Thanks to book review websites like Goodreads and Amazon, a reader can decide if they want to read a book or if they should skip it because of the reviews and ratings.
Last month, I posted about a poorly edited book* I had read that ended up with some surprisingly high ratings on both Goodreads and Amazon. Since that post, I’ve noticed an unexpected finding. The way people rate self-published books is different to how they rate traditionally published ones. I’m consistently finding that the overall ratings for self-published books are higher than the ones for books that are traditionally published.
One reason for this is because we may be tougher on traditionally published books due to their cost. When a self-published novel costs only $1.99, we tend to be more forgiving. We’re less forgiving when we shell out $10 for a book. And watch up if we pay significantly higher than that, which is the case for hardcover books. It doesn’t mean the self-published books are better. It just means we’re dealing with a whole new level of subjectivity.
Do you find you are tougher when you rate traditionally published books verses self-published ones? Do you think this inequality in how books are reviewed is fair to authors and readers alike?
* I'm currently reading Hopeless. It's not the book I was referring to.
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And the winner of the book Social Media Just For Writers is:
TWO days until SAINT SLOAN, my second novel, is released! EEEK! To celebrate, I've asked a lot of awesome authors to come over and share how they got published. I hope you are finding them informative, insightful, and encouraging. Don't EVER give up on your dreams!!!Sherry Gloag is here to talk about how she got published. She faced what we all face: r-e-j-e-c-t-i-o-n. I saw a sign today that said, you don't lose when you come in last, you lose when you quit. So don't quit, and you'll never lose... Here's Sherry...
As I worked on my manuscript, I knew exactly which publisher I hoped would accept it. I spent hours, weeks; months studying their submission requirements. Not only for the line I was targeting but for some of the others too to highlight possible traps I might fall into. And the story took almost a year to write. It wasn’t my first full-length novel manuscript but it became my first published one. After my target publisher rejected my offering with some comments that hurt, I dug a hole and disappeared with my tattered pride, battered self-belief and the overwhelming need to indulge in the mother-and-father of a pity-party. Soon I began to feel angry. Not because of the rejection, well not entirely, but because I wondered how I could have got my research and efforts so wrong. And if that happened with this publisher what chance did I have of convincing another in the future? Then I got mad all over again. I would show everyone I could do this, including myself. For the next few months I cut and tweaked, wrote and rewrote, and then spent hours online looking for e-publishers. (Astraea Press didn’t exist at this time.) I chose The Wild Rose Press and submitted my story. It came back. But this time the wonderful editor included such an encouraging email, I contacted her directly and she gave me some fabulous advice, and a couple of recommendations of where to try next. I followed her advice, tried another line of The Wild Rose Press and was accepted. In October 2010 The Wild Rose Press published my first book, The Brat.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Brat-ebook/dp/B0044XV850/ref=la_B0042QD6S6_1_1_title_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1361629610&sr=1-1 And http://www.amazon.com/Brat-Sherry-Gloag/dp/1601548257/ref=la_B0042QD6S6_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361629610&sr=1-1 ~~~ I submitted my next book to the same publisher but it didn’t quite fit their remit, so I looked and was accepted elsewhere. During that time I had heard of and followed the launch and growth of Astraea Press, but was already involved in writing a novella for a Valentine anthology which was followed by a short story for yet another anthology. This was rejected, so I rewrote it and asked a friend if she would read it for me. I didn’t know at the time she was and still is an editor with Astraea Press. She liked it enough to suggest I extend the story, and let her see it. So I did, and then using her advice I submitted it to Astraea Press and From Now Until Forever was accepted. Since then Astraea Press has published another novella, His Chosen Bride, the 2nd in my Gasquet Princes series, and my current full-length Regency romantic suspense novel, Vidal’s Honor.
Today, Wendy Knight, author of the upcoming FEUDLINGS, is here talking about how she got published! I hope her story (as well as the others in this series) inspires you :)
Here's Wendy...
So, my debut novel, Feudlings, doesn’t come out til March 19, so I guess technically I’m not published yet. But close enough, right? And I do love my story.
I spent two years writing Feudlings. First I just wanted to see if I could actually finish a novel. Then when I did, my husband talked me into trying to get it published. I didn’t want to – it’s a scary thing! So we made a deal. I would try for a year. If I hadn’t gotten it published before my birthday the next year, I could quit. So I queried and submitted and stalked Twitter watching for contests for almost an entire year. I had some requests, but nothing major. Stalking Twitter was one of the smartest things I could do. I found out about a website that was hosting a pitch session with several romance publishers. I signed up, scoured them all, and chose three to pitch to. One was Astraea Press. So I pitched online, and it was way scary, but pitching to Stephanie at Astraea Press was so much fun. I felt like I was talking to a friend. My favorite part – I told her about my story and she said, “Great, when can I get my hands on it?” I immediately loved her. Two weeks later, and my birthday and self-imposed deadline was only seven days away. My hubs was sick and I was up in the middle of the night playing games on Facebook. Everyone else was asleep. I saw that I had an email, so I checked it and it was from Stephanie. “My editor loved your book and we’d like to offer you a contract.” Hmm, I thought, and went back to the game I was playing on Facebook. About ten minutes later, I realized what I’d just read and fell off my chair. I picked myself up and re-read the email, shaking like a small dog the entire time. And I had NO ONE to tell! Luckily, I have the best writer friends on the planet (all of whom also don’t sleep, apparently) and I wrote them and told them. They were all very excited for me and held my hand while I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do. First thing – write the other publishers that had my full MS and let them know. So I did. Next step, let Astraea know that I needed some time. I was nervous about that – what if she changed her mind? But she was totally fine and understanding. After that, ask questions. Lots of questions. I’m BIG on questions, so much that I drive everyone nuts with them. But Stephanie was totally patient. Two days later, I got another contract offered from another press, and two agents asked to see my full. I had waited a YEAR, and suddenly everything was happening at once! So I did TONS of research and praying and asking questions, but all the way through I just felt like Astraea was the right choice. So I signed the contract and threw a party and have loved my decision ever since! If you would like, you can follow me on Twitter! @wjk8099 And my blog is http://writethroughthenoise.blogspot.com/
Today, Brenda Maxfield is here, talking about how she got published! Her advice, don't limit yourself! :) Consider every possibility available.
How I Got Published
Hello Friends! First of all, I’m truly grateful to be in a position to write this post. For those of you reading who aren’t yet published and/or don’t yet have your first contract, hang in there! All of us who have our first, second, or fortieth contract, were once right where you are. I recently read a post where the woman had been writing for twenty years before she got her first contract. That is not to say it will or should take twenty years to get one! Of course, the point is that this gal never gave up and is now flying high in victory. Before I was offered my first contract with Astraea, I sent queries to both agents and small publishers. I was intrigued by both possibilities and hadn’t decided which way to go. Some of my friends had planned to send out queries exclusively to agents for a year and if none of them bit, to then begin sending queries to small publishers. I wasn’t ready to limit myself, so I opted to do both jointly. I piqued the interest of some agents who requested fulls. That was a thrill — well, to be honest any positive feedback is a thrill, not to mention a fresh impetus to keep going. At the same time, I’d gained interest from some small publishers. Then — on my birthday no less — I received a contract offer from Astraea Press. What a present! I re-studied their website and grew even more excited about what they stood for and who they were. Because I was new to e-pub contracts, I had some of my multi-published author friends look the contract over. Everything was a go, and I had an inner knowing that this was the path for me. (Never underestimate that niggling feeling inside telling you what is right for you.) Once I joined the Astraea team of authors, I knew for sure I’d made the right choice. What a talented and warm group of people. I’d hit the jackpot! All of us have gone through periods of rejections, frustrations, and sometimes loneliness. They’re part of the writer’s life. But then there are those times of sweet success when we overflow with gratitude to be able to call ourselves writers. Many writers I know who have stuck with it through thick and thin, worked to improve their craft (there’s always more to learn), put their writing out there over and over, and have never given up, have found a publishing home. The key being: Never. Give. Up. I’d love to hear about your successes and frustrations on your writing path. And thank you for letting me share. Brenda Maxfield http://www.brendamaxfield.com
Several months ago, I read a post that caused a lot of controversy within the writing community. I’m not going to mention the individual’s name since she left a not-so-nice comment on one of my friend’s posts, and I don’t want to deal with that attitude here. Blogger Alert, anyone?
So what was this controversial topic? This individual felt that non-published writers shouldn’t write about, well, writing. In her view, only those who are published are qualified to talk about it. Apparently the rest of us, because we aren’t authors, don’t know how to write.
I disagree.
I don’t follow author blogs, with a few exceptions. At this point, the only way authors can grab my loyalty is to write kickass novels. Do that, and I’m all yours. I don’t care if your blog is the most awesome thing on this planet. If your book doesn’t meet my expectation, I’m not buying the next one.
The blogs I do follow are by unpublished writers. These are the individuals whose books I hope to see on my bookhelf one day. Many of them are agented. Others aren’t. A number of them have something in common. They blog about writing. They blog about tricks they’ve picked up in how-to books on writing (and give credit where credit is due). They blog about things they’ve learned through critiques and from conferences. And they share their advice in bite-sized pieces.
To those of you who blog about writing, I applaud you. My writing is a hundred fold better because of you. Although I showcase a lot of great blogs during my Cool Links Friday, I wanted to give a shout out to the following blogs/bloggers:
The Bookshelf Muse Christina Lee Laura Pauling Creepy Query Girl (Katie Mills) Paranormal Point of View (Lisa Gail Green. She’s published but I’m still including her here.) Adventures in Children’s Publishing Operation Awesome YA Stands Oasis for YA Lydia Sharp
Question: Do you feel that only published authors can blog about writing? Have you ever shared writing tips on your blog?
Unless you’ve been wandering lost in a desert for the past year, you are aware that the publishing industry is rapidly changing. With it, the number of self-published, small press, ebooks, and traditionally published books being published each week is dramatically growing. What does this mean? More people are trying to gain the reader’s attention. The same reader we want to check out our own new release.
Elana Johnson blogged last week on how we’re starting to suffer from a social media hangover. Promotional activities (blog tours, giveaways, interviews) that used to be effective are now turning people off. Some readers still enjoy them, but most don’t bother to read the posts. I don’t. Katie Mills also talked about this change. Based on comments from their posts and other places, as well as personal experience, this is what I’ve learned:
Covers are important. If your cover looks amateurish, no one (other than your mom) will be interested in your book. When you send the JPEG file to be used on another blog, make sure you send one of high resolution; otherwise, it will look blurry and amateurish.
A compelling title always tromps a dull one.
Make sure your blurb is tight and interesting. If your blurb is dull and vague, I’m not going to read your book. I’ve seen a number of self-published books lately with great covers and boring blurbs.
Don’t irritate people with your promotion. As we all know, this is a serious issue with Twitter and Facebook. If you want people to pay attention to your new release, then please avoid spamming. If you DM someone who just followed you back, you can guarantee they WON’T read your book (or blog) if you tell them to.
Use Goodreads wisely. Goodreads is a great way for people to find out about your book via word-of-mouth. Plus, fans of your books can check the site for the release date of your next novel. It’s also a good way to invite your “friends” to your book-release party. However, I often delete the announcements (unread) unless I’m excited about the book or the author is a friend of mine.
Word of mouth is your best promotion. Not long ago, a blogging friend mentioned Easy by Tammara Webber on her blog. We started talking about the book. Because of that, I bought it and read it right away (even though my TBR pile is out of control). I then told my CP, who also read it even though her TBR pile is as bad as mine. We both love the book and have told others about it.
Be selective with your blog tours. You are better off having your book reviewed on a major book blog (if possible) than swamp your blogging circle with a blog tour. According to the comments on Katie’s and Elana’s posts, most of us avoid reading posts that are part of a blog tour, especially when a number of the blogs we follow are part of the tour. The exception is if the topic is of interest to us. Then we stop to read it.
Keep your promotion small, unless you can spread it around so it’s not hitting the same people again and again. Every so often, subtly remind us about your book. I might not buy it right away, but the reminder later on might be all I need to pick the book up. This is more effective than over promotion, which tends to turn some people off a book.
If you’re going to do an interview, KEEP IT SHORT. Most of us don’t have time to read to a 750-word plus interview, unless it’s by our favorite author. Personally, all I care about is the book. Write a great story and I’m sold.
Make sure your book is professionally edited. Later next year, I plan to release a New Adult novel I’m currently working on, and plan to have the book professionally edited (that includes structural edits, line edits, and copy edits). Why? Because I want the word-of-mouth to be good. Need I say more?
Start working on your next project. The best promotion for your last book is your next one. I loved Easy so much, I had to read the first book in Tammara Webber’s Between the Lines series. I’ve already read the first two books and can’t wait to read the third one.
Remember the purpose of social networking. The key word here is social. This is your chance to make genuine friendships. Friendships that could eventually lead to positive word-of-mouth about your book.
How do you decide what books to read? Are there any forms of promotion that especially turns you off? Do you have any other suggestions for getting your book noticed?
You can scroll down to read my exciting news!! And don't forget to head over to Faith Filled Fiction for the story of the week: Fireworks by Kelly Martin (I know that girl... )
Back in October of last year, I wrote a blog post called: Yes, I May Have Possibly Lost My Mind... where I told you all about my crazy plan to participate in 'Nanowrimo' (National Novel Writing Month). It's where you write a novel... in a month.
Well, I did it! I wrote the book. And that lead to this post on 11/27: An Update... where I told of my intentions of getting published (in one way or another).
I wrote about how nitpicky I was getting in December '11: Nitpicking to Death
Then in February, I had a short story of mine published called Happy Birthday... not to me! Exciting News!
In March, I didn't blog about it, but I sent my first query to an agent (on March 23rd). It was rejected. In the following months I sent over 40... they were all rejected. Here is a blog post about that: O is for Opportunity
This post from June told about how I've gotten used to rejection letters: 5 Minute Friday: Risk
So... where is all of this leading? Well... I am proud to announce that yesterday I signed a contract for my first book 'Crossing the Deep' (the one I started in November '11) to be published by Astraea Press!
It's been an overwhelming week (I actually had 2 offers to publish it). And I'm so happy and thankful to have the contract signed and start. The book will be in eBook form first, then after it sells $200 it will be in paperback (so save your dollars... my mama really wants a paperback ;) ) I want to thank all of you for praying for me, for supporting me, and for being there on my good days and my low days. I want to thank God especially for showing me what to do and for being there with me. Last night, I prayed for God to show me that I made the write decision. I opened up my bible to THIS verse: Psalm 96:3 Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does I'd say that was a yes :) I'll update as I go through this publishing process :) Happy 4th of July American friends (and Happy Wednesday to everyone else ;) ) Much Love, Kelly~ Soon to be published author :)
Linked with other insecure writers HERE every 1st Wednesday of the month...
How many of you have followed back someone on Twitter, only for the individual to send you a Direct Message to tell you to buy his book? For me, this is an instant #promotionfail. Every time this happens, I de-follow the individual and it’s guaranteed I won’t buy the book.
I’m a member of a support group for writers. It’s an awesome group, except for one problem. One individual, prior to the launch of her novel, spammed the Facebook site with daily reminders to pre-order it. Instead of creating excitement (and potential sales), she annoyed a number of the members. One even suggested a better way to do this, so to avoid our inboxes being filled with spam. The writer chose to ignore this, and continued spamming the site.
So what’s a better way to get your book seen among the onslaught of others?
Support Other Authors
I love what Susan Kaye Quinn did last week. Her self-published book, Open Minds (which I’ve read and thought it was great), was launched yesterday. Instead of annoying everyone with her “Buy Me, Buy me” message, she put a post together promoting upcoming (or recently released) books. These books are either self-published or published through a small press. Other authors have done the same, thus increasing their likability factor ten-fold. There’s something appealing about supporting authors who give to the writing community by promoting other books and not just their own.
Form a Support Team
The online banding together of several authors to promote each other books* is another way to help you promote yours. Face it, promoting your book is a scary experience. Working together as a team helps to give you a boost of self-confidence, because you’re not going it alone. This concept has also become popular with traditionally published authors involved in book signing tours.
Having a bunch of blogging (or Facebook or Twitter) friends is an awesome way to go. They are usually more than happy to get the word out about your book. It’s one of the many benefits to social networking (as if you didn’t already know).
Widget Love
One of my favorite marketing approaches, when it comes to promoting books, is the countdown widget, which you and your blogging buddies proudly display. Due to a blogger who displayed the above widget on her site, I became excited to read Jessie Harrell's book (I’m such a cover girl). Since I tend to skip over blog tours, this is a great way to grab my attention (if you have an amazing cover and widget).
What things annoy you the most when someone is promoting her book? What do you love the most?
(*note: this isn’t necessarily the same as a group blog)
<<<3
Be sure to check out Susan Kaye Quinn’s book launch. A great way to see what works is by studying what others have done. :)
Today, we have the first of a series on how some of your favorite authors got book contracts. Our first wonderful lady is Liz Botts, author of IN THE SPOTLIGHT, CURTAIN CALL, BELIEVE, and THE HIDDEN DOOR.
As a child I played with Barbies to an absurd degree. My friends and I spent hours creating elaborate stories with these dolls. I attribute this to my love of storytelling. We had a game called “Grandma Insane,” which revolved around a family whose matriarch was a crazy woman with a propensity for disappearing. In eighth grade I wrote down the story of Grandma Insane as a musical during our free writing period. It was truly horrific.
However, my teacher was impressed with the effort, so started my writing journey. In high school I spent much of math class scribbling in my journal, inventing characters, and writing snippets of stories. (Maybe that’s why my math grades were never that good.) A stint on the school newspaper proved that journalistic writing was not for me, and I enrolled in a creative writing class. Here I had the best writing teacher ever. After taking that class, my writing improved significantly.
During college my writing consisted entirely of papers for classes. Characters still filled my head, especially during summer breaks, but I did nothing with them.
After college I got married and started working with high school students. I had always been a reader, but for the first time I started reading young adult books. I started writing again. Little things. Nothing major.
Then I discovered NaNoWriMo. Writing a novel in a month? Cool. My first attempt was ugly. A few years later I made another attempt. A decent one. A year later I made another attempt. In the meantime my husband and I had two boys. I kept insisting that I wanted to be a real published writer. And doing nothing about this dream.
When I got pregnant with our third child I decided that before the baby came I was going to at least submit a story to a publisher or agent. I chose one of my old NaNoWriMo stories, edited it, and submitted it. I got rejected several times, but I listened to what the rejection letters said and made changes to the manuscript. Finally, I resubmitted it, and within 24 hours I had a contract. Persistence is key to getting published, but also a humble heart and the willingness to check your ego at the door. LIZ'S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/Liz-Botts/e/B005860EHU/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1361361501&sr=1-2-ent
Thanks for being here and taking the time to tell us how you got published, Liz :) Look for other author stories daily from now until Feb. 28th! ~Kelly
Today's 'HOW I GOT PUBLISHED' is a unique look at the life of mommy/writers. Sometimes we get big news when our hands are... um... dirty.
Here is Joselyn with her story :)
How I got published...
It involved poop. Literally. I had agonized over the query letter and the dreaded synopsis, and sent my first manuscript to thirty-some agents. While some expressed interest, no one offered to represent me. I wasn’t ready to stick the manuscript under the bed with the dust bunnies and the dog hair, so I chose a few editors that would look at unagented manuscripts. Within a couple weeks, I had two requests for the full manuscript. After all the rejections, this was unbelievable. While I was bouncing with just the requests, I really expected to receive the million-times photocopied rejection letter. I typed the expected reply dates into my spreadsheet and promised myself not to even think about it until those dates were passed. Well, that didn’t happen. But with infant twins, I was otherwise occupied enough of the time to not be obsessing constantly. My days were spent making formula, rocking babies, wearing spit-up and, yes, changing diapers. Two months before it was even likely that any of the editors would have opened the envelope with the novel in it, I was in the bathroom changing my daughter’s diaper. When the phone rang, I looked down at her. We were far enough into the change that I couldn’t slap the diaper back on. I couldn’t leave her on the counter to grab the phone. She wasn’t clean enough to pick her up and dash for the phone, so I let it ring. The machine picked up and I could hear the message as we finished cleaning up. The caller asked for my pen name and my heard skipped. As soon as the diaper was changed, I dashed to listen to the message. They were offering me a contract for my first book, CEOs Don’t Cry. The benefit of the diaper was that I could listen to the message over and over.
With the growing number of self-published writers and the dwindling marketing dollars for traditionally published books, authors have to be creative if they want to grab the attention of potential readers. This is probably how blog tours first came to be. The problem is everyone jumped on the idea. Each week at least two hit my dashboard full force.
Here are some blogging tips to get your book (or a book you love) talked about:
Targeting Blogs
The first bloggers to ask are your friends. But don’t feel bad if they say no. Not everyone wants to host a blog tour. If you approach someone who isn’t a good friend, please make sure you send them a personalized email. One author sent me a link to a form to fill-in if I wanted to participate in her tour. That’s all that was sent and it wasn’t personalized. It was instantly deleted. #blogtourfail.
Face it, most of us recognize each other’s names and avatars from the blogs we most commonly visit. Reach out and go beyond this group. Only then will more people find out about your book and won’t suffer from blog tour fatigue (especially since not everyone is a fan of them). This is why it’s vital to start growing your network early and not just before your book launch.
Look for blogs that deal with topics approached in your book. Maybe someone has a special interest in horses and would be interested in your novel situated on a ranch. And this means the blogger’s followers might be interested in the story, too.
Be Unique
Try to come up with something that hasn’t been done before. Okay, you can stop laughing. I know this is challenging. Everyone can do the same old thing, but that won’t necessarily grab bloggers’ attention as the market becomes saturated with traditionally and self-published books. Maybe you can tie it into the theme of your book. Lisa and Laura Roecker had great success with their launch because everyone knew about the pink-hair theme they had going, which was inspired by the cover of The Liar Society. The theme even ended up on Twitter.
Timing
We can all appreciate how much work blog tours are for the author. My suggestion is to not cram your tour into one week (maybe spread out over a month) and to save some posts for a few months AFTER your book is launched.
Repetition
The books I tend to buy are the ones I hear about again and again, over the several months (but not in the same week as with the typical blog tour). This is why I loved Christina Lee’s spotlight on debut authors last week. It was a chance for those who participated to remind you about the debut books we loved this year. Books you might have forgotten about since their launch.
Does anyone else have any suggestion as to how to make a blog tour rock or to create interest in a book months after it’s been launched? What has made you want to read a book (and actually do so) after seeing it mentioned on a blog?
(note: Wow, who knew my sales and marketing background as a pharmaceutical sales rep would be so useful?)
The final installment of 'How I Find Time to Write' is written by the wonderful Zanna Mackenzie! I'm so excited to have her tell you the tricks she uses to write her novels. She also has some excerpts from her new book How Do You Spell Love?
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Finding the time to escape into whatever book you’re currently writing can be a tricky business for an author. I’m fortunate in being self-employed, though contracted to work a set amount of hours per week I have plenty of flexibility re when I do work those hours. My day job is also writing related – another plus – as I’m the editor of some business publications for a chamber of commerce. I work from home too, which I love and which saves me having to spend time doing lengthy commutes each day – another positive! I’ve recently had two novels published by different publishers within the space of a month and have quickly discovered that all of the required promotional activity and social media ‘presence’ is very time consuming, far more than I had anticipated. All of which means finding the time to edit my next book (I’ve recently completed the first draft of it) and working on the scenes/plot/characters of the book I have outlined for after that is becoming more and more of a challenge. Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted to have my work published and relish learning all about the promotional aspects of being an author, but as my writing time has now been squeezed considerably I’m having to be more creative about finding time to write and my solution is – write in bed!! My husband is one of those people who is always awake at about 5am and gets up to do the ‘early morning shift’ in our household - so I have a notebook by the bed and let my mind start working on scenes and dialogue as soon as I wake up and then I start writing them all up ready to be typed onto the computer in the appropriate slot in the working manuscript document whenever I get chance. I’ve found that I prefer writing in this way rather than sitting in front of the computer and writing straight onto it whilst in ‘the creative zone’. As the ‘boss’ at my day job doesn’t work on Fridays I try as much as I can to make Fridays my writing day – providing I don’t have design or proof reading deadlines for the business publications – and aim to keep promotion and social media to a minimum then as well so that I can get typing up all those scene notes. I currently have about 50 pages of notes to type up though – so this plan doesn’t always work!
Many thanks for hosting me on your blog today Kelly! My latest novel, published by Crooked Cat, is called How Do You Spell Love? Here’s the details:
Make A Wish… Kat can’t help wishing there was more to life than this. What happened to her dream job? What happened with Nathan? Summer is wondering where her life is going too… battling the developers of a controversial housing estate and working out why boyfriend Rob is increasingly distant. When the developers win the battle and move into town everyone’s life is turned upside down. Kat meets building site project manager Alex. She enjoys his company far too much, even though he’s on the town’s most hated list. Summer meets Tom who has plenty of relationship troubles of his own, so things could get really complicated. Soon everyone is keeping secrets, lives change and hearts are broken. Is everything falling apart, or does life just work in mysterious ways…
There’s a sneak peak of the book below and it can be purchased in paperback and ebook formats now on: *Crooked Cat Publishing http://www.crookedcatbooks.com/ *Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Do-You-Spell-Love/dp/1908910771/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361800360&sr=8-2 *Amazon USA http://www.amazon.com/How-Do-You-Spell-Love/dp/1908910771/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361800417&sr=1-3&keywords=zanna+mackenzie
Extract from How Do You Spell Love? Kat pushed the last of the cottage cheese and shrimp sandwiches into the cool box and slammed the van door shut. As if her life wasn’t enough of a disaster zone as it was – no money, lousy job, losing Nathan, having to move back home to live with her parents – now this had to go and happen. Plus, of course, it didn’t help that today she was feeling shattered after spending half the night chanting some ridiculous protection spell in the middle of the allotments with Summer. Cringing as a van full of builders stopped at the nearby traffic lights, Kat braced herself for the inevitable. After the standard-issue wolf whistles had drifted across from their van, next came the leered, “Wouldn’t argue with that, love!” as one of them nodded towards her sparkling clean van, parked neatly at the curb. The words “A Bit of Crumpet on the Road” emblazoned down the side in deep purple, glittery lettering. Not for the first time Kat cursed her boss Janice for calling her bakery-cum-deli that name. Kat sighed, well it certainly drew comments from the public and from their customers, not always welcome ones, but as Janice was always keen to point out, any kind of publicity and attention was, in her eyes, good publicity and attention. Pulling her navy and white striped apron more tightly around her T-shirt and shorts, Kat ignored the builders and climbed into her van to begin that morning’s deliveries. As she indicated to pull out into the busy street in Luisborough, she mulled over the bad news – that she was to add the controversial Netherton Meadows housing development to her daily sandwich round. Netherton Meadows. Yippee. If Summer found out, she’d surely be ostracised for fraternising with the environmental enemy. This was a development that pretty much everyone in Luisborough had fought against for getting on towards a year. It had been the focus of STW campaigns. It went against everything that Kat believed in environmental-wise. Everyone hated the Netherton Meadows developers. Except, it seemed, Janice, who was perfectly happy to, in her words, ‘supply yummy builders with yummy sandwiches.’ Lost in thought, Kat just managed to spot the approaching traffic lights had turned to red and hastily slammed a foot on the brake. The van lurched to a halt and several boxes of crisps and one of the cool boxes in the back tipped over. Damn. It was shaping up to be one of those days. Ten minutes later she pulled into the car park of Printing Phenomenon, hauled some baskets and a box from the van and headed for the reception area. It was getting towards late July and was another one of those blazing hot days that made every little thing feel as though it required a huge amount of effort. The kind of day the people of the UK are so unaccustomed to, where all you want to do is get a large, cool drink and collapse into a deckchair for a long snooze. Two hours later Kat had visited all her usual drops, was extremely hot and bothered, and could put off going to Netherton Meadows no longer. Driving through the assorted vans, machinery and portacabins Kat parked next to a building marked as being the Site Office and hit the button on the dashboard. Tinkling chimes filled the air as Kat climbed from the driver’s seat and made to open the back doors of the vehicle. It was embarrassing enough that the van had the company name in large lettering along its side but, just to make sure that it received maximum exposure – and achieved maximum embarrassment – Janice had had some irritating chimes fitted to the vehicle too. Kat was under strict instructions to sound the chimes when she called at all of the sites where people came out to the van; such as they were about to at Netherton Meadows. A man came down the steps of the office with a grin on his face and walked towards her. “Hi, you must be Kat.” He wedged a clipboard under his left arm and offered a hand to shake. “I’m Alex. Project manager for the site.” “Hi,” mumbled Kat, spotting a group of hard-hat-clad builders advancing towards her with hungry expressions on their faces. “Right, lads,” Alex turned towards the men. “This is Kat and she’s very kindly agreed to venture onto this site to bring you all your lunch. Don’t give her any hassle, OK?” The men laughed and then nodded. “Sure, Alex. You’re the boss.” Fifteen minutes later it seemed that all of the team at the development had made their sandwich, crisp and drink selections and sloped off to devour them in the sunshine. Only one of the builders, a portly man who must have been twenty years Kat’s senior, had pushed the boundaries a little, despite Alex’s earlier warning. As he’d selected a smoked salmon and cream cheese roll – a choice that had surprised Kat somewhat, having pegged him as a ham and cheese kind of guy – he’d asked Kat if she’d fancy joining him for a drink sometime. She’d politely declined his offer, saying that she had a boyfriend. No need to tell him that, technically, she and Nathan were no longer an item. No need to tell him why either. Just as Kat slammed the van doors shut, Alex re-appeared from his office. “Thanks, Kat. I hope none of them caused any trouble?” he asked, taking off his yellow hard hat and running a hand through cropped dark brown hair in an agitated fashion. “No, they were all fine.” Kat forced a smile, struggling to tuck an escaped tendril of curly blond hair back into her ponytail. God, it was hot today. “Thanks for being so gentlemanly about their behaviour.” He grinned back at her. “No problem. I know what they can be like and as soon as I saw you getting out of the van I thought I’d better intervene. I’ve had enough problems getting a company to even contemplate coming to this site without them scaring you off on the first day.” “Problems? Why do you think that is?” asked Kat, sensing an opportunity to make sure this man was fully aware just how much the people of Luisborough were still against the development. “Because they hate us around here,” he said, shrugging matter-of-factly. “And that doesn’t bother you?” Kat was now leaning against the van, noting that Alex seemed, somehow, a bit different to the rest of the team on the site. He had a jaded air about him despite the fact that he was clearly much younger than most of the others. Kat couldn’t help noticing that he was also extremely good looking. “Yes, it bothers me but what can you do?” He sighed. “A job’s a job in this day and age. We all have to make a living, don’t we?” Softening a little towards him, Kat nodded and rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.” He moved to stand next to her, propping himself against the van. Kat hadn’t realised until that moment just how tall he was. “Take you, for instance. I can’t imagine it was your lifelong ambition to drive around in a van with that name on the side of it. You must get no end of grief.” “I do but I need to earn some money to get my life back on track, so here I am.” “Is this your first job?” he asked, setting his hat and clipboard on the roof of the van and looking at her intently. “Pretty much. I recently finished a degree in environmental science and geography at university.” She added, trying to sound optimistic, “I’m waiting for my dream job to come along. In the meantime I work at the deli for a pittance and spend the rest of my time volunteering in a charity shop in town.” “Dream job, eh?” He turned towards her, brown eyes looking at her in a genuinely interested way. “What would your dream job be, then?” Kat smiled. “That’s easy. I’d love to work on a project like a nature reserve. Helping to preserve the environment, look after the wildlife. The charity shop where I volunteer is the Save the World one. My boss there, Summer, is a good friend and a great campaigner against developments like this.” Aware that she was telling him things that she hadn’t really spoken to anyone about since Nathan, she quickly turned away. He was a complete stranger. A stranger who stood for everything she was against. He was the enemy, supervising the building of a development that she, and many others, had fought to try to prevent. Reaching onto the van roof to hand the hat and clipboard back to Alex, she said, “I’d better be going.” “Sure. Thanks for coming out here.” He started to walk away but then paused, turned back towards her and added, “See you tomorrow, then?” Kat nodded. As she drove off, she felt more flustered than when she’d arrived. Unfortunately she had a growing suspicion that it had nothing to do with the hot weather or having to bring food to the development against her will. Rather, she suspected, it had much more to do with meeting Alex the site manager. Not a good sign at all.
Author Bio and links Author bio Zanna Mackenzie lives in the East Midlands in the UK with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read. Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot! Formerly a travel agent and therapist (she has qualifications in clinical aromatherapy, crystal healing, naturopathic nutrition and herbalism) she loves walking the dogs and gardening – that’s when she’s not writing or reading! Zanna has written two novels, The Love Programme and How Do You Spell Love?
Find out more about Zanna at: www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk www.zannamackenzie.co.uk Twitter: @ZannaMacKenzie Facebook: www.facebook.com/zanna. mackenzie Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10703273-zanna-mackenzie
How many of you have beta read for someone and received a thank you from the person even though your suggestions caused her to do massive rewrites? How many of you received, instead, a nasty email telling you how wrong you are?
We’ve all heard the sage advice that you should wait at least three days before responding to a critique. What you don’t want to do is criticize the person who beta reads your book and undermine her opinion. If you don’t agree with it, then simply ignore it.
I recently sent feedback on a novel I was beta reading. For the most part I had been enjoying it, but there were a few clichés and aspects that I felt were cruel or hurtful to certain teen readers. Also, there was a character type I’d seen in the teen movie Easy A (who came off as a cliché/stereotype even in the movie). The similarities between the two were too close for comfort. I emailed the writer to warn her. Unfortunately, the writer felt it necessary to send me a nasty email. Once it became insulting, I stopped reading it, for both our sakes.
Fortunately, I’m not a vindictive person. If her book is published, I’ll still buy it to support the author. But not everyone is like me. What would happen if her book was published one day, and it had been someone else who received the nasty email? Remember, what happens in Los Vegas doesn’t always stay in Lost Vegas. You don’t want your unprofessional attitude to someone’s feedback to hurt you down the line.
The other problem is that if you keep berating your beta readers you disagree with, you’re setting yourself up for learned behaviors that are inappropriate when you are published. You’re more likely to respond to negative reviews in a non-professional manner, which is something you want to avoid at all costs.
So remember, if you want your beta readers to only gush about your book, great. Just warn them first. And if you don’t like what they have to say, then just thank them and ignore it. Don’t justify why you did something a certain way, unless you’re hoping for additional feedback.
Websites. It’s something we constantly hear that we need, even if you’re a pre-published author. I mean, how else will our adoring fans know when our first or next book is due to be released?
But websites cost money and take time to set up. So we stall. We come up with excuses why we don’t need one yet. We come up with excuses why we can wait until next week, next month, next year to create one. We just plain come up with excuses, period.
That was me, until I decided it was time to create one. So I researched websites of authors that write similar books to me, and was shocked at the results of my informal study.
First, I studied the websites of my favorite YA authors (e.g. Simone Elkeles, Katie McGarry, Jennifer Echols) to see what I liked and didn’t like about them. Next, I studied the websites of my favorite New Adult authors (e.g. Tammara Weber, Jessica Sorensens, Cora Carmack).
But wait, the majority of New Adult authors don’t have websites. They have blogs and they have Facebook author pages, but no websites. Most of them used Blogger and create Pages to represent each book or series. Just like a regular website. Most of them talk only about their books in their posts. In all cases, they had a low number of blog followers but a high number of Facebook author page ‘likes’. And it didn’t matter if they were traditionally published or self published, the results were the same. Also, most of the ones I looked at were on the New York Times Bestseller list. So what does that tell you?
This is when I did a happy dance and crossed ‘create a website’ off my to-do list. It’s not like I usually check out an author’s website. As long as I can find out when the author’s next book is due out, I’m happy. And most of the time I get this info from Goodreads.
What about you? Do you have a website? Are you planning to create one this year? Have these findings made you rethink whether you need one?
(Remember, these results are based on my research on New Adult authors. The findings might be different if you write a different genre).
SAINT SLOAN COMES OUT TOMORROW!!!!! (EEEEPPPP!) I'm so excited... so nervous (SO nervous!)... very thrilled about it! I hope you are as excited about it and love it as much as I do.
Tomorrow, I'll post my publishing story and FINALLY the cover for Saint Sloan :) :) I'll give you just a little hint today---
(I LOVE HER EYES!)
Today, though, I have an amazing author on the blog, talking about how she got published. I find this story inspiring because sometimes I wonder how contests can go for authors-- and now I know :)
I first got published by Astraea Press through a pitch contest they held before launch. I saw an advertisement for it on Twitter, got my submission in, and then a week or two later was given an acceptance letter. It was absolutely crazy, let me tell you. I know my story isn't long and complicated, but let me just say to encourage you all: if you see those contests, go for it! Because even if you get rejected, at least you tried. And I had been rejected before, let me tell you. But so long as you believe in yourself, chances are you can get another to believe in you too!
Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion. (Jack Kerouac)
We constantly hear that we’re supposed to write what we are passion about. Only then will you achieve success. But what happens when the types of stories you prefer to write aren’t what agents and editors are looking for? For most of us, we are so driven to be published, we bow to their words of wisdom and follow their rules. We’re told, for example, that if your main character is eighteen years old and in college, your story is not YA and no one is publishing New Adult. The only time NYC will look the other way is when you’re already an established author, then you can do pretty much anything. And it’s not just Young Adult stories that are affected. I’m sure you know numerous examples in your genre that go against the “rules”, because of who the author is.
Fortunately, among us are the defiant and determined. They step out of the box, gain a following, and show NYC how wrong it is. And then a beautiful thing happens. Publishers, both big and small, start listening to the cries of the readers demanding more, and agents start scurrying to benefit from this new trend. A trend a few brave souls knew there was a market for. A few brave souls who introduced us to our newest (reading or writing) passion and proved that there is a demand for these quality self-published books.
And to you, brave authors, I say THANK YOU. Thank you for embracing your passion when others told you not to bother.
What do you think of the current trend of NYC publishing self-published books that have hit the major bestselling lists? Do you feel this will open doors for those pursuing traditional publishing? Do you shy away from writing genres that are considered niche, because NYC isn’t publishing them?
Giveaway
I’ve recently read the above New Adult novels* and thought they were great (there have been others but NYC has already grabbed them). If you are interested in winning one of these ebooks, let me know which one in the comments, and I’ll pick two lucky winners this weekend. Just click on the picture for more information about the book. If your email address is not on Blogger, please include it in the comments.
*I haven’t read Rouge yet. It’s on my TBR pile. Down to You comes with an adult content warning.
For more info on this blogfest, click on the picture.
Self publishing is negatively viewed by the masses, and rightly so. This is because many authors still believe that investing in professional editing is unnecessary. If the story is good, they reason, that should suffice. Look at Fifty Shades of Gray. The writing is not great, yet the novel is a best seller.
Last week, I downloaded a New Adult (NA) novel (not the one in the picture) after a friend told me the price had dropped to $0.99. The potential for a great read was there, but the author chose to skip on professional editing. It was ridden with typos (e.g. We had a picnic, though she didn’t each much), missing words, confusing sentences. While I enjoyed the story, the lack of line and copy editing* left a bad taste, and I won’t buy anymore of the author’s books.
But it seems I’m alone in this believe that self-published books need to be properly edited. The book (which is $3.99, again) received 111 five-stars, 29 four-stars, 5 three-stars, and only 1 two-star rating on Amazon. When I wrote this post, it was ranked #178 in paid Kindle books (# 6 in Teen Romances). On Goodreads, the average rating was 4.29 stars (4121 readers rated the book). I was shocked. It seems that most people who read the book didn’t care that the level of editing was well below the standard of NYC.
What saddens me is that this might be the new standard for all our books, now that NYC is starting to compete with the self-published e-books on pricing. With the reduction of price, there will be the reduction in the time spent on editing. This level of editing could be the wave of the future.
Do you care if a book is poorly edited, just as long as the story is compelling? If you self publish, do you hire a professional editor to ensure your writing and story is the best it can be? Do you expect to see poorly edited book from NYC, now that they’re trying to complete with the pricing of self-published books?
*Six or seven beta readers were listed in the back of the book. The Secret of Ella and Micha byJessica Sorensen is also $0.99 and the writing is solid. Jessica obviously takes great pride in her books and craft. As soon as her new book (The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden) was released this week, I downloaded it.
If I were to ask you what your author brand is, could you tell me?
I’d heard the term before, but until I recently read social media guru Kristen Lamb’s blog, I hadn’t given mine much thought.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a brand is “an identifying marked burned on livestock or (especially in former times) criminals or slaves with a branding iron.”
Oh, wait! Sorry. Wrong definition. You don’t need to rush off to your local ranch and ask them to burn a symbol on your butt. I mean you can if you want, but it’s probably not recommended. And I’m not sure how effective it would be for selling your novel.
Anyway, after checking my old marketing textbook, I decided to skip on sharing its super dry definition. Instead, I consulted a number of great resources on author brands. And of course, they all had differing opinions as to what it means. But here’s the basic gist of them.
What’s in a Name?
The first thing you need to consider is your name. According to Kristen Lamb, this is your brand. Because of this, she recommends your name is in your blog’s URL. Mine is. Is yours? She also suggests your name is in the title of your blog. Okay, I fail on that point. And until I started writing this post, I didn’t realize my name wasn’t even on my blog. #majorbrandingfail. It’s now in my sidebar.
What’s Your Niche?
Shelli Johannes Wells talked about the author brand during WriteOnCon last year. The writer brand describes how people view you based on your books. Maybe you write YA paranormals. Great. But so do so many other YA writers. What differentiates your style from someone else’s?
For example, Kiersten White (Paranormalcy) writes humorous YA paranormals. When we pick up her books, that’s what we expect. Problem with this is what will happen if her next series is much darker? (btw I’d still buy it since I love dark paranormals).
Do you have a style you like to write in? Maybe humorous, dark, or suspenseful. If you blog, can you incorporate your style into your blog? Lisa and Laura Roecker are a perfect example of this. Their witty, entertaining voice captures the hearts of their blog followers. And you can expect the same from their novel, The Liar Society.
Who Are You?
Author Roni Loren explained that your book and genre are only part of your author brand. The real you is the other part. What does this mean?
Be yourself.
Of course if the real you is rude and obnoxious, then you might be headed for trouble. One hundred years ago it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Now thanks to social networking, it can be your ultimate doom, especially if editors discover this (and they will) before they offer you a contract.
Shelli Johannes Wells also covered this in more detail during WriteOnCon.
Obviously these three things aren’t as clear cut as they sound. What happens if you’re published in several different genres? When you say Stephenie Meyer, most people think of sparkling vampires. But she also wrote a successful adult science fiction novel (The Host). This is why a number of authors, such as Nora Roberts, write different genres under different pen names. Each one has a different author brand associated with it, but she’s still Nora Roberts.
Before you freak out at the thought of having more than one brand, Meg Cabot and Richelle Mead both write YA and adult novels, and each has only one brand.
So what about you, do you have an author brand? Is this something you’re considering, or are you going to wait to be published first?
Tonight, I self-published my first book (Bible Study):
Ruth: Faith, Loyalty, Courage, Redemption
at
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/164275
It's a free book (so I won't get any money for it... ). But I wrote a Bible Study for the Women's Group at church and wanted to publish it for others to read/do.
It's a 5 part study on the book of Ruth.
Here's a snippet:
Boaz was a good man, a godly man who did exactly what he was required by the law, and he did it with a generous heart (not because he had to). That day, a young lady caught his eye. She’d been working hard all day so her dress probably had dirt all over it, maybe even some mud from her sweat mixing in. Her hair was falling down around her face and her body slumped from exhaustion. But still, she worked on. There was something about her—something that set her apart from all of the other women in the field. Something Boaz probably couldn’t put his finger on at the time, but it intrigued him enough to ask his foreman about her. When the foreman told Boaz all the young lady had done, he had to stand there in awe. Not only was she a stranger in a strange land, she was taking care of her mother-in-law and working hard to provide for them both. Please download it and tell me what you think. It won't cost you a dime. :) Much Love, Kelly
We’ve all heard that agents and editors don’t like prologues. This is because the majority are nothing but backstory, and most of it is unnecessary to understand the characters and the story. A wise writer will weave the vital information where needed (and avoid the prologue if it's not essential), which heightens the suspense and keeps the reader turning the pages. I don’t mind them, but that’s because the bad ones don’t make it into traditionally published books. The book either doesn’t get published, or the editor (or agent) tactfully breaks the news to the writer and she cuts it.
It’s not prologues that irritate me. It’s the preface some writers include, because they think it’s essential to the story, that often turns me off a book. They usually involve a page or two of the climax (or something like that), and hint at what’s to come. Except, I don’t know the characters at that point to care enough about what happens to them. Isn’t that why we’re told not to start the first chapter in the middle of the action? The reader doesn’t care enough about the main character at that point to want to keep reading. And when you start with a preface, it’s like a (false) warning:
Dear Reader,
I know the beginning of my novel is dull, but as you can see by the preface, the climax is very exciting. Please buy my book and you won’t be sorry.
Sincerely,
The Author
Do you like prefaces or do you tend to skip over them? If you see one in a book, do you keep reading or do you pick up a different book?
(No, The Hunger Games doesn’t have a preface (or prologue). I just can’t wait for the movie and had to include an image from it to tie me over until I can see it.)
<<<3
Due to spring break, I’m going unplugged from March 23rd to April 2nd. I can’t wait to catch up on everyone’s great news when I get back. *waves bye*
