launch it, do a few book-signings plus the stuff on social media. Then what?

Of course you need to write the next book, keep up with market news, reply to messages and emails from fans, but anything else?

With INSURRECTIO endorser Conn Iggulden

Well, yes. You need to go out and meet people and do some events: other authors at writing and book events, fans and potential readers at conferences, fairs and fetes, and trade contacts at other people’s launches, courses and networking evenings. And did I mention parties?

That’s all very lovely and I’m sure that like me you thoroughly enjoy all this gallivanting. But you’ve learnt a lot along your writing journey, so it’s time to give back to the next generation of writers. You’ve listened in admiration to others and absorbed tips and information. It’s your turn now. And actually, they want to know…

Hope it’s pearls of wisdom I’m dropping!

As well as telling a few secrets and some amusing stories and mentioning your newest book(!), you’re giving your experience to others, mistakes and all. Of course, you can write articles for your genre’s magazine and writing publications, contribute to blogs as a guest or on a blogging team, but live events are the best. You cannot stay in your batcave for ever, masterminding your writing empire from your keyboard. People do like seeing authors in the flesh and audiences can be fun! If you feel unprepared, here are a few tips about speaking.

I’m not just pontificating in my own batcave. Here’s a taster of what I have coming up:

London Book Fair
12-14 April – London Olympia
The book trade’s own fair, but where authors can meet and chat (and have lunch!). And on 12 April, 4.30-6.30pm, I’ll be launching INSURRECTIO, the fifth book in the Roma Nova series, at the SilverWood Books stand 1G45. Contact me for an invitation!

Wrexham Carnival of Words
Runs from 7-14 May – Wrexham, UK
I’m taking part in the “My Era’s Better Than Yours” panel session on the Friday 13 May as part of Historical Fiction Night. I’ll be standing up for the Romans!

Then we’ll be followed by a talk from the fabulous Lindsey Davies, author of the Falco Roman detective series.
Venue: Main Entrance block (LL11 2AW), Glyndŵr University
Time: 7-8pm
http://wrexhamcarnivalofwords.com/historical-fiction-night/

Charroux LitFest Bookish lunch
Wednesday 18 May – Poitou-Charentes, France
Lunch with ‘bons mots’ from me, plus I’m giving a writers’ workshop afterwards on writing characters into their setting.
https://www.facebook.com/charrouxlitfest

St Clémentin LitFête
24-26 June – Deux-Sèvres, France
Talks on The Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing and about the Roma Nova thriller series, with readings
http://www.stclementinlitfest.com

Romantic Novelists Association Conference
8-10 July – Lancaster University, UK
Giving a talk on historical research and how to use it
http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/activities

Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival
21-14 July – The Old Swan, Harrogate
Just attending, but what a line-up! Peter James, Jeffery Deaver, Martina Cole, Neil Cross, Linwood Barclay, Tess Gerritsen, Val McDermid and Gerald Seymour
http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/

Historical Novel Society Conference
2-4 September 2016 – Oxford, UK
I’m the indie co-ordinator and deputy publicity officer, plus I’ll be speaking on a panel – ‘Going Indie: Questions and Answers’.
https://hnsoxford2016.org

Get involved and try it. It hones your pitching skills when asking, you’ll probably get lunch, a fee and travel expenses and you’re very likely to find some new fans.

With Sue Cook at the SUCCESSIO launch

Speakers at at Charroux Litfest: Kate Mosse, Barry Walsh, moi, Elizabeth Haynes, Isobel Ashdown

In full flow at a library talk

And here’s the question: what was your best event out and about?

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, will be published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

Sitting on your bottom

‘Sit up straight!’ your mother would shriek at you as you hunched over your school homework. You rolled your eyes, then made a feeble effort at complying. If you were taller than everybody else in the playground as I was, your natural position was slumpissimus.

As we grew older, it slowly dawned on us that mothers might have known best, but we shrugged it off. Now as supposedly mature adults, we are catching the results of a life of slouching. Well, I am, at least. Today as I go to the diagnostic clinic for my second spine and hip MRI in three years, I realise Mother Was Right.

I suspect that a training accident when I was in uniform hasn’t helped; I jarred my spine when I fell off an assault course. Now I have an uncomfortable time sitting for longer than thirty minutes – most unhelpful for a writer.*(update)

Quite why we walk upright is still under discussion. Now research tells us sitting is going to kill us early.I think the best thing would be to have a nice lie down. But that’s not particularly good for us either as our muscles waste without being used.

We know the benefits that good posture brings:

Keeps bones and joints in the correct alignment so that muscles are being used properly.

Helps decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in arthritis.

Decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together.

Prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions.

Prevents fatigue because muscles are being used more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy.

Prevents strain or overuse problems.

Prevents backache and muscular pain.

And for the vain among us (including me), it contributes to a good appearance.

Sadly, many of us failed to implement. Many years ago, our bodies were young and strong. Backache was for old people. Hm. Well, you certainly find out your posture sins when you get older.

I shall contemplate these as I roll into the maw of the MRI machine today, endure the banging and grinding of all those magnets and the polite but inevitably censorious remarks of the doctors afterwards. In the meantime, I keep taking the painkillers to deaden the pinching pain and try to sit up straight. *(update below)

Hints for sitting on your bottom properly

Sit up with your back straight and your shoulders back. Your buttocks should touch the back of your chair.
All three normal back curves should be present while sitting. A small, rolled-up towel or a lumbar roll can be used to help you maintain the normal curves in your back. Here’s how to find a good sitting position when you’re not using a back support or lumbar roll:
- Sit at the end of your chair and slouch completely
- Draw yourself up and accentuate the curve of your back as far as possible. Hold for a few seconds
- Release the position slightly (about 10 degrees). This is a good sitting posture.
Distribute your body weight evenly on both hips.
Bend your knees at a right angle. Keep your knees even with or slightly higher than your hips. (use a foot rest or stool if necessary). Your legs should not be crossed.
Keep your feet flat on the floor.
Try to avoid sitting in the same position for more than 30 minutes.
At work, adjust your chair height and work station so you can sit up close to your work and tilt it up at you. Rest your elbows and arms on your chair or desk, keeping your shoulders relaxed.
When sitting in a chair that rolls and pivots, don’t twist at the waist while sitting. Instead, turn your whole body.
When standing up from the sitting position, move to the front of the seat of your chair. Stand up by straightening your legs. Avoid bending forward at your waist. Immediately stretch your back by doing 10 standing backbends.

With thanks to Cleveland Clinic online

*2018 Update: Nothing functionally/mechanically wrong – it’s a rampant nerve. After 18 months, I’ve stopped the medication as I didn’t feel well on it and am concentrating on stretches, walking, swimming and massage. Oh, and losing a bit of weight!

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, INSURRECTIO and RETALIO. CARINA, a novella, is available for download now. Audiobooks are available for the first four of the series.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines… Get INCEPTIO, the series starter, for FREE when you sign up to Alison’s free monthly email newsletter

The 5 Biggest Social Media Challenges for Authors

Today I’m delighted to welcome Anita Chapman, the genius behind neetsmarketing, an empathic and friendly business dedicated to help authors with their social media. I asked Anita to tell what authors fear most about social media and how to deal with it.

Thank you for inviting me to be a guest on your blog, Alison! These are the main challenges found by my clients and course attendees, and because there’s only so much space here, I’ve kept the information in this post quite general. More specific advice, especially about using Twitter and Facebook can be found in posts on my neetsmarketing blog.

1. Deciding what to go for
When starting out on social media, some authors worry about what to go for: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+; there are so many options. Start with Twitter and Facebook when building your author platform, and go from there. Remember you can post the same content from all your social media accounts; if you share an article on Twitter about a theme from your novel, it takes a minute to paste that link into your author Facebook Page. In this post, I’ll refer to Twitter and Facebook when talking about social media.

2. Time management
Authors need to produce books, so understandably using precious writing time for social media isn’t always embraced with enthusiasm. On the other hand, some authors find it difficult to tear themselves away from social media, using it as a form of procrastination. It is possible to manage time spent on social media if you schedule some tweets using Tweetdeck (my choice, but some prefer Hootsuite), such as those for cover reveals, book releases, upcoming talks and signings, book launches, blog posts; this keeps everything ticking over when you’re not there, and you can save these tweets to reuse until they’ve expired. Posts on author Facebook Pages can be scheduled too, then when you have chance to drop in to Twitter and Facebook for 20-30 minutes per day, that can be your time to chat, retweet and make your tweets less formal and more ‘you’.

3. Learning how to use
Some authors find social media overwhelming, and the best way to gain confidence on Twitter and Facebook is to set up the accounts, and get stuck in. At the beginning, when you’re learning, you don’t have many followers or Facebook friends anyway, so few people can see what you’re doing. So much can be learnt by observing your peers and idols. What are they tweeting about, what do their tweets look like? What are they posting on their Facebook Pages and on personal Facebook profiles? And who is following them, who are they following? There are some Twitter tips in this post on my blog, recently revamped for 2016: My Beginner’s Guide to Twitter for Writers.

4. Engaging your audience
Do you feel as though you’re speaking and no one is listening? Social media can be like this early on when you don’t have many followers or Facebook friends, but also if you’re not posting content which encourages others to interact with you. Use photos to make tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts more interesting; and make blog post titles enticing. Interact with others and share content by others that fits in with your brand (see below), and they may reciprocate.

5. Building a Brand and Discoverability
I’ve linked these together, as they relate to one another. Finding your potential readers can be a challenge, but social media makes it easier than you’d think.

Brand: Think about what defines you and your books, and aim to focus on those subjects and themes when posting on Twitter and Facebook. Use relevant hashtags so people interested in those subjects and themes can find you (and use other hashtags to build relationships through shared interests). This is a way to gain potential readers as followers.

Discoverability: Find the places where people interested in subjects and themes from your books hang out. Join Facebook Groups, follow and use Twitter hashtags, follow and comment on blogs based around those subjects and themes. Liz Fenwick wrote a post for my blog, Using Twitter to Connect with Readers which gives great examples on how to find your potential readers using Twitter. Ask book bloggers (nicely) if they’ll review your book, and/or host you on their blogs. Ask authors to host you on their blogs too. The more content you post online, the more likely you are to come up in a Google search.

More about Anita

Anita Chapman is a freelance social media manager with clients in the world of books and she runs social media courses for writers (next one is on 7 May in London). She writes historical fiction set in eighteenth century Italy and spent five years on the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme before becoming an Associate Member in 2016 wearing her neetsmarketing hat. Anita is Social Media Manager for the Historical Novel Society, and Publicity Officer for the next HNS Conference in Oxford, 2-4 September 2016 #HNSOxford16.

(I work alongside Anita as Deputy Publicity Officer for the 2016 Oxford HNS Conference and it’s a great pleasure to have such a knowledgeable and effective colleague.)

Connect with Anita at her neetsmarketing website, visit her neetsmarketing blog on social media for writers and book marketing and her neetswriter blog on writing.

Twitter @neetsmarketing and @neetswriter
Facebook pages: neetsmarketing and Anita Chapman Writer

Thanks for your great insight and advice, Anita!

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, will be published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…