So I was driving home from the store a couple of nights ago -- it was a beautiful night, dry and crisp and clear -- and I was passing Christmas tree lots, as one so often does around Christmas time. I glanced at each one, vaguely noting their prices and their offerings; I needed to get a Christmas tree, but felt no particular sense of immediacy about it (perhaps because my 11-year-old daughter wasn't in the car with me).

That changed, however, when I passed the lot with a huge plywood sign, on which was painted with the words "Last Dry Day!"

That sign almost made me stop the car right then and there and buy a tree. (Of course, I didn't; remember, I wasn't too keen on having my absent 11-year-old kill me in my sleep.) But that "Last Dry Day" message swiftly reoriented my thinking from "buy sometime" to "buy now." How? By shifting the buying trigger. Instead of the trigger being the easygoing "obtain a pleasant but ultimately non-essential object" it became the vastly more powerful and immediate "avoid unpleasant mess and hassle."

There's a lesson here to learn when it comes to book marketing as well. In most cases, books are viewed by the buyer as pleasant but ultimately non-essential objects. How can we, as authors marketing our work, shift that thinking to something more powerful and immediate? What buying triggers can we trip?

• The Scarcity Trigger. Amazon has a very cool "only [x] left in stock" message that pops up when supplies are running low. Online sellers that offer this information to buyers are doing you a favor -- direct your buyers to them first. And when supplies are low, make sure you mention on your blog or Facebook or Twitter. It may push a few customers over the line from thinking about buying to hitting the "buy now" button.

• The No-Spoiler Trigger. Does your book have a surprise ending? Is there a twist that readers won't want to find out in advance? Make the most of this fact in your marketing. Send the message loud and clear to potential buyers: don't wait, the secret won't stay a secret long!

• The Special Offer Trigger. This trigger is used often, but can still be effective. It involves providing some "special extra" to those who buy the book now. The special extra can be a prize -- for instance, urban fantasy author and writing instructor A.M. Dellamonica recently offered a prize of a manuscript critique of up to 6,000 words of fiction. To enter, readers had to buy her debut INDIGO SPRINGS and post a review before a certain date. This strategy not only ensured her a few extra sales, but several more reviews as well! But you don't have to offer a big ticket item; it can even be something as small as a moment of author interaction. At cons, make sure you participate in author signing events. If there aren't any organized events, let readers know that you'll be available in the dealer's room.

These are just a few examples, I'm sure our readers can think of more. Post your ideas in the comments!

taste_buds
Holidays provide a built-in excuse for indulgent entertaining. This all-purpose foodie community covers everything from homemade hangover cures to dinner party menus. Need quick advice? Get five-minute snack suggestions, low-fat ingredient substitutes, and even measurement conversions. Delicious recipes garnished with humorous advice. Yum.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're tall on adventurous spirit, but short on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about bargain hotels and hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

There's a kerfuffle going on in the SF side of the SFF world about short story pay rates. It's easy to find if you're interested. The question is raised for me, tho, is whither the urban fantasy short story market?

Obviously, there are anthologies out there--several FFF members are in some very cool collections. I like these conceptually.

What I don't know is, is there a website/magazine venue to get your uf shorts jollies? I know ostensively something like The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Realms of Fantasy and maybe ClarkesWorld are outlets, but I've never perceived them as go-to places for uf/paranormal shorts. Is there one?

disclaimer: I'm not a short story writer and this isn't an attempt to get people to do my homework. I'm interested as a reader and curious from a market standpoint. I know there are websites and blogs out there, but are there so-called "majors?" You know, like when you tell me, I'm gonna feel stoopid for not thinking of them. :)

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!

Haven't posted here in a while. Hope everyone's well! I thought I'd x-post this writing related post from my lj:

One of the clean-up rules I use in writing is something I learned as a freshman in high school. I had an odd English writing teacher by the name of Br. Brian Casey. He was a short, stout hobbit-looking guy who was prone to screaming. Not hobbit-like. He also had one of the worst hairstyles a human male can wear: thick frizzy hair worn long to the base of the skull and parted on the side---starting from the top of the ear. It often flew out into the air on the other side of his head and he would paw at it through class. The class was focused on creative writing, and much of what he taught has stuck with me, the most important being the "Really Very Beautiful Rule." The rule, in short, is don't use those three words. They don't mean anything. They don't add anything.

What is the describable difference between "cold" and "very cold?"
What is the describable difference between "hard" and "really hard?"
If "beautiful" describes Megan Fox and Reese Witherspoon, what does that word mean?

Br. Casey's point was that we should think about how to describe things meaningfully to get our images across. Use similes. Use synonyms. Describe scenes that evoke images and feelings. Let the reader see what we see.

After I finish writing something, I do a word search for those three words. Br. Casey had zero tolerance, which, when teaching high school freshman howto write, isn't a bad idea. I don't go that far. I think the words work fine in dialog because people talk that way. I also think they have their stylistic uses. Probably the most important take-away, though, is that it prompts me to think "Could I have described this better?"

90% of the time, Br. Casey was right. At least on this point. That hair, though, was another matter entirely.

**EDIT Thu Dec 3 23:24:15 UTC 2009 **

Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...

Hey LJers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)

Thanks,

The following FFF titles released in November and were submitted by FFF members for showcasing. They're still out there, so it's not too late to pick up copies for yourself or someone else.

The December releases are posted on the updated FFF sidebar, just in time for holiday gift giving. :)

Happy reading/shopping!

S. J. Day

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're high on adventurous spirit, but low on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about inexpensive hotels and youth hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!