Welcome to our spring/summer series, The Advocates. We wanted to pay tribute to the bloggers, writers, book stores, fairs, conferences, organizations, teachers, and anyone/anything else who has helped us, or the crime fiction community, on our writing and publishing journey. The Advocates is the result.
Cynthia Bayer Blain
By Wendy Tyson
“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” – Lemony Snicket
Writing is an often difficult and lonely career path. And today, when the publishing industry seems to change quickly and millions of books are available online and in stores, it can be hard to find your readers. As authors, we hope to find true fans: readers who love the genre, who engage, who leave reviews, who want to pick up each of your books the moment they’re released and then shout about them to the world—online and off. Cynthia Bayer Blain is such a reader.
With a background as a food columnist, Cynthia understands the hard work and heartbreak that often goes hand-in-hand with a writing career. I was lucky enough to meet Cynthia through Facebook shortly after my first mystery, Killer Image, came out (2013). Brought together by a mutual love of crime fiction, we connected online. Since then, Cynthia has become a cheerleader, a supporter, and a friend.
I had the chance to chat with Cynthia about her love of books and her endless empathy and support for authors. She offers some great insights—and some sage advice for authors.
So…for every writer who wonders whether readers appreciate the efforts they go through to bring those book babies into the world, I think the answer is a big, fat “yes.” And for every reader who wonders whether writers appreciate their support—hell, yes. We love you.
Cynthia, you’ve been such a wonderful friend to many mystery authors, including me. Writers love when readers engage, but you’ve gone beyond what an author can expect. You’ve left well-written reviews, you ask thoughtful questions, you comment and like and share on social media, you’ve been a cheerleader, reminding authors (me!) why they write in the first place. Like many who are reading this column, you’re obviously an avid crime reader. Where do you turn to find new authors and new books?
First of all, thank you so much for asking me to participate, Wendy. I gather my information from various sources, such as two or three very reliable and knowledgeable bloggers who review mostly cozy mysteries. I read as many articles as I can on new releases online, and I follow many authors on Facebook and other sites to know what work they have coming out. I buy many of my books online as I am not able to shop as often at the brick and mortar stores as I did in the past, but I do call them about various books and get wonderful information and recommendations. With shopping via the internet I get recommendations geared to my previous purchases and browsing history which is very helpful to me. I also take suggestions for a few serious reader friends who have similar tastes as I have.
Do you have a subgenre within crime fiction that you most like? If so, what appeals to you about that genre?
I’ve been a traditional mystery fan since my first editions of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, and then I progressed to crime fiction later on. I am a very big “detail” person, so I enjoy armchair travel and adventures with authors’ books, and all the snippets of information and descriptions help me create my own memory files along with a drop of intuition to piece the story together before the big reveal.
In the last eight or so years, my taste has been toned down from very descriptive murders (so I can sleep at night), and I’ve found cozy mysteries, including one or two historical cozy mysteries, to be the perfect genre for me now. Cozies written about my personal interests and passions are my favorite, and I do love the humor in some cozies as I feel that levity is quite important in our lives, right now especially.
Audio, digital, or hard copy—what’s your preference?
I really enjoy books on CD and MP3 for travel (I don’t have the best vision these days), but they are not as easy to find in the cozy genre since digital books came along. I read mostly paperbacks and about one digital book for each five print books, I would estimate. I love hard copy books if it’s a book by one of my favorite authors and one that I will be saving in my home library.
Writers are always trying to strike a balance between meeting their readers and not overwhelming them with unwanted emails or advertising posts. As a reader, what do you recommend authors do to engage with their readers? Is it enough to simply post on social media, or do you recommend other options, such as Facebook group pages, newsletters, giveaways and promotions, etc.? How about in-person events?
Personally, I like interaction with an author in some way. I did a little writing for newspapers awhile back and did food columns, so I went to every author event of every cook book author that I could possibly get to at that time. I can’t attend very many events now where I can meet the authors or go to lectures like I did and I miss that. I seem to enjoy reading authors books more when I have some background about their interest in writing and how they chose this path.
I read almost every one of my LIKED authors’ Facebook page postings daily and do enjoy a once or twice a month newsletter with photos and information about what they are working on next. I belong to a few author groups and enjoy those, but you do have to choose your favorites with limited online time available. I do like when authors have book giveaway promotions and you get to know about the book prior to its release and to see the cover, which makes me remember that author and book a lot more than I would without it. And I share this knowledge of my book choices and why I’m following and reading this author’s work to my reader friends online and privately if they are not on social media. One of my hopes for 2019 is to get to meet you at an author event in the not too distant future, Wendy.
I would love that, too, Cynthia.
Writers always worry about getting endorsements, or “blurbs,” from other authors. How important do you think these are to readers?
I don’t think that I have ever chosen to read any author’s books due to any endorsement. The name of someone else may catch my eye but I don’t ever choose a book based on that. I admit that there are some book covers which have attracted me for one reason or another due to color or artwork or uniqueness, but not a blurb or endorsement per se.
If you had one piece of advice for a new author just starting out, what would it be?
If I had the chance, I would say to new authors to allow your public to get to know you as much as you feel comfortable with (or push to try) and see your face online so they can associate you with your books. I personally would remember a person’s face more than a name, especially if their “name” uses only initials prior to their last name.
I have decided to read a new author’s books if they have sent me a short reply when I commented on social media, too, as it helped me remember them. I also would be happy to be informed that an existing popular author is using a new pen name as it would get me involved with them far faster than thinking they were brand new to the writing industry.
Are there any authors you would love to meet, Cynthia (in person or online)?
Oh my gosh, Wendy, you are definitely the next author that I would absolutely love to meet in person as I have been reading your books since Killer Image (in your Allison Campbell Mysteries series) and just admired your writing from the day that I “discovered” you. (Smile). When I bought your first series I had no idea that I would one day be craving the release of each book in the Greenhouse Mystery Series as much as I now do.
Authors end up feeling like friends to me once I’ve read their books and have begun following them on Facebook, etc., so the next step for me is to meet them at a signing or whatever is possible to say hello and chat for a while, if possible.
I have been very fortunate to have gotten to be online “friends” with a number of authors and with each of those I definitely read every one of their books and try to spread the word about them. I have had the occasion to meet a couple of my favorite cozy authors personally for a short visit and it was so special to me. I got to know Alyssa Maxwell online a number of years ago and got to have lunch and spend a couple of hours with her in Newport. I was shocked and thrilled to find out her upcoming book in her Gilded Newport Mystery series, Murder at Crossways, to be released on July 30th, is being dedicated to me! That is so very special to me, and I don’t know what I did to deserve it but be a faithful “fan,” which I’ve been. Last spring my husband and I got the amazing chance to meet Gretchen Archer who writes the Davis Way Crime Caper series, and in her upcoming book releasing on March 26th and titled, Double Agent, she has one of her characters named after my husband, which was such fun to find out and to read. These are very special “rewards,” for lack of a better description, to following and referring and socializing online with talented authors!
I know that writers are very busy and yet my favorites always take the time to talk with me and share a bit of their life and time with me and that means more than they will ever realize. And I will hope to continue to let other readers know what amazing writing they do and to help promote them in any way that I can. Thank you for asking me to participate.
Wendy Tyson is a writer, lawyer, and former therapist whose background has inspired her mysteries and thrillers. Wendy writes three mystery series, the bestselling Greenhouse Mystery Series and the popular Allison Campbell Mystery Series (Henery Press), and the Delilah Percy Powers crime series (Down & Out Books). Wendy’s short stories have appeared in literary journals, and she has short fiction in two anthologies, The Night of the Flood and Betrayed. Wendy and her family live in Vermont.
To learn more about Tyson’s most recent novel, click HERE:
Previously in “The Advocates:”
Mark Pryor on Scott Montgomery
Sarah M. Chen on Maddie Margarita
Gwen Florio on Fact and Ficton Bookstore
Elizabeth Heiter on Kristopher Zgorski (BOLO Books)
Art Taylor on Janet Rudolph and J. Kingston Pierce
