Friday Fun Facts: Try an Audio Book

Traveling this summer? Taking any books with you? Print version, or e-reader? Or...what about an audio book or two? Don't forget that downloading an audio book is a terrific way to take a story with you on the plane or in a car and requires even less space to store than an ebook!

And why am I mentioning audio books? Because two of my earliest stories, Lost in Paradise, and One Night in Memphis, are both available now from Audio Lark. I always forget to mention them when I'm doing promotion, so here's my big shout-out! And yum - I love these covers as well - don't you?

Or, if you've already read (or heard) my books, why not give another one a try? Enjoy your travels and free your hands - buy an audio book!

Writers' Wednesday: Two Helpful Links

I'm about halfway through my latest WIP, Beacon of Love, and though I went through over the weekend and made some major plot changes (and a character name that just wasn't working for me), I'm surging ahead now and trying, trying to get to my goal of 60K words by the end of the month.

But...

I wanted to take a moment to briefly share two links with writers today.

The first is Goddess Fish Promotions, partner site to The Long and the Short of It and run by two of very talented writing/reviewing/promoting friends. (That's not why I'm chatting it up though). They have some great options when it comes to promoting your new release. If you'd like to guest blog or do some online appearances but aren't sure how or where to start, they will set up the whole thing for you. Great price ranges, too. Check them out here.

And the second is Savvy Authors. I'll be doing some workshops for them later this summer, but as I was perusing their site I discovered that they have the AWESOME opportunity for writers to pitch to agents and editors, on a fairly regular basis. This week alone, agents/editors from Larsen Pomada, Sourcebooks, Judith Ehrlich, and Ethan Ellenberg have been/will be there. So check it out!

Now I'm back to the keyboard...

Monday Mentionables: A Successful Saturday!

Thoughts on my Saturday signing experience (4th time I've been at this craft fair in my hometown):

1. The "Local Author" angle is a HUGE draw. For the first time I had both a sign and a framed copy of an article that had appeared in the local paper a couple of years ago. The number of people who stopped by simply because of that probably made up at least half of my total sales - and these weren't people I knew, but people who just lived locally who thought it was cool that I had grown up there.

2. But don't discount the word-of-mouth-it's-who-you-know angle. A woman who turned out to be a mother of a classmate of my sister's (are you following this?) was so tickled when she found out who I was that she bought all my books!

3. Online/social media contacts do matter! One person told me they got my electronic newsletter so they knew I'd be there; another saw my post on Facebook about it. There are never too many ways to spread the word!

4. Being friendly (but not overly so) makes a difference. I chatted with one fellow vendor who was making the rounds. She asked which book was my favorite and I recommended Summer's Song, which she bought. About 4 hours later she came back because she was up to chapter 4 and wanted another one of my books! That was probably the highlight sale of my day.

5. Make yourself & your books appealing. One teenage girl asked me if I'd save her a copy of Summer's Song because she had to run home to get more money. I told her I would try, but that one was going fast (truth, I wasn't trying to play hardball). She took her last $12 out of her purse to buy it!

So yes, it was a successful author appearance (I sold 27 books total) - and I would really recommend taking advantage of any place where you can be the "local author" - people love to know/live next door to/shop with someone who's written a book or two!

Friday Fun Facts: First of a Few Summer Appearances

OK, the summer signing season is upon us, and so I'll be at the Holiday in Homer craft fair tomorrow, Saturday, from 10 am - 4 pm. Please stop by and say hello if you're in the area! Always a great day :)

Writers' Wednesday: The Dreaded Sagging Middle

Well, I've been moving right along, writing about 2000 words/1 chapter a day on my latest WIP, but yesterday I found myself slowing down. Badly. Struggling to care about my scene. My characters. And having no idea what comes next.

Ugh. It's Sagging Middle Syndrome.

To be fair, I'm not quite at the middle yet, but the pace is getting bogged down and I know it's coming. I thought I'd blog today about ways to tackle it, but I still struggle with that myself, so last night I went Googling in search of some help.

I found it on the website of agent Donald Maass, a widely respected agent in the business who gives workshops on, most notably, Writing the Breakout Novel. And this month, he's posting (and Tweeting about) ways to move your novel from so-so to breakout level. Just what I needed to give my sagging scenes a lift!

Here's the link - as of last night there were 40 tips listed for ways to jump-start your writing. A couple of my favorites:

What miracle does your MC pray for? Make it impossible...then make it happen.

Find a corner, crossroads or dark object in your story. Invest it with eeriness, unknown portent or dread. Go there three times.

Before a new character debuts, give your MC an expectation or fear. Make the reality three times better or worse.


Now, go check out the whole list - and be inspired! Happy writing......

Friday Fun Facts: A New Book

Well, I started a new work/project/book a little over a week ago, and I'm happy to report that I'm making steady progress and meeting my word count goals...so far...I wanted to write 2000 words a day - not impossible, certainly, but that definitely requires the Butt-in-Chair-Hands-on-Keyboard approach, since it takes me anywhere from 1-3 hours to write that much.

What's the story? It's tentatively titled Beacon of Love and it's about the host of a travel show, Sophie Smithwise, who comes to a small town in Connecticut to do a piece on the haunted lighthouse there. She meets Mitch Thomas, all-around good local guy, handyman, volunteer firefighter, and sometimes-cameraman. He steps up when one of her cameramen gets sick - but the real conflict here is that the fifty-year old murder-suicide that took place inside the lighthouse, and supposedly began the hauntings, belongs to Sophie's grandparents.

Something like that.

I haven't planned out the entire plot - unusual for me - but I'm just writing and letting the story happen. So far I like where it's going. I mostly like how the hero and heroine are interacting. She's a smart ass, and he's low-keyed but keeps up with her in more ways than one. I also like (and this always happens, such a great part of writing fiction) how the characters do things I would never have predicted, or how plotlines turn based on conversation that I didn't intend when I sat down at the keyboard.

Okay, I have 2000 words to go write. Happy Friday!

Writers' Wednesday: Self-Publishing Still the Kiss of Death?

Self-publishing: to many people, it's still a red flag. In a nutshell, some think if you can't get your book published through traditional channels, then it probably isn't good enough to be published at all. Thus, if you decide to take on the kiss of death and self-publish, you're trumpeting to the world that your book wasn't good enough to make it any other way.

Or are you?

These days, it seems, ebooks and the ease of digitally self-publishing have taken away that stigma, at least to some degree. Lulu, of course, has been around for a while for authors who want to self-publish a print version. But that requires a certain amount of cash up front, that authors may or may not recoup. But Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing program (as well as Barnes and Noble's PubIt) allow authors to upload a file, format it, and have it available in digital form almost immediately - with very little financial output (excluding, of course having an editor go over your work and/or having a cover artist design your cover). Royalties through KDP are 70%, which is higher than you'll find with any other publisher. Of course, keep in mind that you are solely responsible for all marketing of your work - and that can be hugely time-consuming, especially if you don't have a reader base already established.

But what if you do? This is where things get a little interesting, in my opinion. What if you're a published author, with a fairly solid reader base, and you have a work or two that either doesn't fit with your current publisher, or is a backlist title that you have the rights for, or is simply a short work you want to have available to readers in between releases of your full-length works?

I'm friends with an author who's in just that situation, and last year she formatted and uploaded one of her previously-released books when her publisher folded and she had all rights returned to her. She spoke of the process as being very easy (esp. since the book had already been edited, and she's savvy enough to create her own cover). I emailed her last week to ask about the whole experience, and she couldn't recommend it highly enough. Since then, she's uploaded 3 of her works (2 previously released and 1 new work that had been rejected in a few places - yes, established authors get rejected too), and along with her regular sales through her publisher, those titles have brought in a solid chunk of cash.

So....it's something to consider. For a new, unpublished author, self-publishing through one of these channels might be a way to test the waters, or a way to finally get that work out in the public eye. For published authors, it might be an interesting way to supplement your backlist, especially when you don't have anything releasing for an extended period of time. Am I thinking about it? Maybe. I'll keep you posted!

Until then, I'm interested in anyone's thoughts or experiences with KDP or B&N's program. Done it? Recommend it?

Monday Mentionables: Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy Independence Day, to all my friends and readers in the United States!



Wednesday I'll be back here to talk about self-publishing through Amazon's Kindle program - it's becoming more and more popular, for already-established authors as well as new, unpublished ones. Is it something to explore and consider? Seems like maybe it is....I welcome your thoughts!

Friday Fun Facts: A Review of The Hunger Games

All year long my students read and devoured The Hunger Games, the dystopian YA novel by Suzanne Collins that's the first book in a trilogy (and coming out soon as a movie). I finally got a chance to read it last week, and though futuristic fiction isn't my usual favorite genre, I did enjoy it, for a few reasons. The story itself is clever - when publishers talk about wanting a "high concept" novel, this is what they mean:

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Interesting, current, compelling.

I thought the book did a great job (though maybe didn't go far enough) in exposing our current society's fascination with reality TV and the huge/sometimes awful influence of the media. The pacing itself is also one of the book's strengths. From the opening pages, it moves along at lightning speed, and since you know that the ultimate ending of the book means the death of every character save one, you read on wanting desperately to know who that will be. There's also a romance included between the two main characters, though it's more a device of the Games than an actual love story (depending on which character you identify with).

Downsides for me? A couple of plot devices that I thought forced the conflict of the story where the author didn't need to. I won't give them away, but they're responsible for the ultimate outcome of the Games. I also wasn't crazy about the ending, since it's obvious that the author meant for the story to continue in another book. There are minor conflicts introduced that felt "tacked on" in order to set up the next book in the series, Catching Fire.

Also, just a warning: there's a lot of violence in this book, especially for a YA novel. It's integral to the plot, of course, but younger readers (and their parents) might find it pretty strong and nightmarish. I've also read quite a few scathing comments about Collins' "stealing" the plot from a Japanese story, Battle Royale. Authors do borrow - nothing's original, people always say - but I can see that perhaps using SO many plot elements/tropes from another work might rub some readers the wrong way. As always, read at your own peril!

Anyone else read The Hunger Games? Thoughts?

Writers' Wednesday: A Couple of Writing/Promo Opps

Yes, I did take Monday off - the first day of summer vacation! From a teacher's POV (and of course from students' too), it's better than Christmas :) Now I just have to remember how to relax....

Writers, here are some opportunities that came through my email inbox the last couple of days. Remember, any chance you have to get your name in front of readers (or fellow writers, or editors, etc....) is one to consider. Weigh the time, effort, and cost involved, see how much it will take you away from your own writing, and then perhaps select 1 or 2 that are good fits for you:

Savvy Authors Summer Symposium: We're looking for workshop presenters, chat, and Q&A hosts on topics related to any aspect of writing genre fiction as well as raffle prizes to give away on the last day to the registered attendees. Prizes can be books - novels or books on craft or other topics of interest to authors - magazine or site subscriptions or best of all a 3-chapter critique. (**Note to blog readers: email me directly if you'd like more, and I'll forward the entire email to you)

Just One Bite Anthology: Authors wanted for All Romance's Just One Bite Short Story Contest! Thirty-two of the paranormal romance short stories submitted will be deemed "Semi-Finalists" and released onto the AllRomance.comand OmniLit.com websites on October 1, 2011.

Readers will vote for their favorite short stories during 5 rounds of voting with the field being narrowed at the end of each round. The first prize winning author will receive $1000 US.

Submissions will be accepted between July 1 and September 1, 2011. Each title must be an original, never before published paranormal romance work between 2,500 and 3,000 words.

I'll be back here Friday with my (very informal) review of The Hunger Games, a wildly popular YA novel that my students devoured this year and that I finally got around to reading.....Hope to see you then!

Friday Fun Facts: Last Day of School!

Last day of school! Yes, New York State is (finally) done for the school year! Now to tackle all those writing projects I haven't had time for all year long...

But speaking of which, looking at that video clip I posted Wednesday, it's true more often that not: people who have never written a book of any kind really don't have a true concept of how much work is involved. I mean, that's probably true of a number of skills/projects/professions. But it continues to surprise me all the same. Right now, a number of my friends & relatives are asking when my next book is coming out, and I have to say "I don't know" because I don't have one contracted at this point. There's a whole slew of reasons why, of course, and I wish I did, but life and a full-time job do sometimes get in the way. But I do think many readers think, oh, a few weeks/months and you can turn out a book. Doesn't take took long after that, right? Most people don't realize it's AT LEAST a year once you go through edits, cover design, and finalizing copy before a book hits the shelves.

But I still have people tell me they have a great idea for a book, they've written some pages down already, and could I just give them some resources where they could find out about publishing it? And of course I do (I always start people at Absolute Write - great initial resource), but I wonder how many of them follow through. Then of course there are those people who have a great IDEA and want me to write the story "with" them (I think that means their "idea" and my sweat & time & heartache in turning it into a novel).

So interesting to witness the learning curve - and so rewarding to have a group of friends and a support network of fellow writers who understand exactly how much is involved.

Happy Friday!

Writers' Wednesday: So You Want to Write a Novel

Have you seen this yet? Enjoy!

Monday Mentionables

I know I'm late posting today, but I did want to share two worthy mentionables:

Carina Press is giving away books this week! Yes, every day you can download a book for free. How great is that?!? Click here for more information.

And one of my fellow Hudson Valley RWA members, Shoshanna Evers, is seeking submissions for a non-fiction ebook she's compiling, titled How to Write Hot Sex: Tips from Multi-Published Erotic Romance Authors. If you're interested, visit her blog here for all the details.

Hope you've had a happy Monday!

Writers' Wednesday: The Old-Fashioned Love Letter

With techonology taking over the world, it's easy for declarations of love that used to appear longhand, meticulously scripted on stationery, to become online posts that are here one day, gone the next. Email, IM, Facebook posts or chats - young lovers confess their feelings in this way, this world, more and more often. Almost gone are the days of the handwritten love letter. That's not entirely bad, of course: today's communication is almost instant, so you can tell your love AT ONCE how you feel. But there's something charming about feelings that are committed to paper, in the tradition of years/decades past, right? Take a look at some famous ones:

"I can live only wholly with you or not at all – No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - "(Ludwig von Beethoven)

"You have touched me more profoundly than I thought even you could have touched me - my heart was full when you came here today. Henceforward I am yours for everything." (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

"Dearest, - I wish I had the gift of making rhymes, for methinks there is poetry in my head and heart since I have been in love with you." (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

"I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough. How could I, fool that I am, go on sitting in my office, or here at home, instead of leaping onto a train with my eyes shut and opening them only when I am with you?" (Franz Kafka)


Sigh.

So I will admit, I'm the kind of sentimentalist that kept a few letters from boyfriends past. I dug out a few the other day to reread them, and those lines in faded ink reminded me so much of the girl I was, of the boys who wrote to me, of the way I treasured those awkward (and sometimes corny) lines. A couple of the ones I still love:

"I watch you walk across the room and I realize you are poetry: beauty in motion."

"If you make me wait, I won't mind: the more sand that falls through the hourglass, the bigger a sandcastle I will build you with it."

"Telling me to resist you is like telling me to live without the sunrise in the morning, warmth in the winter or water in the desert."

Ah, love letters...words from the hearts written down in black and white to be cherished always. Anyone have a stash from their past? Anyone still write them to their loved ones?

Monday Mentionables: Extreme Couponing

Does anyone else watch the show Extreme Couponing with a combination of awe and apprehension? Do you know what it is? It's a reality sort-of show that highlights extreme couponers - those people (actually, all women on the shows I've seen, no men - and I think there's a reason for this) who clip coupons, file coupons, compare sale flyers, and then bring their coupons/laptops/spread sheets to the grocery store where they emerge some 3-5 hours later having just scored $1,000 worth of groceries for something like $1.75.

Impressive? Absoutely. A little terrifying? At times, because these women are obsessive about matching up their coupons with deals and then either buying things they would never use (and then donating them to the needy, I guess), or stockpiling things they probably will never get through. The "stockpile" is the pride and joy of these women: usually a closet, sometimes a separate room altogether, filled with everything they've scored free or almost free. And yes, I admit I'm a little jealous, considering I spend over $100 almost every week on groceries. But I'm not sure I could break down and buy 25 deodorants just because they're .10 each, or 100 packets of dried noodles because they're .15 each. What on earth will one family do with 150 boxes of cereal? Or four shelves filled with hand soap?

This is where I think the extreme couponers border on hoarding. I really do. It becomes more about the deal than about buying things you need and will use. I think, honestly, having a huge stockpile, whether or not you use it, makes some people feel very secure, and maybe rightly so. But still. I do find it a little odd.

Here's the other thing: do these people buy produce or meat? I can't believe so, at least not on the show. Because those things are NEVER on sale with a coupon. And finally, with absoutely no disrespect to those people who are racking up 98% savings when they shop, not one person featured on the show has a full-time job. These women say they spend up to 30 hours a week clipping coupons and scoping out sales, and I believe it. But there's no way I would ever have time for that! (Thus my opinion as to why no men are featured on the show: they're out working 40+ hours a week while the women are home with the kids and the coupons).

OK, this post had nothing to do with writing. But I do find this relatively new fad of "extreme couponing" quite interesting. Thoughts?

Friday Fun Facts: Rotten Rejections

You know the story: debut author lands six-figure publishing deal, followed by a movie and then a second smash novel, and the author is appropriately, charmingly, and nauseatingly humble, saying, "Well, I did get about 100 rejection letters before I finally found the agent/editor/publishing house that was willing to take a chance."

Once we get past our envy of their huge success, it's worthwhile to listen to what many authors have to say about surviving the rejection letter - sometimes multiple times. Yes, the best authors have been rejected, often many times. So I try to take heart from their experiences - and surfing the Web to find some of those classic "can't believe this author EVER received a rejection letter" can bring a smile to anyone's face, I think.

In that spirit, here are a couple of sites that feature rejections of the famous and not-so-famous, all of which should make you chuckle and remind you to keep on keeping on! Write (or fill in the blank here_____) because you love it. Because you can't imagine NOT doing it. The publication (or fame, or money, or whatever else you're seeking) will come......

Rotten Rejections - My favorite here is about Carrie by Stephen King: 'We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.'

Famous Rejections - Starts with Dr. Seuss ("too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling")and moves on from there. Another funny one: "It is badly written and the hero is unsympathetic" (Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead)

And finally, from my own files (I save all my rejection letters), this one from an agent about Summer's Song: "Unforunately, I don't think your writing is strong enough to be publishable." (I will tell you, I still use this one in the back of my mind to motivate me, and to remind me that publishing is subjective, and never to allow one person's opinion to shape my own writing career.)

Carry on, and happy weekend!

Writers' Wednesday: Another Submission

Submitted my novella "Tequila Sunrise" to Samhain last night. Fingers crossed! If they're not interested then I'll probably try my former editor who's now at Carina Press.

And now I really have to decide what NEW project I want to take on for the summer. I need a new story to lose myself in!

Monday Mentionables: Short Reads!

Happy Monday!

For all my writer friends, The Long and the Short of It is seeking out short, sweet romance stories for their "Thrifty Thursday" blog posts. Info here:

The Long and the Short of It is looking for short (1300 - 1500 words), sweet romance
fiction for our Thrifty Thursdays, where readers can come and read for free
(http://tinyurl.com/njyoeh

In exchange for your short romance story, we offer $5 (payable on acceptance and
via Pay Pal only) and a free ONE MONTH book cover or banner ad (a $10 value).
The author may also choose to substitute a TWO MONTH cover/banner ad (a $20
value) in lieu of monetary payment. The author will also receive a link on our
website to their personal webpage and/or blog.

All genres are welcome as long as the story has strong romantic elements.
Additionally, all the stories accepted at Long and Short Reviews MUST have love
and romance as central. A "Happy Ever After" (or at least "Hopefully Ever After"
) is also a required, fundamental part of all the stories we publish.

More information, including how to submit your story, may be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/29p5gba

*************
And speaking of short/free reads, many authors swear by them, to keep readers interested in between longer releases and/or just to whet the interest of new readers. Check out my friend Liz's blog for one that does just that: link here.

And I'm curious: what do you think about free reads on websites/blogs? Do they make you want more from an author? Have you ever bought a book/story because you first read a freebie by that author somewhere?

(P.S. - It''s yet another maketing tool, for all you authors out there!)

Friday Fun Facts

Some random facts, in no particular order:

1. I really liked the Romance Writer's Report article on writing dialogue, in the June 2011 issue. Specifically, the reminder that people tend to talk in "code" (think of married people discussing conflict in front of others) was a good tip.

2. Brava is having a contest for all unpublished authors - they're calling for novellas in any genre. More information here.

3. I was really glad I made the bed and straightened the house yesterday before work, because the crazy-high winds blew in a window screen...which triggered our house alarm...which summoned the police to our place. On a walk-through with them, I realized I failed to put away my lingerie on the drying rack, but oh well. Almost everything else passed muster :)

4. This fairly large snapping turtle was digging a hole near the bottom of our driveway. Getting ready to lay eggs? Maybe, which would be kind of cool. I've seen turtles everywhere this spring, on the side of the road, IN the road, crossing parking lots. More sightings than ever before. Wonder why?

Writers' Wednesday: WD Top Websites for Writers

Every year, Writer's Digest rounds up the websites it considers best for writers, in a wide variety of genres and subject areas. So if you don't subscribe to WD, the May/June 2011 is definitely an issue you want to pick up! I won't list them all (there are over 100), but here are some that I visit on a (semi) regular basis and can vouch for their appeal/helpfulness:

Agent Query - find any agent here, listed by subject area/interest

BookEnds - agents Jessica Faust and Kim Lionetti run this blog

Pub Rants - agent Kristin Nelson has run this blog for years. Hugely helpful in terms of what agents are looking for, and she has a few series of posts regarding query letters, pubbing, etc.

Media Bistro - offers tons of resources & industry news for freelance writers

Preditors & Editors - lists agents and publishing houses along with questionable news, those who are fraudulent/not to be trusted, etc. A must-check before writers query ANYONE

Nathan Bransford - used to be an agent, now a writer, has friendly, easy-to-read posts on the inside workings of the publishing world.

WOW - Women on Writing - I freelanced for them a few times. Website devoted to supporting women's writing endeavors, really it just provides some great writing tips, industry news, etc, that anyone could find useful.

Absolute Write Forums - I check in there at least once a day. You can find information on just about any area of writing you're seeking. Forums for newbies to multi-published authors and anyone inbetween, with just about every genre and sub-genre covered. Awesome!
Happy writing/reading/researching/web surfing!