RWA Conference Thoughts

Two days of conference are behind me and my head is spinning with all the information that's been crammed into it.

Several workshops stand out for me and both of them involved one of the most prolific romance writers of our times—Jayne Ann Krentz. She also is one of the few authors I know writing under three different names in three different romance genres, so some of you may know her as Jayne Ann Krentz and some may know her as Amanda Quick and others still may know her at Jayne Castle. I had the honor of moderating the workshop she co-hosted with the two internet experts she has hired to take care of her on-line persona, Sheri Brooks and Cissy Hartley. The information these three imparted to the group will be invaluable as I continue to pursue my writing career in the internet age.

Sheri's company, Purple Papaya LLC, works with authors to supplement the promotional support they receive from their publishers. Her company helps connect authors with their readers through social media, such as facebook and helps them develop brand identity. 

Cissy is the founder of Writerspace which helps authors and publishers of romance, women's fiction and mystery promote their work through their websites. 

Jayne Ann asked Sheri and Cissy to tell how their companies help Jayne Ann promote her brand and build readership. The advice all three of them offered was amazing and I hope to take some of it and put it to use myself. I didn't take copious notes as I was moderating and keeping the workshop on schedule, but one of the things they talked about that really resonated with me was establishing your name from the beginning of your career. They encouraged new authors to decide on their name and then secure that domain name for their use. The cost of securing a domain name can be as low as $10 a month. In the long run the money spent up front can save you money later on. And some headaches as well.

Later on I had the pleasure of sitting in on Jayne Ann's joint workshop with Susan Elizabeth Phillips. It was a joy to listen to these two established romance writers speak. They talked about everything. But one of the things that struck me most was something Susan said and Jayne reiterated. The processes they use for writing are their processes. The process that might work for you and me as writers will be what works for us. Both ladies reinforced over and over again that there is no right or wrong way to write a book. Some authors outline their complete story before they write a word. Some have only part of the story and some just start writing and see what happens with the story as they go. But I LOVED that they didn't stand in front of the room and say this is how you should do it. One of the things that bugs me the most about writing is all of the authors who say this is how my writing process works and you should do it too. 

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't take a course from someone to learn their process, I think you should. But I think you should go into the course with the idea of seeing what YOU can take away from it. Not what the person giving the course tells you to take away from it. Both Susan and Jayne Ann said listen to your gut, it will tell you if a process will work for you or not. 

I believe that as a writer we need to continuously learn about our craft. What I don't believe is that you should have a process that is uncomfortable for you forced on you. But keep an open mind. Listen. Observe. Learn. Assess. Don't just blindly accept that because one successful writer does something you have to emulate them. 

I go back to one of my first posts were I talked about all the advice I was given when my first child was born. I was certain that everyone knew better than I did how to raise my child. My mother told me to listen to the advice and then do what felt right for me. 

I believe this was the best living advice I've ever been given.

In the end what matters when writing a book is knowing your craft really well. And that is something we should all aspire to.

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you

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Travel, Goals and Sex Words (that got your attention, didn’t it?)

Travel

I am so distracted by the RWA’s Annual Conference next week that I’m finding it hard to think about anything else.

Today I ran around like a crazy woman picking up the last minute things I thought I needed. Only to get home, take stock of what I already had and realize I probably only needed about half of what I bought. * sigh * I get a little crazed whenever I travel and think I have to buy new everything. But I did need to get sunscreen, travel size contact solution, Tide To Go and socks. The two new outfits were completely unnecessary, but I’ll pack them anyway.

Goals and Expectations

I was reading the newsletter that Holly Lisle sends out. If you’re not familiar with Holly, go to hollylisle.com (I’m adding it to my favorite websites list). Holly writes sci-fi, fantasy and offers tons of free advice for writers, as well as books on writing and classes you can take. I took her ‘How To Think Sideways’ course—highly recommend it if you’re looking for away to kick start your writing and learning how to talk to your muse. It’s fascinating. Oh, and learning about the four thinking barriers—worth the price of the whole course, IMO.

In her newsletter this week she talks about setting goals and having expectations and how to tell the difference. She describes a goal as something you have control of—an action you control the outcome of. An expectation is something that others control. For example—Saying that you are going to complete your novel in a year is a goal. You control if you do indeed complete your novel in one year. No one else does. Saying that you will be on the NYT bestseller’s list is an expectation. You have no control over whether or not you sell your book to a publisher or an agent or how many people will buy that book. Holly goes on to say that in order to avoid disappointment you need to differentiate between an expectation and a goal. If you think that being on the NYT bestseller’s list is a goal, you will end up frustrated and disappointed.

Holly goes on to suggest sitting down and making a list and identifying which are goals and which are expectations and then start working on the goals. Working on the goals may lead to realizing some of your expectations. But, as with everything in life, it isn’t a guarantee. But you will certainly never make it to the NYT bestseller’s list if you NEVER write that book. I believe after I return from Orlando I will be taking her up on her advice.  

Sex Words

If you haven’t yet, or never have, check out Vauxhall Vixens blog. This week Eloisa James was their guest blogger. She wrote about ‘sex words’. It was great and the comments back were equally interesting. In the end I think nearly every person who commented was in agreement that anything ‘throbbing’ or ‘heaving’ was over done and in some case, just plain frightening. You can find Vauxhall Vixens at http://vauxhallvixens.blogspot.com/

Next week's blog

Not sure if I'll be posting next week. I will have a laptop with me, but Friday is a full day of workshops and I don't know if I'll have enough energy, or brains, left to write a post, but you just never know. 

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Getting noticed

In good and bad ways

Not sure where to start here. With the conference looming large I can’t seem to think about anything else.

I got my beautiful purple business cards. I’ve typed up my presentation and I’ve been learning some more about Harlequin Mills & Boon and Ms. Fildew. Unfortunately I’m beginning to think my book(s) might not be the right fit for Harlequin, but another opportunity might present itself so I'm trying not to project my negative thoughts on this. I’ve also gone through the conference workshop list, highlighted the ones I’m interested in attending and am printing out the available handouts that go with those workshops. I also signed up to volunteer and will be moderating one of the workshops. Actually it’s one of the first workshops on Thursday afternoon. And it’s one I was interested in attending so that works out well. I thought volunteering would be a good way to meet some new people and make new contacts. You just never know about these things.

Getting noticed—in a good way…

The other day I was pumping gas and I noticed a young girl in the car at the pump next to mine. She was waiting in the car with her brother and mother while her dad was pumping gas. She noticed my glance and immediately started goofing around in the back seat. I had to admit I was amused and smiled at her antics.

As I thought about her silliness I realized that so much of what I was doing to prepare for the conference was about how to get noticed.

When you’re young you have no preconceived notions about what people think when you do a silly dance or sing a song off key to get someone’s attention. But as adults we realize that most people would think we were insane if we broke out in dance or sang off key to get the attention of a total stranger. But if you think about it on a base level, isn’t that what actors do when practicing their craft; although the dances are more choreographed and the songs on key. Perhaps they have found a way to tap into their childlike qualities in order to be an actor.

I belong to a writing website, which is like having one huge critique group, called fanstory.com. I post my stories and poems there for review. I have had some that I was totally offended by and some that were harsh, but true. As time has gone by I’ve learned from the harsher critiques and I’ve received some amazing reviews. I like the feeling I get when I see a five or six star rating (the highest levels) on something I’ve submitted to fanstory. I really like it when I get 30 or more reviews and they are all five or six stars. When I get a 5 from someone who has been a tough critic up to that point, I’m over the moon. I like the feeling of being someone special for that moment. And I think for that brief time that maybe I can realize my dream of someday being a published author. I’m really not looking for fame and fortune (although the fortune would be nice).

But why is it we crave attention?  Well, I’m not an analyst, but I know why I like attention—it just makes me feel good. Having my work validated by someone, and especially someone I respect, gives me a nice little endorphin rush.

So, even though I bought the purple business cards in an attempt to be remembered, or noticed, I really hope my hard work as an author gets noticed too. Maybe some of my childlike qualities will surface—no, no singing and dancing—and I will remember to have fun with this whole business and not get caught up in the need to be noticed, but can find someone who appreciates what I have to offer.

Being noticed—in a bad way…

A little aside for today—if any of you out there are facebook members, I've a little advice—go into your account and privacy setting and customize them and make it so the e-mail account you have tied to facebook is only visible to you, do the same with any other contact information you have. I have also changed my password on my facebook account and all my e-mail accounts. A friend’s facebook account was hacked into today and someone is phishing to get personal information from her friends. They are claiming they are her and that she is in the UK and in need of cash. But I knew that she wasn’t any place but home. I called her and she is frantic because she can’t get into her e-mail or facebook account. It turns out she some how ended up with spyware on her computer so the hacker could steal her info. Also might be a good time to up-date and run whatever anti-virus software you have.

Above all else practice safe internet surfing. It’s a big scary place out there.

Until next time

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mc


p.s. Out and about reading blogs and came across this one about getting published. It's really good—check it out—http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/How+I+Got+My+Agent+Boyd+Morrison.aspx

It’s all about the writing

More good news from my dear friend, Rain Chapman, she received word from a local newspaper that they will be publishing her short stories this summer. You can check out her blog at http://rainchapman.blogspot.com to read what she has to say. And while you’re there drop her a little note to say ‘hi’.

As I move through the process of establishing a blog, my purpose here is becoming clearer. I want to share some things I’ve learned about writing and, hopefully later on, publishing. I also want to help others promote their sites and work as well. If you have a venture you’re working on that you’d like to share, whether it’s writing related or not, let me know. While I will be focusing most of my efforts on writing related topics, I welcome others too. You never know what will happen with ideas collide.

Stuff about writing I’ve learned (or not)

OK, when I first started visiting blogs on agents, editors and writing websites, I ran into people using a lot of acronyms or initials when referring to something. I tried googling some of these things to figure out what they were, but usually ran into a dead end. A return to the blog, digging through previous posts and getting out my decoder ring most times would reveal what the acronyms or initials meant.

Here are the ones I’ve learned so far—

GMC—Goal, Motivation, Conflict

MC—Main Character

MS—Manuscript

POV—Point Of View

SPAG—Spelling, Punctuation And Grammar

WIP—Work In Progress

These are ones I’ve seen frequently. Are there others you’ve come across? Please share them.

Stuff about the future of publishing…

I’ve been reading lots of stuff on line about the future of publishing; one rather provocative post caught my attention. Randy Ingermanson has a very interesting point of view on the future of publishing and e-book (electronic book) vs. p-book (printed book) and the future of publishing in general. Here’s a link to the latest edition of his e-zine - http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/ezine/2010/AFW_Ezine_2010-07-06.txt 

Sign up for his free e-zine, if you feel so inclined, while you’re there. Randy shares a lot of great information. His e-zine this week sure got my brain to churning and that has led me to think of several opportunities I had not considered before.

One is the idea of making my books e-books, marketing on-line and establishing a reader base while I continue to learn and write with the end result being the possibility of p-books. Randy digs deep into this idea and his thoughts make a lot of sense.

The other idea is another Randy points out, the growing need for graphic designers for all these e-books, because people still want a pretty cover whether it’s electronic or printed. So now I’m toying with the idea of not only establishing a website focused on writing, but also developing one to offer graphic design, as that is what I have 30+ years of experience doing. So all of this is rattling around in my head along with the need to get my next book started, but not before final revisions are done on book number two. Whew, and I wonder why I have no time.

Making myself memorable (I hope)…

I told you last week I’d share my idea for making myself memorable (hopefully in a good way) when I meet with the editor from Harlequin Mills Boon at the RWA conference. The idea actually came from my conversation with my cousin KC. He told me about an artist who always sent her queries in purple or green or pink envelopes. When he was looking for the type of artwork she created, he could quickly lay his hands on her work because of the bright colored envelopes. Well, I won’t be taking any envelopes full of stuff to the conference with me—just a little aside for those who’ve never attended a conference, you NEVER take manuscripts with you. You prepare your pitch and if the editor or agent asks for synopsis or a partial ms, you e-mail or send it to them AFTER the conference. They don’t want to schlep tons of stuff around with them any more than you would, so don’t bring it, but do send it if they ask. OK, done with my long aside—but I will be taking some lovely purple business cards. I’ve decided to have one of my poems printed on the back, rather than a blurb about my book. The way I see it is if they like the poem, then they might be interested in seeing the rest of my work AND it might just set me apart from the crowd. I’m hoping the purple helps with that too, and a business card takes up hardly any room in a suitcase. Yeah, I know the other side of that argument, it’s small and could easily get lost, but maybe, just maybe it will make an impression before it does.

Well, I’ve rambled on long enough. I have company coming this evening and the house needs to be straightened up.

Love to hear any thoughts you might have.

Until next week…

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A little 'self' indulgence

Self-publishing…

This week I’d like to start out by giving a little shout out to my friends, Gayle and Jeff Farmer, who are the proud parents of Omega Publications (which can be found at www.omegapublications.net). Omega is a small independent publishing house. They specialize in providing authors with just about any service they need to publish and promote their book, including creating book trailers. There is a lovely book trailer on the website that Jeff created for a short story collection that Omega published last year titled ‘Mosaic’. Several of my friends are featured in the short story collection—Dawn Boeder Johnson is one of them. So check out the trailer and the book. Some truly gifted authors have contributed to it. Omega recently sponsored a novel writing contest and I believe they will be announcing the winner soon and will be publishing the winning novel—more on that later.

Self-doubt…

I’ve been googling (funny how that word has quickly become an accepted verb) like crazy preparing for my upcoming editor’s meeting at the RWA conference at the end of July. I’ve found several interviews that Ms. Fildew has participated in on-line and I’m learning more about Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd. At first I was feeling pretty confident. But then that ugly ol’ creature, self-doubt tapped me on the shoulder and began whispering in my ear—“Are you sure Ms. Fildew is looking for full-length Regency novels? Perhaps you’ve misunderstood and all she’s interested in is serial romance. And why should she remember you over anyone else she interviews at the conference.” Dread started to curl its icy tendrils around my gut. What if my work isn’t what she’s looking for? What if I was forgettable?

Self-doubt is a writer’s worst enemy. Every one of us has suffered from it at one time or another and there is no cure and no way to stop it from worming its way into our brain and causing us to question ourselves. Finding a way to deal with it isn’t easy either and quite frankly I don’t have any magic words to share to do that. But I do have some thoughts about this unwelcome specter. First of all, you, me and anyone who has ever created anything has suffered from self-doubt. There is no avoiding it. Second, what is it that brings on this self-doubt? Usually it is our fear of people’s opinions of what we’ve created. The key here is that it is their opinion. Art, in any form, is subjective. For instance, some people really like abstract art. Frankly, while I appreciate an artist’s talent in creating it, I’m not a big fan of abstract art. I can say the same thing for rap music, chainsaw/massacre movies and books. Just not a fan of those genres, but I have an appreciation and respect for those who create them when they are done well. One way to counter self-doubt is to learn your craft well and present the very best of what you have inside you. Unfortunately, you will have to hear some harsh words and face some equally as harsh realities about yourself in order to learn and that can be unpleasant at best, gut-wrenching at worst. But I think if you are open-minded and listen and learn from those who’ve gone before you, your writing will improve and self-doubt will be a less frequent visitor. I look at it this way, when I had my first child I got lots and lots (and lots) of unsolicited advice from parents and non-parents alike. At first I thought I had to do everything everyone told me. Even things I wasn’t comfortable with. My mother, the wise woman that she is, but her hand on my shoulder and said, “Listen to the advice that people give and then sort through it all and do what feels right to you.” I’ve kept those words close to my heart my whole life. I recently realized they apply to my writing as well. While I am always open to advice and want to learn all I can about the craft of writing, I’ll listen to what others have to say and sort out what feels like the right thing to me.

As for Ms. Fildew remembering me, I’m working on an idea for that as well and will share that with you next time.

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