I had comitted myself to doing a lot of promotion this weekend including updating my website. I only work on my website from my desktop. I also had some big plans of designing some business card size promotion for pre-ordering The Keepers of Sulbreth, now that it is on Amazon. I vowed to visit all my usual blog haunts everyday and perhaps discover a few more.
Well, Thursday my daughter and I were watching a Lifetime movie on demand, one of Nora's, while I visited some blogs, and Kapow! The ondemand movie went off and so did my internet. I thought it was minor clitch but after checking my desktop and my son's laptop I discovered we had no internet. Two hours later, three times getting cutoff, Verizon told me my router took a fatal dive. I was not happy. They promised to sent one right away but with the holiday that means I won't get it until Tuesday.
So here I am at Borders, checking my mail, doing a quick blog and thinking I'm wasting an entire weekend of promotional time. So, quite dangerously, I started thinking. Is the internet all there is to promotion? Is that all I can do? Isn't there more to promotion than blogging, yahoo groups and facebook/twitter? While at Borders, I picked up the newest copy of Realms of Fantasy. It's filled with glossy book ads. I know it can be expensive, but many authors use it to promote their fantasy and science fiction books. Other magazines such as Romantic Times offer another expensive venue for advertising. So I wonder, back in the day, before the internet, how did beginning authors get the word out about their books? I know some newspapers will run a small blurb, but what else it out there?
Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
What Day and Age?
How long has it been since I had to visit the post office and shell out over ten dollars for postage? How long since I had to stand in line with my white envelopes, two partials, one full, and wait for my turn to put them on the scale?
How long until the publisher receives them? How long until I get a response?
Two days ago, I replaced my ink cartridge once, opened a new ream of paper and spent a frustrating hour addressing envelopes, lining up the partials just right, and then stuffing a full 400 page manuscript in the Tyvek envelope and fuming.
One of the publishers I submitted to allowed me to do it online. Every other NY publisher I considered requested three chapters by mail and one wanted the entire thing for a first look. And to save me money (laughing without humor) they're all going to shred my manscript if they don't want it. I only had to enclose a business-sized stamped envelope for them to send back their rejection. My 500+ pages will be recycled. Do they think when they send it back ot me I throw it out? Don't they know I'll send the same pages onto to the next editor on my list of hopes and dreams? Unless of course they spill their coffee on it.
New York is finally on the ebook bandwagon, but when are they going to get on the paperless submission train? When are they going to set up an automatic response system so I know they received my novel without including a little postcard? Isn't one press of a key to delete a rejection easier than shredding a pound of paper?
I know many agents have started to go the online route but so many of the big publishing houses have embraced this convenient and cheap method of looking at new material. Any thoughts on when they will learn?
How long until the publisher receives them? How long until I get a response?
Two days ago, I replaced my ink cartridge once, opened a new ream of paper and spent a frustrating hour addressing envelopes, lining up the partials just right, and then stuffing a full 400 page manuscript in the Tyvek envelope and fuming.
One of the publishers I submitted to allowed me to do it online. Every other NY publisher I considered requested three chapters by mail and one wanted the entire thing for a first look. And to save me money (laughing without humor) they're all going to shred my manscript if they don't want it. I only had to enclose a business-sized stamped envelope for them to send back their rejection. My 500+ pages will be recycled. Do they think when they send it back ot me I throw it out? Don't they know I'll send the same pages onto to the next editor on my list of hopes and dreams? Unless of course they spill their coffee on it.
New York is finally on the ebook bandwagon, but when are they going to get on the paperless submission train? When are they going to set up an automatic response system so I know they received my novel without including a little postcard? Isn't one press of a key to delete a rejection easier than shredding a pound of paper?
I know many agents have started to go the online route but so many of the big publishing houses have embraced this convenient and cheap method of looking at new material. Any thoughts on when they will learn?
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Take a Breath
I sent those pesky edits off Thursday evening and can now take a breather. If I could afford an expensive bottle of wine, I would celebrate and bask in the peace of no current deadline. But I can't afford an expensive bottle so I'm having an ice coffee instead.
The knife pricking my peace is related to that lack of deadline. I have three books published, three contracted for publication within the next year, one with an editor considering an offer of an contract, but I'm still working the day job. I haven't 'made' it as a writer. At least not made it enough to make it my full time job.
I'm stuck in a curious and exhausting limbo at the moment. I work more than forty hours a week at the job that pays the bills and then I try to put in another forty a week as a writer. Last year, I wrote three new novels and reworked one old one. I'm tired. Tired of staying up to all hours of the night, tired of not getting to read all those lovely books by my favorite authors, tired of the weeds in my flower beds, tired of missing my running workouts, and tired of going to work every morning when I want to sit at my writing desk with a cup of coffee.
I want the big contract. The one that allows me to work only my writing job and not starve. The one that helps with college tuition for the kiddies. The one that sends my scurrying to my accountant on how best to invest it.
So tonight, even though I'd promised myself a weekend off, I'm preparing query letters to all those 'big' fantasy publishers and hoping. This is my best book ever. This is the one they will want. This is the one the SciFi channel will make a movie about. Maybe I don't feel so tired after all.
I know a few authors who are able to make it their full time endeavor. How wonderful for them. I know more authors who struggle along like I am. What would you do if you could write full time? Fresh coffee all day long? A set work schedule or make it up as you go along each day? Do you think you could keep your fingers on the keyboard for hours each day? Would you love it or would you get lonely?
I would like the chance to find out how I would handle writing when and for how long I wanted.
The knife pricking my peace is related to that lack of deadline. I have three books published, three contracted for publication within the next year, one with an editor considering an offer of an contract, but I'm still working the day job. I haven't 'made' it as a writer. At least not made it enough to make it my full time job.
I'm stuck in a curious and exhausting limbo at the moment. I work more than forty hours a week at the job that pays the bills and then I try to put in another forty a week as a writer. Last year, I wrote three new novels and reworked one old one. I'm tired. Tired of staying up to all hours of the night, tired of not getting to read all those lovely books by my favorite authors, tired of the weeds in my flower beds, tired of missing my running workouts, and tired of going to work every morning when I want to sit at my writing desk with a cup of coffee.
I want the big contract. The one that allows me to work only my writing job and not starve. The one that helps with college tuition for the kiddies. The one that sends my scurrying to my accountant on how best to invest it.
So tonight, even though I'd promised myself a weekend off, I'm preparing query letters to all those 'big' fantasy publishers and hoping. This is my best book ever. This is the one they will want. This is the one the SciFi channel will make a movie about. Maybe I don't feel so tired after all.
I know a few authors who are able to make it their full time endeavor. How wonderful for them. I know more authors who struggle along like I am. What would you do if you could write full time? Fresh coffee all day long? A set work schedule or make it up as you go along each day? Do you think you could keep your fingers on the keyboard for hours each day? Would you love it or would you get lonely?
I would like the chance to find out how I would handle writing when and for how long I wanted.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Another One Down
I've set some challenging goals for myself this year, but I'm having some trouble deciding the order in which I should attack them. Two major goals have already earned the 'finished' moniker and now I'm taking a day to decide what to work on next.
To Tame a Tiger finally has found a home with TWRP. I'm thrilled about that. That company is super organized and constantly striving to improve everything about themselves from their customer service and what they do for their authors.
The second book in my fantasy series with Medallion Press, Beyond the Gate, is finally traversing cyper space to their docket with the expected edits completed. In the past three weeks I cut nearly three thousand words to make the writing tighter and do more showing and less telling. I think it's the best book I've ever written to this point.
Now what should I do next? The choices are varied and I want to have them all done before the end of 2009. Here are my choices in no particular order.
Book three of my fantasy series with Medallion Press, Beneath the Mountain, is about half completed. I had to set it aside to work on other projects. This is the thing I most 'want' to work on but it's also the one I probably have the least need to get right on. My editor at Medallion probably won't look at it until fall at the earliest as we work on getting the first book ready for its January, 2010 release.
Book four in my Solonian Chronicles with New Concepts Publishing is finished. That is the first rough copy is done. Unlike some of my writer friends, my first copy always needs tons of work. This is probably the one I should get right on because I'm sure they'll work to get it out as soon as possible since it's another book in a successful series. This is the last book in that series and I'll probably be pitching another series to them next fall. But for some reason, I'm feeling little inspiration to get started on this, perhaps because I know I have to major revisions to the first part of it.
My 'Tigers of Salubria series,(I hope it ends up being a series with TRWP) also has a second and third book completed and waiting for revisions. I hesitate to start work on that because I don't know how quickly TRWP press moves on looking at a second book when I don't even have a release date for the first one.
The last option is my newest fantasy book, First Dragon, that I completed a few months ago. I've been querying agents who like my writing and give my kind words but no contract. They want urban fantasy not sword and sorcery type. They think they can't sell it. So after months of frustration with those replies, I'm going to try and find a home for it on my own. Wish me luck.
Those are all my choices. I'm giving myself today to decide. Suggestions are welcome.
To Tame a Tiger finally has found a home with TWRP. I'm thrilled about that. That company is super organized and constantly striving to improve everything about themselves from their customer service and what they do for their authors.
The second book in my fantasy series with Medallion Press, Beyond the Gate, is finally traversing cyper space to their docket with the expected edits completed. In the past three weeks I cut nearly three thousand words to make the writing tighter and do more showing and less telling. I think it's the best book I've ever written to this point.
Now what should I do next? The choices are varied and I want to have them all done before the end of 2009. Here are my choices in no particular order.
Book three of my fantasy series with Medallion Press, Beneath the Mountain, is about half completed. I had to set it aside to work on other projects. This is the thing I most 'want' to work on but it's also the one I probably have the least need to get right on. My editor at Medallion probably won't look at it until fall at the earliest as we work on getting the first book ready for its January, 2010 release.
Book four in my Solonian Chronicles with New Concepts Publishing is finished. That is the first rough copy is done. Unlike some of my writer friends, my first copy always needs tons of work. This is probably the one I should get right on because I'm sure they'll work to get it out as soon as possible since it's another book in a successful series. This is the last book in that series and I'll probably be pitching another series to them next fall. But for some reason, I'm feeling little inspiration to get started on this, perhaps because I know I have to major revisions to the first part of it.
My 'Tigers of Salubria series,(I hope it ends up being a series with TRWP) also has a second and third book completed and waiting for revisions. I hesitate to start work on that because I don't know how quickly TRWP press moves on looking at a second book when I don't even have a release date for the first one.
The last option is my newest fantasy book, First Dragon, that I completed a few months ago. I've been querying agents who like my writing and give my kind words but no contract. They want urban fantasy not sword and sorcery type. They think they can't sell it. So after months of frustration with those replies, I'm going to try and find a home for it on my own. Wish me luck.
Those are all my choices. I'm giving myself today to decide. Suggestions are welcome.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Sweet, Sweet Week
Where to start. The past seven days have been a whirlwind for me. On Monday, I was still fuming about the pirates stealing my three futuristic romances. I won't use all the words to describe them I've used in conversation when I discovered it. I did very little writing last weekend. Anger is not an emotion that lends itself to creativity. At least not for me.
But Tuesday morning I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and knew the path I needed my plot to take as I navigated my characters through their dark moment. And I still remembered it when I woke up again an hour later.
That was the start of a lot of good things. Checking my fantasy publisher, Medallion Press, in a moment of procrastination, I discovered my book cover had finally been put up on their website along with a blurb. It's so beautiful as you can see from the picture alongside this post. The blurb isn't the one I wrote and I wouldn't call it entirely accurate, but it's there. Here's the link if you'd like to read it.
http://www.medallionpress.com/blurbs/sulbreth.html
Later that same night, I discovered the book cover for my newest futuristic romanc release, A Ruthless Good, is on a list over at Goodreads for the hottest erotica cover. Now remember I was a bit distraught because my book isn't erotica and feared it would turn away my ususal readers or mislead new readers. But I'm not silly enough to cry about free publicity. Please go vote if you will.
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/531.Hottest_Romance_Erotica_Covers
As if the good fates hadn't smiled on me enough, the very next day I received an offer of a contract for a fantasy romance from The Wild Rose Press. I've heard so many wonderful things about this publisher, I can't wait to have my book in their lineup. To Tame a Tiger is the novel I had tied up in that bankruptcy mess with Triskelion even though they never published it. I was so afraid it would never see the light of a readers book light.
Continuing on my quest to make this one of the best weeks of my writing career, this morning I finished the first draft of my fourth book in The Solonian Chronicles, the futuristic romance series I have with New Concepts Publishing. This book is the last in the series that started with The Greater Good, The Lesser Evil and A Ruthless Good. I haven't titled this one yet and will tell you more about it later when and if I get a contract.
So I've met my writing goals for Febuary, snagged that new contract and had the joy of seeing that fantasy book up before the world. Everything is flowing.
Until last night. Did I tell you I think I destroyed my website?
But Tuesday morning I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and knew the path I needed my plot to take as I navigated my characters through their dark moment. And I still remembered it when I woke up again an hour later.
That was the start of a lot of good things. Checking my fantasy publisher, Medallion Press, in a moment of procrastination, I discovered my book cover had finally been put up on their website along with a blurb. It's so beautiful as you can see from the picture alongside this post. The blurb isn't the one I wrote and I wouldn't call it entirely accurate, but it's there. Here's the link if you'd like to read it.
http://www.medallionpress.com/blurbs/sulbreth.html
Later that same night, I discovered the book cover for my newest futuristic romanc release, A Ruthless Good, is on a list over at Goodreads for the hottest erotica cover. Now remember I was a bit distraught because my book isn't erotica and feared it would turn away my ususal readers or mislead new readers. But I'm not silly enough to cry about free publicity. Please go vote if you will.
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/531.Hottest_Romance_Erotica_Covers
As if the good fates hadn't smiled on me enough, the very next day I received an offer of a contract for a fantasy romance from The Wild Rose Press. I've heard so many wonderful things about this publisher, I can't wait to have my book in their lineup. To Tame a Tiger is the novel I had tied up in that bankruptcy mess with Triskelion even though they never published it. I was so afraid it would never see the light of a readers book light.
Continuing on my quest to make this one of the best weeks of my writing career, this morning I finished the first draft of my fourth book in The Solonian Chronicles, the futuristic romance series I have with New Concepts Publishing. This book is the last in the series that started with The Greater Good, The Lesser Evil and A Ruthless Good. I haven't titled this one yet and will tell you more about it later when and if I get a contract.
So I've met my writing goals for Febuary, snagged that new contract and had the joy of seeing that fantasy book up before the world. Everything is flowing.
Until last night. Did I tell you I think I destroyed my website?
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Weather for Writers
I teach school so that means I have a number of weeks off in the summer. You would think I get lots of writing done during those months. The opposite is true. Too many things tempt me when the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming. I take care of the yard and landscaping around our house. I love it but it's still a time consuming chore. Then there's all my kids activities. When the sun is out the kids will play.
And or course, fall is back to work and all the things that entails. I've found that I get the most writing done when it's cold or rainy outside. Today is an overcast, cool day here in the northeast USA, and I did one scene already this morning. I expect I'll do another ten pages before evening. Something about those clouds and a hot cup of chai gets my creative thoughts rising to the surface.
Winter does the same thing. Getting snowed in is a perfect time to put on some music and hit the keyboard. I often wonder what would happen if I could retire from my day job and write full time. Would I get anything done on a sunny day?
I'm off now to work on part three of my fantasy series I started with, The Keepers of Sulbreth. I'm waiting to hear from my editor on the second book in that series titled, Beyond the Gate. I haven't titled book three yet, but maybe it will come to me on this stormy day.
And or course, fall is back to work and all the things that entails. I've found that I get the most writing done when it's cold or rainy outside. Today is an overcast, cool day here in the northeast USA, and I did one scene already this morning. I expect I'll do another ten pages before evening. Something about those clouds and a hot cup of chai gets my creative thoughts rising to the surface.
Winter does the same thing. Getting snowed in is a perfect time to put on some music and hit the keyboard. I often wonder what would happen if I could retire from my day job and write full time. Would I get anything done on a sunny day?
I'm off now to work on part three of my fantasy series I started with, The Keepers of Sulbreth. I'm waiting to hear from my editor on the second book in that series titled, Beyond the Gate. I haven't titled book three yet, but maybe it will come to me on this stormy day.
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