{For Writers} Guest Post on Crafting Cover Copies by Mark Penny

In the indie world, I'm kinda known for writing good cover copies (back synopsis). A big part of that is trial and error and hundreds of trashed attempts. The other part is Mark Penny. I first met Mark while struggling to write a cover copy for Witch Fall, and he taught me so much about how to write good back matter, that I ended up rewriting most of the cover copies for my other books. 

This first post is the base knowledge you'll need before you start writing your own cover copies. I'm not ashamed (blatant lie) to admit that I have to have a dictionary on hand when conversing with Mark (he's a professor), but I promise it's worth the intellectual squinting. 

How to Write a Peephole, Part One: Function and Qualities

Imagine you’re looking for a house. You’re interested in a new subdivision—

all empty houses and none of them sold yet. You call the agent and she says to help yourself, just walk up to any house you like the front of, take a look through the peephole, note the address if you like the view, and call her for a tour. You pick a few homes you think look promising and you start your round. You walk up onto the porch of the first house and put your eye to the lens. The lens must be in backward, because you’ve got a clear fisheye view of a front room and three doorways leading off it. Through the doorways you can make out the color and quality of the furnishings and décor. When you finish the loop, you’ve got a short list of homes you want to explore and you dial up the agent again.

That’s pretty much what happens when you browse for a book. You look at the title, the cover art, maybe the author’s name. If that all looks okay, you flip the book over to read the back. If the author’s famous, an award-winner, or in good with someone whose opinion you might care about, there’ll be some blurbs about that. But the thing you’re really looking for is that fisheye view of the contents—the cover copy. The question is why? What are we looking for in that tight little peek on the back of the book? What is its function?

All but the weirdest or most incompetent narratives (by which I mean instances of storytelling, as opposed to the stories from which they are drawn) divide nicely into three Acts, four Stages, eight Sequences and nine Milestones. I know this because I’ve read some good books on the subject, developed a Unified Paradigm of Narrative, and tested the Paradigm on scores of stories of various lengths in various genres, including litfic. I’ve also hand-typed around four hundred samples of back cover copy onto my hard drive, so I know another fact: Good BCC (back cover copy) sticks to the Setup.

In my Paradigm, the first quarter of the narrative is Act I, Stage 1, Sequences 1 and 2, and the first three Milestones. Act I I call Country. That’s because it’s where we learn everything we want to know about the story and the people in it before we decide whether to hang around for the parties and cultural displays. Stage 1 I call Setup, because its job is to set up the rest of the narrative by introducing the world, the genre, the characters and the kinds of disruptions the protagonist might have to deal with. Sequence 1 I call Initial State, because this is where we see the protagonist living life as usual. Sequence 2 I call Imminence, because this is where we experience anticipation for a specific predicament. The Hook, which begins on page one, lures us into the narrative with stuff we find cool. It varies with genre and the narrative’s particular focus (think MICE quotient), but its job is the same no matter what. The Inciting Incident, which occurs halfway through the Setup, signals to the reader (and maybe to the protagonist) that the antagonistic force is about to pounce. At Plot Turn 1, which occurs at (or just after) the end of the Setup, it pounces and the story really begins.

All of that is what we want to get a glimpse of through the back cover copy.

In order to fulfill its function, back cover copy has four important qualities: honesty, accuracy, brevity and restraint.

Honesty. Tell the truth about your book. Don’t try to make it look good. Make it look like itself. If that’s not good enough, fix the book and try again.

Accuracy. Know what you’ve really written. The book you’ve run off the printer may not be the one you had in your heard—even if you wrote an outline.

Brevity. Keep it short, sibling. The ratio of words in the BCC to pages in the book is always in favor of the pages.

Restraint. The Setup, the pertinent elements of the Setup, and nothing but the pertinent elements of the Setup—unless it’s for kids or for college. The only reason to give more than the guts of the Setup is to reassure people that the story will or won’t corrupt their minds or damage their psyches. Or that it will do them some kind of good, like teach them correct morals or make them erudite.

Here’s a peephole I threw together for the bedtime story I’ve been telling my children—ages eight, ten and twelve. So far there are seventeen episodes, each about seven minutes long. The word count is in parentheses. In my next post, we’ll see whether this specimen has the four qualities and serves its function. Then we’ll talk about The 11 Ps of Narrative and how this specimen has them all.

When Neb tells his parents he's taking the bus to a neighboring city to attend church with his friend Steven (so he can sneak off to go camping with the beautiful, mysterious Rukalala and her family), he thinks he's only being a little bit deceitful and disobedient. But when Rukalala takes him for a moonlit walk, transforms into a werewolf and bites his neck, Neb knows he's gotten himself in far greater trouble than he'd ever imagined possible. And when Rukalala and her werewolf troops start killing Neb's family to force him to help with a werewolf invasion, he realizes that seemingly harmless errors in judgment can have very harmful consequences. (111)

Mark Penny is the author of one novel in revision, a dozen novels in prewriting, a bunch of short stories and a lot of poems. His poetry has appeared in Sunstone Magazine and Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and on Wilderness Interface Zone and Everyday Mormon Writer. His short fiction has appeared on Everyday Mormon Writer and Lowly Seraphim. He is currently working on a collection of his own Mormon literary speculative fiction and three stories for the 2014 Mormon Lit Blitz, which he intends to win with no survivors.

*Layman's translation: you need to pull plot points from your book and deposit them in your cover copy. Got it (And yes, I really do translate our conversations in my head).

Thanks so much for the information, Mark!

{For Authors} 5 Reasons why your book is failing.

1. Your books aren't very good. *ouch*
I know that was painful. But if you have consistently low stars (we all have the occasional "This is the worst bit of ink to ever dribble onto the printed paper."), it's an indication that the general consensus is in (gasp) agreement.

Don't despair though! You have two options: 1. Pull the book and rework it. 2. Pull the book and start your next one.

How do you know which option to choose? That's fairly simple: if you don't understand why the book has low stars, your not ready to be published yet. Back up. You should have read at least 5 craft books and written the equivalent of 3 full length novels. I'd also recommend you sign up for David Farland's Newsletter. I will never be able to quantify how much I have learned from that man. The key here is to never get so attached to a project you can't let it go.

2. Your covers aren't good. There's no excuse here. You can get good covers for not a lot of money (50 bucks). If you're on a crazy tight budget, start a kickstarter campaign or go simple. A simple cover with text only and a free background is a great place to start. Don't know where to start or how to look? Check out my pinterest board for amazing artists.  You can also check out deviantart.com, but I think Pinterest is better cause it weeds through a lot of the crap.

3. You haven't written enough books. There's something magical about the number 5. When you have 5 books out, you suddenly start making money. Nearly every indie author I've spoken to has a huge sales spike after 5 books. There's lots of reasons for this, and I won't go into all of them here. My advice, get those five books up before you panic about your sales. Throw in a few 99 cent novellas and a bundled series to get to 5 faster.

4. Your not marketing. Now, before you start bawling about how you blog and facebook and tweet, that's creating brand recognition and selling to an existing audience (but guess what? your fans are only going to buy one of each of your books, so stop hitting them over the head with buying your book every five seconds). That's only one facet of marketing. What you need to do is expand into new demographics. This is how. And newsflash, it works the best after you have 5 books out.

5. You don't have any books up for free. Believe me, I struggled with this. I didn't like the idea of giving something I spent a year and a lot of money on for free. And then I spoke with Cindy Hogan, who explained it to me in a way that clicked. She said that giving a book away for free is basically giving something away to pay for your marketing.

If you give away 10,000 books, not all those people will read the book (ebooks are too easy to hoard). But let's say 5% actually reads the book. Of those 5%, 2.5% decide to purchase the sequel. That's still 250 books sold. I'm guessing that's more than you would have lost in revenue from sales from the first book.

6. (Because I thought of one after this post went live) Write a series. Put the first one free. I don't know anyone who makes it selling stand alones.

There are, of course, other things that can go wrong (indie authors shouldn't have any regular ebooks over 4.99), but this covers most of the mistakes I see.

{For Authors} How to find an illustrator

Recently, John Brown (Servant of a Dark God) interviewed me about finding an illustrator. Below are my answers (thanks for typing it up for me, John!):

Finding an artist:

• Instead of looking on DeviantArt, Amber will look on Pinterest because this collects "the good stuff" for her. 
• When she finds an artist there she likes, she will Google them to find out contact information. 
• Then she'll contact with specific information about the project and ask for a bid. Some of the artists want payment in installments. 
• If she agrees to the bid, she will write up a contract, and they begin the project. 
• She's found that the artists outside the US are much cheaper 

 Directing the artist

1. The key is to be very specific with the artist. This means you have to do your homework up front. 
2. She goes out to Pinterest and stock photography sites and finds images that show what she wants for: 

• Costume 
• Example: she found the clothing in Witch Fall 
• Background 
• Color scheme (She uses color to make the image pop AND to convey the right mood)
• Example: she found the turquoise and red on images on Pinterest that she thought popped 
• she conveys the personality of characters as well -example: when she was explaining what she wanted for the fairies of Winter Queen, she described their personality, the types of wings she wanted, etc. Very specific.
• Pose 
• Models 
• Example: she found the exact model she wanted the girl in Witch Fall to look like 
• She will also think of the scene to illustrate 
• If she doesn't have a photo, she describes in detail what she wants. -Example: with Witch Fall, she didn't have an image of the woman in the water, so described her there with arms and legs dangling behind her, the hair above her head, the side of her face. 

Tips:

1. If ever anything bugs her, she brings it up immediately so it can be fixed.  She will collaborate.

•  For example, with Witch Fall she wanted dragons but didn't know where to put them. The artist came up with the placement. The artist also said she thought the girl needed some plants around her. 

•  The process can go back and forth many times 
• There's a rough sketch 
• Then various layers 
• Then, because the file size is getting too large, they will flatten the picture. 

2. You will want approval before they flatten. To make adjustments after that, they have to go back to a layered version.

• She has gone back and forth with adjustments up to 20 times with Winter Queen because it was so complex with the figure and the fairies 

3. The piece is not done until it is printed!

• A lot of the artists don't understand that printed images are darker than those on the computer screen. On the screen you can lighten or darken because everything is backlit. You don't have that on the page. 
•  So you MUST print out an ARC first. Once you're satisfied with that, the job is done (DON'T SEND FINAL PAYMENT UNTIL THEN). 

Other Tips ·
 Image

1. The image needs to pop. So think about color, contrast, silhouette, etc. 
2. Think simple over complex. Too much detail ends up looking messy and distracting. Especially in thumbnail size. Simple usually shows up the best in small images. 
3. You need alpha and beta readers for the image just like you do the book to give you feedback. Are they seeing anything weird? What feeling does the image give? Are there artistic things that could be changed? 
4.  Make sure the tone of the cover reflects the tone of the story. It has to communicate the type of story the book is. ie-Winter Queen was too feminine and fairy and didn't convey the dark side of the book. 

Text

• Leave space for displaying text  
•  Don't have the artist add the display text. Just have them provide the image (hire graphic designer to do the text-it's a different discipline). 
• Have you graphic designer look at the initial sketch for approval.
• Make sure the text is readable in thumbnail.
• Textured font usually means it's darker and harder to read. Trad Pub books usually don't use textured fonts. 

Deliverables

• The final wraparound without text (this way you can make changes to the text if needed. ie-if your trilogy becomes a series). 
• A jpeg and a compressed file she can use on websites 
• A very high resolution tif file so changes can be made later. 
• Parts of the image 
• Example: she wanted to use the fairies on her site or for a bookmark or for chapter headings 
• Example: she used the pendant on her copyright page. She also used it for her short story. 
• Come up with a common symbol or object for a series 
• She recommends having something that can be used for the whole series.
• Example: she used the pendant in Witch Sing on each book and on the title page.
• Example: note Jason Chan's burning, magic hand in the Phillipa Ballantine Geist series

Barnes and Noble's "Pubit"

B&N has come up with a newish tool for their site. It's called Pubit. For the past few days, I've had the opportunity to experience it first hand. And I absolutely hate it.

For you nonpublishers out there, I'll keep it simple: Pubit doesn't recognize simple formatting ("page breaks" for chapters are ignored. You have to use "section breaks"), so the book comes out looking like one big chunk of text. There's no chapters (even though there are). Pubit's solution? Insert random breaks through the document. 

And you can't delete the breaks. 

My left eye is starting to twitch. 

So you can either go through your document and manually change all the formatting just for them, or you can do it from their very own program. The program looks like it might be easier, so you try that. 

Three crashes and starting over twice and the whole left side of my face is twitching. 

So you try to get a hold of customer support. They're too busy to talk to you. So sorry. 

N'kay, Pubit, let me take your hand and tell you how it is. Publishers are a busy lot. I don't have time to play with your crappy program. Just accept my document with the industry standard formatting so I can move on with my day. 

If you don't, you're simply giving me more reason to hang out with Amazon . I don't like to play favorites, but Amazon doesn't make me jump through hoops. They answer all my questions promptly and take care of crap on their end. Also, I make 10X more money with them. 

You can see how our relationship is feeling the strain? 

Get it together, Barnes and Noble. You're already playing catch up. 

On coming out

I haven't really talked publicly about this. I haven't really avoided the question either. I just kinda figured it didn't really matter for my readers either way, so I kept quiet (on my blog at least).

But I've finally come to a place where I want to explain a few things. So here it is:

I've gone indie. For those of you not in the business, that means I self publish my own books, starting with Witch Born and moving on to Winter Queen. Witch Fall will be self published as well, and I recently bought my rights back for Witch Song.

One reason I held back was because there's a lot of judgement about self published authors in general. That somehow indies settle because we couldn't wiggle into traditional publishing. That quality wasn't something you found in an indie author.

I've stopped caring what those people think. Partly because I know they're wrong (my books are some of the best YA fantasy out there, indie or traditional). And partly because I don't care if they refuse to read the books because they're indie. Their loss.

So why did I decide to go indie? It's a really long story, but I'll try to keep it short: I've had an agent. I've had a contract from a publisher that I turned down. I've had a traditionally published book. I've had editors from publishers that you have heard of call me to tell me how much they loved one or the other of my books, but that they couldn't publish it (mostly due to someone else's call). I've had similar calls/emails from more agents than I care to remember.

And I hated it. I hated the drama and the waiting and the way so many authors are treated like minions because they've signed away their power. I despised basing my life on someone else's approval. Waiting for some publishing fairy to tap my manuscripts with her magical wand and transform it from loose pages into a hardbound princess.

And I especially hated my traditional paychecks.

So I made the hard choice--the scary choice. And it turned out to be incredibly hard (at least at first), but not really that scary. I make lots more money as an indie than I did in traditional. I can let my perfectionism for my books have free reign. And my life doesn't revolve around someone else.

Being indie is not for everyone. I don't hate publishing or traditional publishers. I'm positive that with the right team of professionals in the right situation, I could be very happy. And if that found me, I might consider it. But I'm not looking for it. I'm perfectly happy where I'm at, and there are some things in the works that I'm super excited about (can't talk about it yet, but soon!)

Questions? Comments?

So, you wanna be an author?

I've had a lot of emails lately from people who want to be authors (also from attendees at the writer's conference I attended this weekend, see below for pics). Here's my advice:

1. Write three manuscripts--if this sounds daunting, it is. But only at the begining. You'll learn so much from those three manuscripts. Plus, now you have three manuscripts to query, and when one of them is accepted, you have two more sitting in the drawer, ready to go. You'll be far enough ahead that you can concentrate on marketing and there won't be so much pressure sitting on your shoulders. Plus, you'll know if this is really something you want to do.
2. While your writing your manuscripts, learn from professionals: follow at least 1 agent's blog. I recommend Rachelle Gardner. One blog on the business of writing. I recommend Katherine Rusch. Sign up for David Farland's daily kick in the pants to learn about the craft of writing.
3. Join a critique group.
4. Read at least 5 books on the art of writing. I'll recommend three: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card, On Writing by Steven King (skip the first part by of both Card and King's books).
5. Attend a writer's convention or writer's workshop to learn about the craft.
6. Develop a group of trusted alpha and beta readers.
7. After all of this work, start querying.

This will probably take you a few years. Getting your work to a point where it's publishable is equivalent to a master's degree. Unless you're a genius. It took me four manuscripts and five years of hard work to get published, and that's a pretty normal situation.

I don't mean this to be discouraging. Being published is totally doable if you're willing to put in the work and you have a little natural talent for it.

Q4U: For those of you who have been at this a while, what's your advice for beginning writers?

*I'll be signing this Saturday the 24th at the Layton Utah Barnes and Noble from 3-5 (thanks to Carrie for setting it up!). Address: Layton Market Center, 1780 North Woodland Park Drive, Layton, UT 84041, 801-773-9973

I hope to see you there!

 Amber and David King

Amber and Lisa Mangum

Meeting The People Behind Rhemalda Publishing

The President and Vice President of Rhemalda, Rhett and Emmaline Hoffmeister, were driving through Utah a little while ago, so we contrived to meet at a McDonalds. While the kids played, we chatted books, publishing, and of course Witch Song.

It was so much fun to meet the people I've worked with so closely over the last year. I'm so thrilled to be with Rhemalda. They're always available for my questions or to reassure me during my moments of utter panic (I'm embarassed to admit that I've had more than one). They've given Witch a FREAKIN' FANTASTIC cover. We've been partners through the whole process.

You guys rock!

* Lisa at Lisa Loves Book was so inspired by Witch Song's cover, that she created an entire contest focusing on the expressive eyes on many covers coming out this year. And best of all, you can enter to win a copy of Witch Song. So head on over to test your knowledge of covers in "The Eyes Have It."

*If anyone sees any grammatical errors in Witch Song, let me know and I'll forward them on to my publisher so they can be corrected before the final printing.

I hope you are all well!

How Hard Is It To Be Published

I've decided to begin a new business venture. I'm going to be offering haircuts for $100 dollars. The extra money will be great. And I've got loads of talent. Seriously, I've been cutting things since kindergarten--paper, string, even my own meat at the dinner table. 

Also, the cost of set up is minimal. Heck, I already have chicken shears, which should work just fine. I mean really, if they can cut meat, they can cut hair . . . am I right or am I right. *chuckles and slaps knee*

Appointments will be anywhere from once a week or once a month, depending on my schedule--or how much money I need at the time.

Anyway, who's up for a haircut?!?

But really, why is it that when I started writing I thought it would be easier (as in, not so freakin' hard) to be published? When I started writing full time, I had a degree in English and a short story publication to my name. Yet it took me over five years, at least five writer's conferences, numerous workshops, six finished manuscripts--with three more in the works, and literally HUNDREDS of rejections before I finally had my debut coming out (I had a few close calls before that, but that's a REALLY long story).

I'm still nowhere near the writer that I want to be.

Often, we (me included) look at authors who have "made it," but we don't see the hours they spent in the classroom, reading books on the craft, drafting, brainstorming, writing, editing, driving to some conference or another, reading rejection after rejection. We fail to see their journey, instead only seeing their destination.

I will give one example: Stephen King. His father abandoned his family when Stephen was two. Shortly after, his mother moved home to care for her parents. He grew up poor. As a child, Stephen watched his friend die after being struck by a train. He started writing in high school, got a few things published in his school paper, a few fanzines. He had a daughter. He had a column in his college paper, worked at an industrial laundry, and finally received his degree in English. Unable to get a teaching job, he sold a few short stories to some magazines.

He married. He actually threw Carrie in the trash. His wife rescued it and urged him to finish. It was the first novel he published. Shortly after, his mother died and he began a decades long fall into alcoholism.

Does this give you an idea of the countless hours King spent perfecting his craft before any measurable success came his way? Of the pain that became his motivation? Of the struggle that made him strong? 

You HAVE to watch this video. It gave me all sorts of chills.

As in everything, greatness can only be achieved when pared with hard work and a dash of luck.

Witch Song Cover

Here it is! The final cover for Witch Song!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Whenever I see it, I find I can't look away. It's like a girl with her first crush--only she doesn't have to worry about being caught staring!

Eve Ventrue captured the haunting, exquisite look in Brusenna's face perfectly. You might not be able to zoom in on it, but her eyes are so detailed and vibrant. Her lips look like they've been cut from her perfect face with a knife. The branches reaching toward her like gnarled fingers, ready to scratch and take hostage. I love the necklace, with the swirls of magic emanating from it--magic that brings life to the dead, dangerous branches around Brusenna.

And that's not to mention the back cover. The wolfhound and Brusenna with her golden hair. I LOVE THE TREE. The battered, warped door, the jagged glass on the window, even the ragged curtain trailing from the dark depths like a forgotten ghost.

I'm dying to know what you think! What's your favorite parts? Do you think it will appeal to the YA romantic fantasy readers? If not, why?

Big thank you to Rhemalda and Eve Ventrue!

If you'd like to see the cover with the final font/title, click here. While you're there, make sure you check out the art of my fellow authors' covers: Michelle Argyle, Walter Rhein, Eve Ventrue, Doug Brown, Cas Peace, and JS Chancellor.

Answers to Your Buring Questions Pt 2

Continued from last week . . .

4. When real world obligations mount, how do you keep your excitement for writing and whatever project you're working on?


Take a break. I'm so tired of the advice, "You must write every day. No matter what."

You know what? Not everyone can do that. Not everyone wants to do that. There are no rules in writing. There are guidelines. And while this is a good one, it doesn't apply to everyone all the time.

If you need a break, take one. I got to the point where I was so bitter I couldn't stand writing anymore. I took six months off. And I have no guilt about it. Seriously, if you're unpublished, you have no deadlines. No commitments. You're free. Enjoy it.

5. What do you do if you find yourself stalled on a project? What do you study to get your creative juices flowing on a new project, or to twist an old project and re-invigorate it?

This is a fun one.

To get the creative juices going: Watch a good movie. Read a good book. Listen to inspiring music. Take a break.

If you're stalled: usually it's because I've got my editor hat on instead of my writer hat. The first draft is messy. It's doesn't make sense, it's chubby, and cluttered. I find myself constant reminding myself, "I'll fix it later."

6. How do you keep your personal momentum for a project before you're a "discovered" author?

I give myself deadlines. I want to have book X ready for conference Y. I'm going to have this one ready to query by X.

Having a regular meeting writers group helps too. You have to have something to share, and it's fun.

7. How do you work toward getting to the point where you're prepared to be seen as professional?

I have no idea. I'll let you know if I ever figure it out.

What rules do you break?

Help Pick my Cover Blurb, Win Forest of Hands and Teeth

The dreaded cover blurb. I have to take my entire manuscript and condense it into a few compact, tantilizing, info-packed paragraphs.

No worries though. It only goes on the back cover. Which most everyone reads to see if they actually want to BUY the book. No problem at all. If I fail, no one will purchase my book, forcing me to buy hundreds of copies of Witch Song so I don't feel like an idiot.

I'm not worried.

At all.

*curls into the fetal position and chants, "Blurb, blurb, blurb."*

Can you see the drool running down my chin? Cause I'm not taking a picture. You'll have to use your imagination folks.
After much hair pulling, drooling, and rocking, here's what I've come up with. And lucky you, you get to vote. Everyone who votes will be entered to win a paperback copy of The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. If you share this link on facebook, twitter, blog, etc, you get 1 extra point (leave me the link). I'll pick a winner next week.

Choice 1:

The world is changing. Once, the witches controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons. But not anymore. All the Witches are gone. Taken captive by a traitor.

All but Brusenna. Hidden away from the truth by her overprotective mother, she knows so little about saving the world. But with Summer and Winter coming in the space of a day, she’s the only choice the world has left.

Because if she fails to free the other witches, there won’t be anything left to save.

Choice 2:

Fourteen-year old Brusenna is the last Witch. All the others have been imprisoned by the Dark Witch. And the without the Witches’ songs to shore up the bindings of nature, storms rage, climates cross hardened boundaries, and seeds refuse to germinate.

Hiding from the Witch Hunters and their muskets, Brusenna and her Guardian, Joshen, must find the key to defeating the Dark Witch and rescuing the others. Because if not, there won’t be anything left to save.

Choice 3:

Brusenna is a Witch

With little more than a melody, all the plants within the sound of her voice grow and bend to her will. Collectively, the witches control the winds, the storms, even the changing of the seasons.

But all that was before—before the others were taken by the Dark Witch. (94) Before she sent her Witch Hunters after the rumor that turned out to be Brusenna.

As the echo of their songs fade, the Dark Witch grows stronger. And now she’s coming for Brusenna. She has her Guardian to protect her. But even he can’t stop the Dark Witch. Somehow, she has to succeed where every other witch has failed. She has to find her. Fight her. Defeat her.

Because if she fails, there won’t be anything left to save.

big, Big, BIG News!

I have an announcement! My MS, Last Witch/Witch Song, will be published by Rhemalda Publishing. To come out next fall.

Here's the blurb:

Fourteen-year old Brusenna is truly alone—The Last Witch—all the others have been imprisoned by the Dark Witch. And the without the witches’ magical songs to sure up the bindings of nature, the world has fallen into chaos.

Hiding from not only the Witch Hunters and their muskets but also the fear and hatred of the common people, Brusenna must find the key to defeating the Dark Witch, cross enemy territory to discover her lair, and then best her in a duel—a duel which ever other witch in history has lost.

And she must do it soon. Because at the rate nature is unraveling, there might not be anything left to save.

I'm so excited!

LDStorymakers Writer's Conference

Writer's conferences are a fantastic way to network with authors/agents/editors/fellow writers. I've been to numerous conferences. IMO, the best one in Utah is the LDStorymakers Conference (whether you're LDS or not).

They also have a fun contest going on. Two winners will receive reserved seating at the 7th Annual LDStorymakers Writers Conference for Friday night dinner and entertainment at a special table with: James Dashner, Jessica Day George, Krista Marino (Editor for Delacorte Press), and David Wolverton/Farland. These are BIG name writers/editor. We're talking best seller authors. Krista Marino has done some amazing projects. Don't believe me? Google them.

Winning would be an amazing opportunity. Regardless, this is a fantastic conference. It's the best run with the most helpful classes and the best line up of editors/agents.

And if you haven't guessed, yes, I'll be there.

Check Out This Link

I found this blog while scanning through some agent ones. It has a lot of information of on the last Writer's Digest Conference.

Check it out!

Also, funny thing happened to me yesterday. A neighbor of mine commented on how pretty I looked on my facebook page. "Absolutely gorgeous," she said. "You looked so stunning."

I smiled, genuinely pleased. "Thank you."

Studying me, she shook her head in disbelief. "It really looks nothing like you."

My eyebrows flew up and I had to suppress a snort. "Uh . . . I guess I clean up well?"

I love it when people offer you insults wrapped in praise. lol

5 Mistakes Middling Writers Make

A middling writer has moved past newbie mistakes. They've learned about the craft of writing and the business of publishing. They may have a published work, a creative writing degree, or an agent. But they have yet to really break in. I consider myself on the high end of this stage, and have suffered from many of these maladies myself.

1. Quitting. Mostly I see this happen because writers feel stuck. They've sent out a few queries to no avail. They've done a few things to further their writing careers (maybe read craft books, joined a crit group, etc), but are unwilling to invest further. Or they simply can't take it anymore. It's just not worth it. After all, this is a tough business.

This is what I call the 'weed out stage.' This is where people who write for the passion of it hang on, and those that are so so find something else to do with their time. Maybe it's for the best. But for those who couldn't give up writing if they wanted to, it's validation that this is really what you're meant to do.

2. Fear of failure. This manifests itself in many ways. I've seen 'closet writers.' People who are afraid to go to conferences because they can't possibly put themselves on the same level as 'real' writers. People who refuse to invest the time, money, and effort. Even people who are afraid of changes--changes like success. But mostly it's the people who want it so badly that they don't even dare try, or fail to push themselves. Because if they fail, they can't live with that (I was one of you once).

These people write, but never with their whole hearts.

3. Laziness. To be a writer, you have to be internally driven. You have to make yourself write. And keep writing. And keep learning. Writing is a lot of work. Work no one is paying you for. Work no one is pushing you to do. Sometimes life interfers, throwing you a curve ball you don't recover from. After the initial love affair dwindles, many just fade away.

4. Frustration. I've seen authors quit because of anger. Anger at rejection. Anger at all the 'time they've wasted.' Anger with the publishing system. This anger colors their writing to the point it kills the writer's joy. When this happens, take a step back and write for the fun of it. Never forget why you write. You write because you love it. If that ever changes, switch careers.

5. Writing what will sell, instead of what speaks to your heart. I've seen writers try so hard to come up with something different. Something new. Something that will sell. It almost never works (in fiction). Often, the ideas are weird. The writing forced. You have to write what you love. Period.

Q4U: What challenges have you faced in your writing career?

Write it anyway

Anyway by Martina McBride (my favorite country singer) always inspires me when I think I may never be published. I've changed some of the lyrics to fit a writer's situation.

You can spend your whole life writin'
Somethin' from nothin'
One virus can come and blow it all away
Write it anyway

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

(Chorus)
God is great, but sometimes life ain't good
When I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
Love 'em anyway

(Repeat Chorus)

You can pour your soul out writin'
A story you believe in
That tomorrow they'll forget you ever wrote
Write it anyway
Yeah write it anyway

I write
I dream
I love
Anyway

That pretty much sums it up. I accept that my books may never be published, and after waiting for publishers for nine months, that may be the case. I will write anyway.

What inspires you?

Wanna See a Publisher's Rejection Letter?

It starts off with the usual. I'm skipping to the good stuff.

We've had a chance to read your manuscript (any letter that doesn't start off with "We love it. We'll take it." is a bad sign), and we've discussed it with our review committee and many others in the publishing department. It is obvious you have invested a considerable amount of time and energy into this project (can you feel it coming). Our publishing schedule is quite competitive, however, and as we look carefully at all the issues involved in publication, we are forced to be extremely selective in our publishing decisions. Reluctantly (and here it comes!), we have concluded we are not in a position to pursue publishing (an alliteration! they just can't help themselves!) this manuscript. (I'm pretty sure this part was part of a form letter.)

This rejection is certainly not about your ability to write. You are a very talented and we would encourage you to check out other publishers such as (names retracted). Information on all of them can be found (the rest is rather mundane).

All in all, a very nice rejection letter. (Kinda like being slain with an ornate sword. You're still dead, but at least it was with something pretty. :) ) Give me a few days to be miserable, drown myself in self-depreciation, and I'll bounce back with a vengeance.

In the meantime, anyone wanna go shopping?

Dear Agents Everywhere

I've seen lots of posts by agents in what they love/hate from potential clients. So I thought I'd turn the tables. For all agents, here's an author's Do's and Don't list from all those unagented authors (many of these are from personal experience--not from my agent ((love ya, Al)) but those other, nasty, no good stinkers).

1. Do: Be nice. It's really very simple. No one likes rude people. Newbies might make a mistake and fail to follow your guidelines. Shrug it off and move on. Don't post and rant about it on your blog. There really is another person on the other side of the computer. Be polite and professional.

2. Do: Post your guidelines. If you're a stickler for how, when, what, etc: POST IT on your website, blog, guidelines on all the different agent search sites (agent query, publishers marketplace, etc.) The harder it is for us to find you and your guidelines, the more random your queries are going to be.

2.5. Do Post your preferences. ie--If you're not taking any more epic fantasies, post that on your guidelines. You'll save us both time and money. (This one happened to me).

3. Don't: Get our hopes up only to smash them into the ground. Really. You may think you're being encouraging. You're not. If you're loving a book and you tell an author that 3, 4, 5, or 6 times and then end up not taking it, it's like counting down for Christmas and then telling your six-year old Santa decided to cancel this year (yes, this happened to me).

4. Don't: String us along. Either take the MS or don't. I'll relate it to proposing to your girlfriend and her answer is: (drum roll) MAYBE. It's really not fair. I understand that there may be exceptions, but understand, you're on precarious ground (Please see #1). And yes, this happened to me.

5. Don't offer to take on a client if you plan on moving to another agency or quitting altogether in a week (Yup. Happened to me.)

So what to you all think? Did I forget something (when don't I ;) ).

Next, I'll post Do's and Don'ts for your agent.

Literary Talk Show

From my agent:

NEW LITERARY TALK SHOW DEBUTS ON HOUSTON’S FM RADIO

(HOUSTON, TX April, 2009)

–Two bestselling authors with extensive media experience, ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Pat Tucker have joined creative forces to launch From Cover to Cover Literary talk show. The show, which is designed to help authors promote their work, and explore aspects of the literary industry, will debut on Houston Radio Station, KPFT 90.1 FM, on April 22, 2009 from noon to 1p.m. CST.

From Cover to Cover will provide a venue for authors to expand their audience and readership through the powerful medium of FM Radio. The show’s format will be a combination of informative literary news stories, topic-driven segments, live author interviews, and good old fashioned product description and exploration. In addition to author interviews, the show’s stories will cover a wide range of topics and issues related to the literary industry, including the exploration of new trends like the rapidly-expanding digital market, the trials and tribulations of publishing, and much, much more.

The show will educate readers and consumers alike with topical discussions, like how electronic readers such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony eReader, along with smart phones, iPods, PDAs, will impact the industry. Recognizing the changing climate of the literary industry Pat and ReShonda want to utilize their combined literary and media experiences to make a positive impact on the industry.

Through the show, the producers will reach out to publishers, booksellers, bookclubs, distributors, and others to create a dialog among those directly related to the overall success of a book. “We’re entering a crowded arena, but we have a competitive advantage due to our unique media experience as well as our location on an FM station in the 11th largest media market in the U.S. We believe our media background and experienced support team dedicated to the show’s success will set us apart from many of the blog radio programs currently in existence,” says co-host Pat Tucker, who also pointed out the void of shows like this on FM Radio.

Together, Pat and ReShonda have over 35 years of experience working in radio and television news. Both have worked as television news and radio reporters after receiving broadcast journalism degrees from their respective universities. It’s this background, coupled with the duo’s extensive literary experience, that ReShonda believes will make From Cover to Cover a viable force in the literary industry. “We are looking forward to producing exceptionally high-quality programming, while offering authors the ability to help spread the word about their work. In today’s literary market, authors need every advantage available. A well-produced show, with quality content at no charge to the authors, with direct access to a firm listener base and the potential to reach others through live streaming on the station’s website, will make a huge impact. That’s what From Cover to Cover will deliver,” added co-host ReShonda Tate Billingsley.

From Cover to Cover can be heard on Houston’s 90.1 FM and streaming via the World Wide Web at http://www.kpft.org/. For additional information on From Cover to Cover, or the co-hosts and their credentials, please visit our website at http://www.fromcovertocovershow.com/.
If you are an author or represent an author who would like to be featured on From Cover to Cover please send an electronic press kit to the show’s Executive Producer, Ron Reynolds, at CovertoCoverShow@aol.com.

If you are a bookclub member or have a business related to the literary industry, please forward contact information for our building rolodex so that we may call upon you for research, possible interviews, or sound bites for upcoming show episodes.

Stats on Book Sales

This is some info my agent send me about book sales:

UK Hardcovers Fall Hard, But US Market Shows Resilience. The Bookseller reports on Nielsen BookScan UK data that shows "a slump across hardcover sales," as unit sales for the top 5,000 hardcovers fell 14.3 percent for the first quarter of 2009. And the top 400 hardcover fiction title sales fell 17.2 percent in units in that period. In the US, however, a big rise in juvenile hardcovers helped the total market for hardcovers rise by almost 3 percent in the first thirteen weeks. Despite dire selected reports, for the outlets covered in the US by Nielsen BookScan, total unit sales for the first quarter declined only 2.1 percent, at 182.4 million books. Juvenile fiction was the strongest sub-category, gaining 10.4 percent this year, with adult nonfiction declining 8.4 percent, adult fiction flat, and juvenile nonfiction up slightly.

Random's "More Selective" Acquisitions NPR's story on blockbuster book deals from earlier this week was pretty standard fare, but we did take note of the moment when Random House Publishing Group spokesperson Carol Schneider said, "we're acquring fewer books." Asked for more information, she told us, "There are no specific numbers or formula involved here--we're simply being more selective in all categories--literary, commercial, blockbuster." NPR

The upside for me is the increased sales in YA. Hopefully that translates into an increase in buying.