The Writing Show (WS): Welcome to the Writing Show, where writing is always the story. I’m your host, Paula B.
My guest today is Karen Villanueva. Karen Villanueva is a publicist specializing in the promotion of authors. She began her career in the record industry in Toronto, where she held positions such as national buyer for Canada’s second-largest retail chain, and went on to become an award-winning national publicity director for a Canadian record company. She has promoted world-class actors; classical, jazz, and rock musicians; comedians; ice skating champions; television show launches; and special corporate and city-sponsored events. Karen now lives in New Mexico and promotes regional and nationally renowned authors through media outlets such as USA Today, CNN, the Associated Press, and various print and electronic media.
Hi, Karen. So glad to have you with us today.
Karen Villanueva (KV): Thank you, Paula. I’d like to thank you for having me on your show. I’m looking forward to the interview.
WS: Great. Let’s get started. What does an independent book publicist do?
KV: It’s the independent publicist’s job to think of the most interesting things about the author and about their book and try to place that with the media in a way that will be appealing and interesting to them.
The publicist at the publishing house has a list of priorities. There are certain authors that get the main push from the publishing house, and then there are other authors– oftentimes sort of new authors that don’t get quite as much attention unless they’ve been hand-picked and prioritized to get that push. Often a publicist at the publishing house will have anywhere from five to ten authors at any one time that they are promoting, so they can’t really concentrate in depth on publicity efforts.
So the independent book publicist can often be hired by the publishing company, although more often than not, we are hired by the authors themselves because this is their big chance and they don’t want it to fall through the cracks. What we do is anything from setting up book tours; sending out copies of the book to a variety of media, electronic and print, print being, of course, newspapers, weeklies, magazines, and electronic being television and radio. Also, an independent book publicist will usually put together a press kit. And the press kit is compiled of a press release, an author bio, if they’re touring, a calendar of events. And then we put the package together, usually with the book and send that off to the various media contacts.
WS: Some of the things you mentioned are things that conceivably an author can do on his or her own. Why should an author hire a publicist to help them?
KV: The author should hire a publicist when they do not have a lot of time to do these things themselves. Usually an author wants to write, and more often, an author doesn’t have the contacts. If they’re a new author, they’re new to that game and to media, and so it can be quite daunting to figure out who to send to and where and what would be appropriate. And in hiring a publicist, this is what their job is. So over the years of working with many authors, they’ve built up a lot of contacts and will know better how quickly to place something with the appropriate media outlets.
WS: How hard is it to get something placed in the media?
KV: It can be easy; it can be difficult. It’s one of those undefinable things. You just don’t know what results are going to happen from what you do. It really depends on the media person themselves, whether you’ve sparked some interest and they’re quite happy to take your call and figure out what they’re going to do with the author—to do a feature or an interview. Other times you can send out a wonderful package that’s just rich with information, and nothing happens. The phone doesn’t ring. It’s one of those things that you really don’t know the whys and wherefores. What you do is do your job and get it to people you think would have an interest in it, and do a follow-up phone call, and be careful not to nag or pester, because you can lose some nice contacts by doing that.
So what I usually do is send the information out, and in an appropriate amount of time, call back just to see if they received the press kit. If I have any new information that’s a really great way to call back and have them listen to your call and not be annoyed, because you might have something you wanted to add to that. It might trigger someone to call you back that was intending to do so but just didn’t get around to it. So it’s always good to do these follow-up calls. And a lot of times the publishing house publicist doesn’t have time to do that. So that’s again where an independent is useful because we do have the time and we know it’s very important to follow through on some of those leads. Some people have not called you back because they’re not interested. Others haven’t called you back because they’ve got so much going on it’s fallen down in their in basket. And so by you calling a lot of times they’ll say, “Oh, yes. That’s right. I was meaning to do something with that. Thank you for calling.” So this is how it works. An independent publicist has more time and is concentrated on that particular author and on following up the effort that they have made on behalf of the author.
WS: How long is the publicist usually involved in the author’s career?
KV: It depends on the independent publicist. Sometimes it’s an independent individual. Sometimes it’s a small PR firm. So it can be anywhere from, I would say, three months to perhaps even a year. But usually it’s less than a year because most authors realize they have a window of opportunity of just a couple of months, and most independent publicists will want to start out a couple of months in advance setting up things, getting the press kit together, putting together a list of appropriate media contacts for that author and for that author’s work.
WS: This is something I’ve been wondering about for quite a while. You mentioned a window of opportunity. Why is it that the window of opportunity for authors seems to be so short?
KV: Good question, Paula. The window of opportunity is so short because there are so many books coming out. Every month there are new mailings and new books landing on all of those desks, and if it hasn’t caught their attention and they’re not going to do something right away, chances are they’re not going to do something later on. Unless, of course, they think it’s a great story idea and they have…let’s say it’s a print media editor, and they have a section of their paper coming up in the fall and this would be perfect for that. Then the window of opportunity expands a little. But overall, it’s because the sheer volume of books coming out is just daunting. And so you have to strike while the iron’s hot, while the book is in its first stages of release, where there is some excitement; and if some of the places like Library Journal and Publishers Weekly have done their advance reviews, and they’re good reviews, you want to maximize that opportunity by getting books to as many people as you can, and perhaps taking a quote from Publishers Weekly or Library Journal so people can see that some nice things are being said about it and hopefully that will trigger some more interest.
WS: But there are many books that have quite long legs—books that have been around for even decades. On Writing Well by William Zinsser comes to mind. It’s a book that’s a classic, and writers have been buying it for about 25 years. I think a 25-year special edition came out last year. What does an author do if they have a book that’s still relevant, still timely, still selling? Can they still promote it?
KV: Yes, they can. First of all, fiction has the smaller window of opportunity. Nonfiction books such as this writing book, they will be perennial favorites, and they are books that will be purchased at many a writing conference. So if they’re a really good book, an instructional book, of course the life will be that much longer. I have one case in mind. William Buchanan wrote a book called A Shining Season that eventually became a movie. He felt that he didn’t really get a lot of publicity over the years and that it was still an important book. And I just happened to think so too because it was pertinent to our area, and the local papers hadn’t done anything on it in a while. I said, “Well, how long has the book been out?” And he said, “25 years.” I said, “Great. It’s the 25th anniversary of A Shining Season. Let’s go with that.” And that simple idea that just popped into my head worked. And so he ended up getting a lot more reviews and interviews and selling more copies of the book, and luckily his publishing company kept it in print because it was an important book for our region.
WS: That’s a great story. I’m really heartened to hear that. You mentioned getting involved with movies. Do you generally get involved with trying to connect books with movie people, to sell movie rights? Or is that more what an agent would do?
KV: That’s right, Paula. It’s really more what an agent would do. I have had some experience with that, and had I had great success, I’d be telling you all about it. But it’s very difficult. All I can say is I have sent some packages to some producers who I thought would be the perfect producer for a movie of the week or a feature film. However, I haven’t had those great results yet. So I usually leave that to the agent. My job is really more to promote the book and set up book signings and support the author while they’re on tour.
WS: Let’s talk about book tours. Everybody wants to go on a book tour. All authors want to be able to say, “Oh, I’m on my tour.” What are book tours really like?
KV: That’s a good question as well. Book tours can be quite daunting and far less glamorous than many people think. First of all, the author’s always grateful that they’re the type of author the publisher has deemed fit to send out on tour. It’s a wonderful opportunity. But the realities are, like anything else, it’s work. It’s work; it’s effort; it can be very confusing, very exhausting. Often the authors are up at 5 o’clock in the morning for a flight, and when they’re picked up at the airport, they go on to back-to-back interviews, and then they have to drive all over the city, go in and meet managers and events coordinators and shake hands and sign stock. Then they go on to the big event of the evening or of the day that they’re in that particular city to do, and often don’t get back to their hotel until 10 o’clock at night. And they’re exhausted, and they have another flight at 6 o’clock in the morning and they’ve got to be up at 4:00 because they have to check out. It can be very difficult, very tiring. It is not for the faint of heart. It’s wonderful when it is planned in such a way that you don’t have to get up at five in the morning. And often with new authors, that can be the case because they might not have as many people interested in a particular city in interviewing them live and perhaps some of the bookstores have not stocked more than one copy of the book. So they might just have one major stock signing to do and then their main event. But it is not as glamorous as people think.
However, all authors will say, “Yes, it’s a wonderful opportunity. It gets me into the bookstores to meet some of the staff. They’re in a position to promote my book or mention it.” By shaking hands and saying hello and thanking them for stocking the book, these are all good things and PR. And hopefully, that will keep the book in stock and in that person’s mind–the bookseller or the manager or the events coordinator. And most authors really appreciate meeting all of these people. It’s a wonderful opportunity. And as I said, it really helps to give that book a little more longevity in the store. If you have just met somebody and you hit it off, had a nice conversation, when a customer comes up and asks for a recommendation on something, that book can quickly come to mind because the author left a really nice impression. So all of these things help.
It’s not how many people necessarily show up at a book signing either. A lot of people think, “Oh, gosh, I only had seven people there. What a disaster!” But it would really help to keep in mind that you have met staff, your book is stocked there, it’s going to stay there for a little bit of time. If people that have attended your book signing talk to their friends about the book and they’re enthused, you can sell so many books through word of mouth. And that’s a great way to build a career and build a fan base. Oftentimes you’ll have a major author come into town, and just because of a series of events, things that are going on in the city, the day of the week, the weather, all of these things that you have no control over, a wonderful author might have seven people there themselves. And yet on another day, they’ll have 150 people there. There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of rhyme or reason, but usually if an event is well promoted and the author is popular, there’s going to be attendance. Other than that, if an author isn’t well known but they get a feature story, that’s going to help attendance a great deal.
WS: When an author goes on a tour, does that person ever have to pay to appear somewhere, and conversely, do they ever get paid to appear?
KV: I don’t have much experience with that, Paula. I would say that, by and large, the authors that come through are not being paid to be there unless they’re Jane Fonda and this is a special event, or some of the new age authors are attending a conference and they’re the keynote speaker. Then money is a factor. But overall in just regular book signing, no one is paid and the publishing company is usually paying for the author to go to all these cities because they know they have to build a following, build a fan base, and/or keep that fan base going and growing.
WS: That’s interesting that you describe it in terms of a fan base. I never really quite thought of it that way, but I guess it is.
KV: Yes. Often I’ll tell new authors, “When you go to a book signing, take a clipboard with you and ask people if they would like to be informed of upcoming events and new books that you’re writing and invite them to sign up. Either an email address, or a stationary address where you can send out a press release or a newsletter.” It’s a very good way to build that fan base. And as I said, people get together and talk. They often start reading groups. And so you’d be surprised how much the word of mouth and being informed and being on an author’s mailing list can build that fan base.
WS: What kind of books have you found it easy to promote and difficult to promote?
KV: I would say the difficult to promote are books that are quite often print on demand-type books. Books that are put out by iUniverse or Publish America. Various companies that really don’t edit the books. Basically they take the author’s money and get it placed on Amazon.com, but they’re not really in the business of promoting, editing, and all of that, which a mainstream publisher does do. It’s very difficult to promote a book when it’s available to Amazon.com but most of the bookstores these days, especially the chains, can’t really take those books in and stock them on the shelf. More and more, the industry has changed so that they’re not allowed to do that, so where do you go to sell your books? How is someone going to know about your book? And if it’s poorly edited, when you do get a little bit of attention or do have a book signing, other than your friends, you’re not going to get too much attention or too many people to purchase that book if they browse through it and see all sorts of typos.
And that happens more often than not. It’s really a shame, but I understand that authors really want to get out there and they want to get it published and the whole idea of going through a search for an agent and sending things to a publisher and getting rejection after rejection is very disconcerting. So, they often choose to go the route of “So, I have to pay a certain amount of money, but my book’s going to be out there and it’s going to be on Amazon.com, and I’m going to get a review there, and that’s going to be great.” But they haven’t really thought it through, and they haven’t researched what it takes in the industry to get that book out there, to get it noticed.
The quality is so important. Too many people rush to do it and then make excuses. “Well, I know there are a few typos” and “I would have done it differently but I didn’t really have the time, and I wanted to get it out there.” Those are not good excuses. It must be the best it can possibly be. And it behooves one to either join one of the wonderful writing groups that are around. Here, for instance, in the Southwest we have Southwest Writers. We have the New Mexico Book Association. The New Mexico Book Co-op. All of these organizations that really help authors and provide speakers quite often, or advice in their newsletters that’s really beneficial for authors.
So again, the difficult books to promote are those where the author hasn’t really thought it through, has not done their research, has not wanted to pay for a proper professional editor to go through their manuscript before it becomes a book. And then when they have boxes and boxes of those books in their garage, they’re often surprised at why it’s not selling. So my question to them is, “How would anyone know about this book if it can’t be sold in bookstores? And if you can only get into a store where you’re doing a book signing event and that store is an independent, they might have that book there for the day, and they might hang on to a couple of copies, but if nobody buys, then they expect the author to come and pick it up, and that’s the end of it. So it’s very difficult when it’s print on demand and self-published efforts that have not been properly edited.
Now, some of the easier books to promote. I might be speaking out of turn, but I have an author, Paula Paul, who has written, oh, over 20 books, I believe. She’s written children’s novels and adult novels. She is a cancer survivor. She wrote a book called Crazy Quilt. It’s going to be released in October. It’s National Cancer Month in October. So all of these things tie in. First of all, it’s easy to promote because she is a well-known author in our region. She has worked with some major publishers as well as a university press. She is very experienced. She attends conferences. She speaks at conferences. She gives classes. She will also be touring. It will be a modest tour, but she will be touring in different areas–places where she has lived or gone to school or has a great deal of friends. All of that really helps. And the fact that the book is pertinent and the subject matter is of interest to so many people, and that interest will, of course, be accelerated through the National Cancer Month. It’s a perfect fit. And there are foundations that we’re going to work with that will also support the promotion of the book, and a portion of the proceeds for the book will go toward a cancer foundation. So all of these things are media-worthy. When you have cancer and you have survived it and you’ve written a book–now it’s a novel, but basically it deals with a lot of her feelings and some of the changes in her life. And she has mixed that with her great talent for writing novels. It’s going to be something that the media will most likely find quite interesting and certainly it will be something that their readership or viewers would be interested in. So this is an easier sell.
WS: If I understand you correctly, you’ve said several things. One is that it’s easier to promote a book that is media-worthy, and by that, it sounds like you mean it’s of wide interest, and also that the timing is right. The timing of the release is right.
KV: Correct.
WS: And also, you mentioned what I’ve heard called a “platform.” And that is that the author has either well-known expertise in something, or has connections of some sort, is a speaker, some other venue or some other connection to people and to the field in which they’re writing. Are those things necessary in order to promote a book?
KV: No. They’re not necessary. I’ve had many successes with books that aren’t relevant to something happening in the news, that do not have a particular platform, but the book is just interesting, it has wide appeal because of the subject matter, and people respond favorably to it because it is well written and interesting. We have many successes just based on the quality of the writing and the interest of the subject matter.
Often I will tell authors it’s a good idea to attend as many book signings as they can. This way they will become a better speaker by sitting in the audience and taking note of the things that they don’t like about the author’s presentation, the things that make them uncomfortable. Has the author droned on and on reading page after page after page and not been aware that they’re putting the audience to sleep? All of these things are very important to learn, or to observe, I should say, as an author in an audience. Take a look at what you like about this presentation and what things you would change. Go to many signings so you can see a variety of styles and ways of presenting that are comfortable. Some people are just natural born speakers and showmen, and they love to be up there in front of an audience. Other people, myself included, are terrified of crowds. So often you want to engage people by having a great Q and A session, and perhaps having a friend or two in the audience that can start that out, because at the beginning of the Q and A session a lot of times people will just sit there, and you’ll say, “Do we have any questions?,” and nobody puts up their hand. And you think, “Uh oh. Now what?” So it’s great to have a support system and have a couple of people in the audience that would ask a question, and then people feel more comfortable. Also the author is more comfortable because you’re talking about something you know, and it’s not like you’re standing there trying to give a presentation. You are informing them about something which you’re obviously very familiar with.
WS: Do you ever get involved with authors in the proposal stage or the pre-proposal stage? Say I had an idea and I wanted to know if you thought it was promotable. Does that ever happen to you?
KV: Yes, it does quite often. In fact, I have a consultation service, and so normally I will charge like an hourly rate. Or it might be something where somebody in the area is interested in talking to a publicist, and I’ll hint that it might be a nice idea if they’d invite me to lunch. And therefore they can pick your brains, and you get to get away from the office for a little bit, and they get your undivided attention in a nice setting away from ringing phones and people knocking on the door and in my case, animals. It’s very good, I think, to call a publicist and just ask around and see who is willing to meet with you. And if you have a few funds that you can earmark for that purpose, I think it’s very good. That way you to sort of interview publicists and see whether you have a rapport with them and whether they would be interested in taking your manuscript and giving it a look.
Now quite often someone will say, “Let me just download my manuscript.” No. You don’t want a whole manuscript downloaded on your computer. Just send a couple of sample chapters and a synopsis if you’re not going to meet. That publicist can take a look at that and get back to you. I don’t charge for that particular service. I do charge for an hourly service if they want to ask specific questions about the industry and how they go about things, and they’ve still not decided whether they’re going to hire someone or perhaps take it on themselves. People that take it on themselves are usually people that have some sort of PR know-how and are excellent speakers and sort of gregarious in nature. Quite often we will have people that think they can do it all themselves, and a couple of years later you run into them at a conference and they say, “I wish I’d listened to you.” So it really depends on your own nature, what kind of time you have, whether you have funds, and whether you really are a great self-promoter. Many people are not and prefer to leave that to someone else. “You organize it. I’ll show up.”
WS: You mentioned hourly rates and I was just wondering if you could give us a little idea of what it costs to hire a publicist.
KV: I would say it can be as little as $500 a month, which might be a retainer fee. It can probably go up to $15,000 a month. That’s very unlikely, but you might be hiring a firm that has numerous people that are skilled in the areas of electronic and print media. One person might handle just magazines. Another person newspapers. Another person radio. Another person television. Often PR firms will have people that have worked in the industry, have worked in radio as producers or hosts, have worked as freelance writers or perhaps editors for papers, and now they’re with this PR firm so they’re very savvy in these areas. And having a whole team concentrating their efforts on getting you out there and doing it in a short space of time, that’s going to cost big bucks.
The person that might charge $500, it might be a situation…for instance for me when I have a local author that knows that their book is not going to go national because of the subject matter…it pertains maybe to our region and there may be a chance that it could go outside of the area but probably not, and they would be happy just getting in the local papers, perhaps having a feature story written about them, perhaps being on a radio interview or two and having someone take care of their calendar of events and getting that out to the local media. That’s when it might cost a lot less. Some publicists don’t bother with anything like that. They start at $1500 and then there’s an expense retainer on top of that. I can’t say what the average is because I’m here in New Mexico. If I were in Toronto or Chicago or New York or California my fees would probably be doubled or tripled. Because I work in this region, I work quite often with regional authors or local authors. However I’m often hired by publishing houses to do a certain leg of a tour and then they will supply the funds, and the author’s free of that, so it’s a great deal for the author.
More often than not, it is the author though that hires the independent publicist because they know that they are not a priority at the publishing house and they’re really pretty much on their own in terms of promotion. And I often advise those authors any kind of business trip you’re taking, any trip to see friends, let’s turn that into a book event. So if they hire you in advance and you can map out their calendar for the next few months, you can see where there might be an opportunity to turn a visit into a book signing event. That would be a great thing for them, especially if they don’t have money to just go touring and say, “Listen, just set up the Southwest region for me,” or “Set up the eastern coast.” You can’t do those things if you don’t have the budget for it. But turning a trip into an opportunity like this can work very well for an author.
WS: Do you find that most authors that you work with or that you know are prepared for the interviews that they do and the signings, and how can an author prepare? Let’s say you’re not necessarily a natural born performer. Can you learn to do a good interview, say on radio or TV? And how do you learn?
KV: You can learn. As I said, one of the ways is just by attending writing conferences and listening to speakers. If you can’t afford the writing conferences, go to any number of author events in the city that you’re living in, and listen and take notes. There are also speech coaches and various companies that will coach authors through the interview process. I know several here. I know a few companies in New York. And often I will suggest that to an author. However, my experience is most of them think they’ll do just fine and don’t want to spend money on something like that. So if they don’t have the funds and/or don’t want to spend that money, then perhaps what they should do is have a friend or family member or someone if they’re a member of a writing group interview them and take them through some of that so that they can make some recordings and then listen to them. And also if they are going to have book signings in their local area perhaps start out with something small, a women’s group perhaps that you know so you feel confident. Give a talk at a lunch meeting. And just really gain that experience. By doing we learn.
Other times I’ve had authors that don’t think they need any help at anything, and I’ve tried to set up tours for them, and they’re not available because they don’t want to leave their house, and they don’t want to leave their pets, and it’s become a very difficult thing to make something happen for them. And then when they do have an event, they haven’t really delved into the art of the interview or presentation, and quite often they’re speaking in a monotone, and they don’t understand how to pace things. And they don’t understand that you must look at your audience and take cues from them. If someone’s shifting from side to side, and you see people yawning, it might be a good idea to wrap up your presentation and go into the question and answer period. Quite often it will be reading smaller passages and passages that will be representative of your work as a whole—something that will display your characters, will perhaps provide the audience with your sense of fun or perhaps the mystery in your novel. People want to be engaged, and they will be engaged if you are succinct, if you do not read on and on page after page. Leave something to the imagination. I’ve been at signings where even well-known authors have almost read their whole book, and you’re thinking, “Please leave something to the imagination.” Perhaps there’s going to be an event in your book and you’re building up to it, so read that portion that shows that little bit of buildup and that tension, and then leave them wondering so people will be eager to buy your book and find out what happened.
WS: Can you describe any particularly unusual types of publicity that you’ve been involved in?
KV: In the recording industry, I was involved with some interesting publicity stunts. It’s a little more difficult and more unusual to do that with book PR. Basically the reviewers really don’t want that type of thing. Send the book. Send the material. If they’re interested, they’ll give you a call or they’ll do something, review the book. But I think more often than not it’s frowned on. It doesn’t really work in this industry as well as it might in others. As I’ve said, the recording industry, that would be more usual. But for books, I think that most reviewers just prefer to have the book and a press kit and that’s it. I think some people will do things, let’s say they’re a romance author and they send something with an envelope full of valentines and the person opens up the envelope, all the stuff falls out. Well, they don’t really appreciate it. There may be a few that actually do and delight in it, I would say more often than not, it is frowned on.
WS: Karen, is there anything I haven’t asked you about that you’d like to add?
KV: What I’d like to say to upcoming authors, new authors is first and foremost, be nice to people. There are many people that think, “Okay, I have a book out. I’m an author. I have arrived.” And they tend not to be very gracious with the people around them that are working hard for them. And I think that it just goes really without saying that you attract more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
And I would advise that because everyone that you shake hands with, everyone that you’re polite to, everyone that you engage in an anecdote and have a good rapport with, that is all good for your career. Many times people in stores are going to be much more gracious and much more willing to promote your book if they had a pleasant experience with you. If you come in acting as if you have really arrived and you figure that this is the behavior that befits the situation, you’re wrong. Word goes around. Word spreads. And there are many well-known authors that their careers have derailed at some point, and people aren’t too sad about it. And it’s because they treat people around them like peons, and it’s not a good thing.
Remember that everyone has a job to do. Most of the people you’re coming into contact with are overworked and underpaid and have a zillion things going on at any one time. So take that time out to connect to them as a human being. Thank them for their efforts and realize that no one is a miracle worker. Most people, if you treat them right, are willing to go that extra mile for you. So keep that in mind. And remember that it is the quality of your book, having a press kit and/or press materials that really capture the essence of your novel or the information that is needed to interest the media. And concentrate your efforts in those areas. Make sure that you have really high quality material to send out. And then when you do have a book signing or any successes, it’s also a good idea to pop in the mail a little thank you card. Don’t email it. Do the personal thing, the old-fashioned way, snail mail. A nice little hand-written note saying, “Thank you so much for your time. I really enjoyed the interview. Thank you so much for stocking my book and inviting me to your store.” Those types of things are really good to do. And you’d be surprised at how far-reaching the effect can be.
WS: That’s great advice across the board.
KV: Yes. I think so.
WS: Karen, you have a Web site. Do you want to tell our listeners about how they can reach you?
KV: Yes. You can go to my Web site at www.authorcare.com. You don’t have to hire me. You can go onto my Web site and you will find a ton of resources, and every one of them is a world unto itself. There are all sorts of things you can do to prepare for your career in writing. And there are many resources where you will be able to hook up directly and perhaps get a review or an interview. So I just invite you to go ahead and plumb the depths of my Web site. And if you’re looking for more help than that, do give me a call or email me and put in the subject bar “As heard on the Writing Show.”
WS: Thank you. I appreciate that.
KV: Well, I appreciate being interviewed by you. And I hope I’ve provided some help.for authors.
WS: I think it was a wonderful interview, Karen. Thank you so much for being with us here on The Writing Show today.
KV: And thank you very much.
WS: And be sure to visit our Web site at www.writingshow.com, where you’ll find more information and inspiration for writers. And I’d like to announce a new feature: transcripts of interviews. So if you don’t have time to listen, you can still enjoy our great interviews with fascinating guests like Karen Villanueva. Also, please join us for our very special Halloween show. We’re going to have readings from members of the Australian Horror Writers Association. It’s going to be great fun. Don’t miss it. Thanks for joining us on The Writing Show today. I’m your host, Paula B.