Saturday 29 March 2014

TIME TO MAN-UP! – Anna Wilson

A couple of things have happened this week which have made me think about how I promote myself as a writer who also happens to be a woman. I would like to share these things to get your opinions, which I know will be many and varied!

On Wednesday 26th March I went to an event organized by the wonderful Bristol Librarians. It was, as much as anything, to say a fond farewell to Margaret Pemberton and to thank her for her inspirational and tireless work in the Library Services over the years.




It was also a fantastic opportunity for authors to network, as it was advertised as ‘Speed-dating with Librarians and School Teachers’ – every bit as scary as it sounds, but not quite as dubious.

We children’s authors were invited to bring along samples of our work and be prepared to talk about our books and what we can offer for events. Every five minutes or so, a bell would be rung and the teachers and librarians would move on to another author. Clearly the idea was for us to sell ourselves convincingly in a succinct and engaging manner in order that the teachers and librarians would remember us, buy our books for their establishments and hire our services for events.

I was on a table with Che Golden, whose Mulberry pony books are hilarious, action-packed tales about (in her own words) ‘evil’ ponies - definitely ‘not your average pony books’. She has also written a series about ‘homicidal’ fairies, the first title of which The Feral Child, has sold in the US and already has a large fan base. Sitting with us was Rachel Carter: her debut novel for 9-12s, Ethan’s Voice, has been extremely well received. Rachel is a Bath Spa graduate from the MA course, Writing for Young People. She is a talented writer with more stories in the pipeline.

So, of course, the three of us sat there telling the teachers and librarians how marvellous we were, blowing our own trumpets and generally setting out to impress . . .

Did we, hell. (I know Che and Rachel will agree, because we discussed it afterwards!) We were bashful and self-deprecating, we had brought no books to sell and we shared each other’s business cards as we had not thought to bring much in the way of promotional material.

Then there was John Dougherty: he had a stack of books to sell and a pile of beautifully put-together, carefully thought-through leaflets which helpfully and concisely laid out what he does, how much he charges, what a school can hope to get from a day with him and how good he is at doing it. He had added selected quotes from happy readers, teachers and librarians who could testify to how good he was and what benefits his visits had brought to their schools. It was brilliant! And it gave a very professional impression. (I have since showed his leaflet to friends and family who have said, ‘Why don’t you do this?’ Why, indeed?)

Che and I also discussed events and festivals with Wendy Meddour (author of the wildly funny Wendy Quill books). Wendy said at one festival she was on after two well-known, hilarious male authors, and that it made her anxious as it was ‘like following two stand-up artists’.

I went home thinking, ‘Why is it that women writers do not put themselves out there as confidently as men?’

The next morning the headline below featured in the Guardian. It provoked some heated debate on Facebook amongst a few female authors I know:

Discover the Booktrust 2014 Best Books awards shortlist!
David Walliams, Jeff Kinney and Jonathan Green [sic] make the shortlist for the Booktrust's Best Book awards – which children's books do you think should win?


Apart from the glaringly obvious mistake that it is in fact John Green’s name on the list, not the mysterious Jonathan, the thing that riled me and more than a few of my friends was the lack of women’s names in the headline. If you scroll down through the shortlist, you will see many prominent women writers included on the list, some of whom (Lucy Cousins, Joanna Nadin, Sarah McIntyre, for example) are well-known, well-loved writers who have already won or been nominated for prestigious awards, and so are hardly also-rans who deserve to be tacked on after the men.

Both the article in the Guardian and the ‘speed-dating’ event made me wonder about how we women promote ourselves. I know that in an ideal world it would be great if there was an entirely level playing field to start with, and it would also be lovely if publishers did not leave the lion’s share of promotion to us authors who really only want to get on and write rather than be cajoled into the role of performing monkeys . . . But with John Dougherty’s leaflet sitting on my desk and Wendy’s words about men’s events being ‘like stand-up’ ringing in my ears, I did wonder what I could do to change things for myself.  

My husband works in the food industry: I asked him if women were as backwards at coming forwards in business as I felt I was in the book world. His reply:

‘Oh yes, the women I work with admit that if they have only 20% knowledge on a certain subject, they will hold back until they feel they know about 80% before they voice an opinion, whereas I would say that men are happy to chip in confidently with their views when they know only 20% of what they are talking about.’

This would certainly back up what teachers have said to me about the differences in male and female behaviour in the classroom, too. Girls will tend to sit quietly and wait until they are sure they know the answer, whereas boys will have a go even if they are not 100% (or even 80%) confident.

So, I have made a decision. If I want people to take my writing seriously, pay me what I charge for events and (maybe one day) put my name in a newspaper headline, I shall have to take a leaf out of the men’s book and talk myself up a bit.

As Caitlin Moran says in her marvellous book, How to Be A Woman:

The boys are not being told they have to be a certain way, they are just getting on with stuff.

Now, where is that excellent leaflet of John Dougherty’s? I feel a copy-cat session coming on . . .

Find me on the web at http://annawilson.co.uk






27 comments:

Sue Purkiss said...

This rings a lot of bells - it's exactly what I've observed, too!

John Dougherty said...

Anna, you make me sound so organised!!! It's taken me quite some time to learn to do what I did on Wednesday - and I made the leaflets partly because I ran out of business cards about 5 years ago and still haven't got round to ordering more...

But, yes, there is a male-female divide around promotion, isn't there? It's not completely clear-cut - Sarah McIntyre, for instance, is both a brilliant self-promoter (and I mean 'brilliant' - she's never pushy, but she's incredibly memorable) and a fantastic performer (with the added bonus of the hats & outfits!). Likewise, I've passed a hall where Ali Sparkes was performing and heard roars of laughter from the audience.

And it took me years to realise that a lot of guys who seem so knowledgeable actually know no more than I do but are better at bluffing. Not all of us are so confident! Likewise, not all male writers do the 'stand-up'-type performances.

But, yes, it does sometimes strike me that women on the circuit are much more likely to be diffident. And perhaps a few more outgoing women, and a few more unassuming men, would provide a better range of role-models for our readers...

Penny Dolan said...

Extremely good points here, Anna, especially about festivals and those headlines for the Best Book Awards.

A Wilson said...

I too have seen very funny female authors, and have read many too - Jo Nadin's books have been known to reduce me to a snorting, hiccupping wreck! I know there are organised *and* hilarious women out there, but I am not sure they are getting the attention a lot of men get. I sometimes rant about this - OK, frequently - but after Wednesday I thought "I have just got to get better at talking myself up!" And you were an inspiration, John. Thanks for your comment. I shall stop ranting and "just do it"!

A Wilson said...

I too have seen very funny female authors, and have read many too - Jo Nadin's books have been known to reduce me to a snorting, hiccupping wreck! I know there are organised *and* hilarious women out there, but I am not sure they are getting the attention a lot of men get. I sometimes rant about this - OK, frequently - but after Wednesday I thought "I have just got to get better at talking myself up!" And you were an inspiration, John. Thanks for your comment. I shall stop ranting and "just do it"!

Marie-Louise Jensen said...

I'm always very organised and go to these events with leaflets and books to sell. I'm also reasonably confident. In the past, I've had my books taken and not paid for (I think as honest mistakes, but people should ask) amd no paid visits have ever come out of the events. I isn't just about promoting yourself confidently (although that certainly helps) you are also up against librarians being told by the powers that be to get male role models into schools, and (without wishing to offend any librarians) possibly their conditoned inciination to think the boys won't be interested in books by women, especially if they are for girls. I'm not sure we ourselves can do much to change such socially entrenched attitudes.

Marie-Louise Jensen said...

Apologies for the typos - doing this on my phone!

Sue Bursztynski said...

Sounds like it was a great event! Wish I'd been there?

And it doesn't surprise me to hear about women not wanting to say something without being sure; if Rosalind Franklin hadn't wanted to be absolutely sure she was right, it might be her name, not those three men, on the history of the discovery of DNA.

A Wilson said...

Marie-Louise, you are right about us being up against preconceived ideas and plans from above which are out of our control. That is why I said "it would be nice if there was a level playing field to start with", so I do agree that you certainly do all and more that can be done on a personal level! I think I need to take a leaf out of your book too ;)

Cavan Scott said...

I've got a little brochure I use for school visits - although it needs to be updated. It can be found here - http://cavanscott.com/author-visits/

Interested to hear how others promote themselves so thanks for the post. The event sounded wonderful too!

Penny Dolan said...

The "performing/entertaining" is an interesting visitor requirement too, as it seems to trump the author role more than somewhat for librarians and schools etc.

The duo that were probably mentioned are definitely a great double act. John is a skilled and exuberant guitarist, musician and singer - don't think that was mentioned - and that adds a lot to his visitor charm and attraction, if you don't mind me saying so John. Several newer children's writers come from a comedy background too.

All great, but I'm not sure I've yet heard of a female author who plays an instrument during her talks??? Or a comedy double act? Come on, own up, own up if you are out there!

And i rather agree with Marie-Louise's point about who makes these choices, too.

Marie-Louise Jensen said...

I gave what I thought was a reasonably together, confident short speech at a librarian roadshow a couple of years ago. Especially as I followed two nervous debut authors who read from their prepared speech very quietly. I was pleased with myself until a male comedy double act got up and blew everyone away and I realised I couldn't even begin to compete with that. The librarians were (understandably) queueing up to book them. No idea what their book was like. I don't think that mattered.
Perhaps we need to get together and train, folks? It might not help, but it might benefit our confidence anyway.

C.J.Busby said...
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C.J.Busby said...

I think I might be a man. I arrived at the same event with: a handout with the first two chapters of my latest book; a bookmark; a postcard; a single page print-out with details of my books and school visits (including a selection of teacher reviews/recommendations) all in a plastic wallet, ready to give out to anyone who came to talk to me.... (Or does that just make me sad?!)

I did have a look at Cav's school visits page, though, and it made me want to give up right now ;-) Who can compete with the DOCTOR WHO man himself?

However, you know what? Kids benefit from all sorts of different approaches, and while some will respond really well to one kind of personality and author, others will get a lot out of maybe quieter sessions with a different kind of writer/person. The important thing is being exposed to all sorts of authors, and realising that you, too, could do this!

Nicola Morgan said...

There are two discussions here, I think. One is the promoting-oneself thing and one is the comedy thing. Let's not fall into the trap of thinking that making people laugh has to be the be-all and end-all. I talk about surgery without anaesthetic - it's very unfunny but I promise you the kids are listening intently. My favourite response is stunned silence, not laughter. I work that silence, believe me.

And it's not just boring adults like me who don't always want to be made to laugh - I meet loads of teenagers who want me to talk to them about teenage stress, another rather unfunny topic. They want me to take it seriously and take them seriously. They want to be moved and helped and inspired. They don't want a comedy routine.

All I'm saying is that no one should feel that they have to make an audience laugh for it to be a great event. Just do what you do damn well and be fascinating.

But, back to the main point (I think?) of the post - oh yes, I do think in *general* women are less good at selling themselves. I certainly hate doing it, really hate it, and therefore am probably not good at it. And I think John's organised method and professional approach is the best one - I've had librarians tell me how they are put off by anything very in-your-face. And I've had librarians tell me they are put off by too much comedy in an author event - they, too, are often looking for something serious.

I am really saying all this to reassure anyone who feels overshadowed by comedy acts - don't be. Just think about what you do best and do what you do and do it well.

Emma Barnes said...

There does seem to be a difference in style, often, between men and women - I've seen Francesca Simon and Liz Pichon at Book Festival events, two of the most popular funny writers out there, but they didn't take a "stand-up" approach. Male writers...Tommy Donbavand, Eoin Colfer, Philip Aardagh immediately spring to mind, are more obviously funny "performers" in their approach.

I don't aim to be a stand-up, but esp when reading aloud, I aim to make it as full on, funny and theatrical a performance as I can! I'm very aware of the need to grab everyone's attention, including those without an existing enthusiasm for books. And I find the boys do respond, as much as the girls, even though most of my books have girl leads.

What would be wonderful is if there could be more author events aimed at different audiences: so that instead of always having to entertain the whole spectrum of readers - sometimes a session might be focused more at the keener readers and writers, or the quieter, more introverted pupils. But time and budgets seldom allows for that.

A Wilson said...

Thank you for all your comments. Nicola, I think you are absolutely right and much of what you say chimes with some of the debate on yesterday's post about there being a need for material for quiet and reflective personalities, too. I suppose I homed in on the comedy aspect because my books are meant to be funny, so I feel a pressure to perform in that way and make a fool of myself. I have a new book coming out in the summer which is the complete opposite and am already stressing about the sort of event I need to do for that… I shall take much of the advice many of you have given today and remember to be myself. Thanks again.

Marie-Louise Jensen said...

Yes, very useful, Nicola, thank you. I also find kids are interested in the Georgian era, food, customs and the costumes I bring with me - if only I can get to them in the first place. And thank you for the post, Anna. A good discussion to have.

julia jones said...

Felt so relieved by C J Busby's comment. Being well organised and prepared for an event is simply courteous to the people who have invited you. It's really not to do with gender -- if it was I would expect women to be better at it!

C.J.Busby said...
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C.J.Busby said...

Sorry - typo! Just going to say, that to be fair, there didn't appear to be any real expectation that we would bring promo material. It was billed as a 'meet and greet'. I felt a bit over-prepared in some ways!

Sarah McIntyre said...

I know what you mean, I felt very intimidated at first! I went from realising 'go out there and talk about your book' wasn't what I was really supposed to do, to despairing that I couldn't do stand-up comedy. There must be a niche for coaches in acting, comedy, public speaking and simple music skills at art colleges. We didn't get taught any of that stuff, but it would have been very helpful. It also makes things much easier for people who come straight from performing on telly.

Part of me thinks we shouldn't have to be able to do more than make good books. Performing and events take SO much time! But another part of me realises I don't have much of a choice, and I might as well throw myself in there and enjoy it. And if there's stuff I don't know, I can still learn things. I'm a bad singer and I gave up piano at least 20 years ago. But I've been singing and playing ukulele on stage (I know two songs now), and I realised that kids don't care if I'm not terrific at it, as long as I'm confident and let them join in. It's all part of my theory that kids aren't really there to see me but to be seen: they need a few seconds to know that I'm 'someone famous' (the costume helps with that), then they immediately want attention from me. They want me to call on them for answers, look at their drawings, hear how loudly they can sing, stuff like that.

Also, I don't really want to get well known for my amazing voice (which I don't have anyway). It reminds me of how Viviane Schwarz built such an amazing website that everyone was coming to her asking her to build them a website. She got so tired of it - she didn't want to be a web designer - that she pared down her website to draw less attention to the site itself and more to her books. In the same way, don't want to get known only for my events, I still want my books to be the focus, and be getting kids to read and write and draw. I guess that's part of our challenge.

I have so, so much still to learn. It's great when authors combine skills, because we're all so different on stage. If I learn something from, say, John Dougherty, it will look so different when I do it, not like I'm ripping him off. He helped me come up with a tune for my Shark in the Bath song when I was in Leicester, and I can't play it with any of his musical panache; the chords sound totally different when I copied his guitar chords onto my ukulele. Philip Reeve has some theatre background, so he's showing me some things about timing and stagecraft and it's really helpful. Gary Northfield did one of my first-ever library events with me and gave me a basic format for a successful hour-long event that I've been doing variations on ever since.

We're all in this together; if a school, festival, library are blown away by one author's performance, they're much more likely to book another. So thank you to all the authors who have been blazing a trail for me and other people!

Sarah McIntyre said...

Oh, I should say, Philip Reeve wrote the words to the Shark song, before John Dougherty helped me with the tune! And I wrote the tune for the Sea Monkey song after Philip wrote the words. It's all been very collaborative. I was glad my Leicester Author Week stint overlapped with John's, so I could watch his event. (I was very impressed with his Wee Song!) And he was able to help me with my song in the hotel lobby, much to the annoyance of the other person trying to relax in there, heh heh.

A Wilson said...

Julia, we did not realise we were going to be selling ourselves on the day, a C J has said. I do make sure I am fully prepared for school events. This was quite a different thing and maybe I am not experienced enough to have realised how organised I needed to be even for an informal event. But the great thing is, I learnt a lot from meeting and talking to other authors and as Sarah says, if we get ideas from others, we won't put them into practice in the same way, but we *will* benefit from others' experience. Of course, my post was supposed to be a tad provocative.... We are all different and present ourselves in different ways. I just feel that, personally, I need to get better at saying "I am good at this, this is what I do and this is how much I charge" without getting drawn into apologising for charging a fee - something I have had too much of this academic year. And instead of moaning about it, as I am wont to do, I need to get off my backside and do something positive towards being taken more seriously. So in many ways the blog was a "note to self" on how I think I can improve.

Nicola Morgan said...

Re confidence about charging a fee - I'm currently working on the new SoA document about that. I hope it will help. It's a subject that makes me quite cross!

John Dougherty said...

It's worth noting that some of the divide Anna's talking about comes from experience rather than gender. I've been learning to promote myself as an author for ten years now, and I'm still trying to work out how to do it!

Regarding the 'comedy' aspect: while I think my events have always had quite a bit of fun, they've got funnier over the last decade - if I say something off-the-cuff and it gets a laugh, I'm likely to remember it and use it again. Whether your approach is humour, gore, facts, or anything else, it's important to be aware of your audience's responses and go with what works - for you as well as for them.

Regarding the self-promotion conversation: it's people like Nicola who've given me the confidence to say "this is what I charge" without apologising for it; and it's taken a while for me to get to that point.

Incidentally, when this post appeared on Saturday, I told my wife I'd been held up as a model of organisation and confident self-promotion. She laughed...

A Wilson said...

Thanks, Nicola! That will be very helpful indeed. I am about to chase a school who has still not paid me a month after my event - and with the school holidays having already started for that school, I am doubtful I will see payment until after Easter now. I feel my loins and well and truly girded after everyone's very helpful comments.