USE WHAT YOU'VE GOT

Over the years I have had a lot of jobs. I've worked as a client aide for the mentally ill while I was going to college and took care of toddlers at a daycare center. My resume includes many years as a secretary for the Department of Philosophy at Wayne State University. I've been a database researcher, medical utilization reviewer, school media specialist, and an after school coordinator. There really are too many jobs to discuss here. Six years ago I settled into a position as an adult reference librarian for the Mount Clemens Public Library and recently became the director of the Lenox Township Library.

At one point, my mother shook her head, folded her arms across her small breasts and stated that I was a jack of all trades, but a master of none. She was right. I changed job whenever the feelings struck me. I had no problem with trying different things. Some were more successful than others. Fifteen years later, I've realized that being a jack of all trades made it easier for me to incorporate interesting skills, details, and information into my books.

For example, in my October release, You're All I Need, the heroine is an administrative assistant for a high powered real estate attorney. For years, I worked at a law firm as a word processing operator, typing legal documents. I used my knowledge of briefs, motions, and legal jargon to bring an authentic level to the novel.

As I put the finishing touches on my work in process, I say to you, use what you've got. Your life experiences bring special color to your stories. Don't be discouraged by well-meaning friends and family that don't understand what being a writer involves. Your readers will gain greater pleasure from the added layers your knowledge brings to your manuscripts.

Please tell me what you think. I'd love to hear from you. E-mail me at karewhiteowens@gmail.com or hit the comment button below.

Remember, don't be a stranger.

Karen

Changes of a changing change

Henri Bergson, the French philosopher said, “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” I’ve proven that to be true multiple times. While many people are thinking about the impact of the phenomenal shift in the way books are now read (electronic as opposed to print), or how they are categorized in the book store, I’ve been thinking of a much smaller change and its impact on my writing: my writing space.

Anyone who has read my earlier blogs would know that for many years my writing space has been my bed. Writing on my bed permitted me to write on my tiny laptop long after the hubby and kids were asleep. It allowed me to reach for the laptop in the middle of the night when that errant insomnia kept me tossing and turning. It worked great. But then things changed.

Two things precipitated the change. First I got my book published. With that came the need for office space and faster more secure internet connection. Second I finished my basement. So when I got a coupon from Verizon FiOS for a netbook, I determined that a desktop would do me more justice. I bought a desktop, converted what was once my kids’ playroom into an office and kicked my kids down in the basement.

Not a minute too soon, because within weeks of purchasing the desktop, my seven year old laptop slowed to a crawl and eventually crashed. I happily relocated my writing to my newly acquired writing space: my office. Oh yes it was a good change initially. That computer was faster. There was the internet, my printer and fax machine, you name it.

But every change comes with its downside. First of all, the kids refused to play in their new playroom, despite all the wonderful décor and toys that made it look like a section of Toys R US. One by one they began dragging their toys back into my new office until it was a total mess. Of course being able to concentrate on writing became difficult.

Next, everyone wanted to use that computer. It was faster, shinier and newer than any other computer in the house. Writing time became a matter of competing with my husband and oldest kid for computer time.

Finally, remember those sleepless nights when I reached for my laptop and wrote for hours until sleep caught up with me? Now that was a thing of the past. I couldn’t drag myself all the way downstairs to my office to write after hours. So per the natural progression of things, my writing suffered. I was putting in less time doing actual work on my WIP than when I had my laptop.

Now, I long for my laptop, but it’s in the hospital, in critical condition, on the way to the morgue. In retrospect, I should have used that coupon toward a new laptop. My next step is to revive my laptop and change once again so that my writing can occur where and when I dictate. Henri Bergson was right, “to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” Me, my writing, and my writing space, are a constant work in progress. What about you?

Guest author June Shaw: When should you give up on your writing?

June Shaw lives along a lazy bayou in south Louisiana. She became a young widow with five children, completed a college degree, and started teaching junior high students, then her deferred dream of becoming a writer took hold. Her first novel, Relative Danger, was nominated by Deadly Ink for their new David award for Best Mystery of the Year. Harlequin reprinted it, and Books in Motion bought audio rights. Killer Cousins is her second book. June represents Louisiana on the board of the southwest chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

When should you give up on your writing?

Many of us asked that question long before we had anything published. Some who eventually sold things we wrote still wonder about pieces of work we haven’t sold yet. Often that manuscript is something dear to our hearts.

Early in my writing career, I learned an important lesson about not giving up. I had read in writers’ magazines that a wanna-be author should not put her first work in the mail and then wait for a contract. Make sure you put a SASE in with what you’ve written, and record the date and place you sent it. Then start working on something new. The article said the saddest thing in the world is a writer standing next to her mailbox, waiting for a check to arrive.

I envisioned myself waiting next to my mailbox. It’s black, plain, and across the street. My imagination did not paint a pretty picture of me standing in front of my neighbor’s house.
The piece I was sending out was really special to me. Called Five Left to Love, the essay described my five wonderful children aged five to eleven coping with strength after a major struggle. I studied the excellent source Writer’s Market to find the best place to send my work. A detailed description of a certain magazine made me decide it would be the perfect fit for my story. I sent it out, recorded the date and place, and started on something different, anticipating the editor’s excitement when he read about my tremendous family.

I didn’t wait near the mailbox but must admit I rushed outside each time I spied the mailman, knowing he’d brought me fabulous news. He finally did bring a response. No thanks.

I sulked awhile and felt sorry for myself. For my children. How could that editor say no? Soon I remembered not to sit around and mope, so I sent the piece out again—to Living with Teenagers magazine. I soon heard from an editor there—with a congratulations letter and a check! It wasn’t much, but it was so exciting and with all of my kids, every little bit helped. I was feeling slightly cocky and thinking I should write to that other magazine and tell them “Ha, somebody knew my work was good enough.” (I wouldn’t really do that but must admit I considered it a moment.) I did check back to see where I’d sent the piece first. It was to Living with Teenagers. The same magazine that had turned it down bought it! One editor rejected the piece; another editor at the same place bought it.

The magazine no longer exists, but I certainly appreciated their publishing my story. And I learned so much from that experience. Since then I’ve discovered that most writers have their work rejected many times, so expect it and don’t give up. I know Mary Higgens Clark had her work rejected forty times before she sold her first story. A current popular mystery novelist, K.A. Konrath, wrote nine novels and received over 500 rejections before he sold a book. How many people would have given up? As Louisa May Alcott wrote the classic Little Women, her family was encouraging her to find work as a servant or seamstress instead. Over 100 publishers turned down the Chicken Soup for the Soul books before a wise editor snapped up the first one. Others had said “That’s too nicey-nice,” and “Nobody wants to read a book of short little stories.” Star Wars couldn’t sell for a long time. Dr. Seuss’s first book was rejected by 27 publishers; the 28th publisher sold over 6 million copies.

So when do you give up on your writing?

Perhaps something you wrote isn’t quite up to par, and you need to work more on it. Or maybe the right editor hasn’t seen it yet.

Recently I sold Deadly Reunion , third book in my humorous Cealie Gunther mystery series. Last week the editor of a popular magazine for writers emailed me, apologizing for the delay, and asked if I would still be willing to write an article for their Breakthrough column. I said I would and then looked back to see when I’d first queried him about writing such an article. It was two years ago, soon after my first book came out.

So give up? Are you kidding? I believe that if you love to write, you keep writing. And you keep submitting your work, sometimes working to improve it. And eventually you sell!!!

~

If you’d like a chance to win one of my humorous mysteries, Relative Danger or Killer Cousins, please leave a comment below. The winner will be chosen on Monday night, May 31 and contacted the next day. Thanks for letting me share thoughts with you. Maybe you’ll also contact me at my web site, www.juneshaw.com.

Best,

June

Mixing things up

While there are only a few universal plots, that doesn't necessarily mean that a writer is in any way limited. You can change things around a bit. Let's take romance. Don't like the man bounding in to rescue the woman? Do it the other way. Like the Pygmalion plot of a man coaching a woman to be more than she is at present, but not necessarily in that order? Turn it on its head.

I remember watching the movie "The Bodyguard" and it occurred to me that all the things that make a successful bodyguard are the same across genders: skill, instinct, focus. So why not have a female bodyguard for a change? I know they exist. And have the woman guarding a very luscious male body?



Of course it's not gritty reality. After all, no bodyguard worth his or her salt would get involved with a client in the middle of an assignment. But a lot of romances require some suspension of disbelief, so if you're prepared to do that, then I think I have just the book for you.

Guarding His Body was the first contemporary novel I sold and tells the story of Australian martial artist, Helen Collier, and the French body she guards, Yves de Saint Nerin. Yves makes the initial mistake of confusing "Hel" Collier for a grizzly male type nicknamed "Hell". He tests her and she manages to impress him and so he takes her on as his bodyguard.

The action is set in the Australian sub-tropical city of Brisbane. Brisbane is a delightful city and a place I spent a few enjoyable years, so a big hi to any Brisbanites who might be reading this. (I used to live in The Gap, by the way. Great name for a suburb, isn't it?)

The Romance Studio has a digital copy of Guarding His Body as the daily giveaway today. And, as a taste, I have the entire first chapter of the book up at my website. Please feel free to have a read and, if it interests you, sign up for the giveaway. (TRS normally put up the new books around mid-morning.) And good luck.

* Kaz Augustin has trained in several martial arts and even ran her own martial arts school at one stage. Now she is reduced to wrestling between pets while they try to steal each other's food.

New writers and the online conundrum

Mark Chadbourn in his May 15 post on his Jack of Ravens blog gave a list of the reasons that he pitied new writers. While I'm not really a new writer, I'm a newly-published writer, so I believe I fit his demographic.

According to Chadbourn, "It’s tough to get a book published. It’s tough when it is published. And it gets tougher." Thankfully, I'd done enough research in advance of being published to have fairly realistic expectations. It alarms me that so many aspiring writers, and acquaintances in general, have a fairy-tale impression of the publishing industry that goes something like this: you toss off a few words - c'mon, anybody can do that! - then get your book published, rake in the cash and live happily ever after, you lucky bastards! Oh, and Oprah looms large in their rosy imaginings.

I saw a video clip on Facebook this week that takes a humorous look at one of the realities new writers face: suppose we gave a book signing and nobody came? Then there are the insulting advances, the absence of real marketing for their books, the years of slogging before royalties begin to show up - if they ever do. The list goes on. My particular challenge at this point, though, is what Chadbourn describes as the immersion of the modern writer in the online world and the reader communities. He wonders whether writers should run in the opposite direction, and this is an issue that hits me right where it hurts. As a matter of fact, within the past months I've cut back severely on posting on my personal blog and disengaged from four online communities, all in an effort to focus on writing once again.

It's a huge bugbear. New writers are now expected to do all their own promotion which entails, apparently, no eating, sleeping, or anything else but being everywhere online all the time. In my experience, the part of me where the words reside goes further and further into retreat the more I immerse myself in the online world. I'm desperately trying to find some kind of balance: just the right amount of online engagement that allows me to return to the writing place and get the job done. Much as I delight in the online fellowship, much as I enjoy learning about the industry and my fellow writers, much as I treasure the feedback from my wonderful readers and the reviewers who have, every one thus far, been extremely complimentary and appreciative - much as I love all that and would never want it to go away, my first job is writing. And we 'new' writers have to do whatever it takes to keep the words flowing.

I'd love to find out how other writers handle this - especially since I'm more and more tempted every day to abandon the world of Google Alerts, Amazon reviews and obsessive e-mail checking, unplug the Internet, and retreat to my writing space indefinitely in order to survive as a creator.

—Liane Spicer

Off to Book Expo!

Well, I should have a blog up, but am trying to get myself into Book Expo today to check it out for the first time. Taking my Flips, so hoping to cut a quick Vlog for next time.

My first year as a published author continues... ;) Will let you all know how it goes!

Digital Book Sales are way UP!

Book deals are rare, advances are lower or non-existent, hardback-trade-mass sales numbers are down, so then why are sales of digital books up 250%? Somebody's buying books!

The Association of American Publishers reported that e-book sales for the month of March increased significantly - e-book sales jumped 184.8% ($28.5 million) reflecting an increase of 251% for the year. Wow!

More and more, e-book sales are proving to be a viable option for readers. When presented with an option of purchasing a bound book at the book store, or online, paying for/waiting for delivery, it seems more and more readers are choosing to order an electronic version, downloading it immediately, and reading it on their e-device, or via Acrobat Reader on their computer (even printing it themselves) right now.

Recently I noticed an increase in the number of readers who attend my events or book club meetings asking me to sign "something" for them, in lieu of the fact that they bought the digital version and have nothing for me to sign. Most people show me the e-book icon in their cell phone, or other device, as proof of their purchase. At first I'd sign the back of my business card, but now I'll have a postcard of the cover that I sign just for e-book readers. A few people do end up buying the bound book version just so they can have the autograph.

For years I've heard that "in the future" bound books will be a thing of the past. Though as more technological options come along, i.e. the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, B&N Nook, iPad, etc., it looks as though electronic books are popular enough today, to say the future is now. Or is it?

Penguin CEO John Makinson says in spite of the boost in e-sales, all of this hype is premature - that before we standardize formats prematurely, we should give it more time and wait to see whether all of this will last. Some say the digital formats will never replace paper books, but that digital books are simply a popular choice, in a different form.

Either way, as we writers continue to write our stories, do we need to start to consider how this will impact our overall sales numbers and royalties if and when the future really is "now?" It might be time to reevaluate our options as it relates to our contracts, and if we're self published, should we scratch the notion of our largest expense, printing, and offer our titles only in electronic format, on our websites and/or on Amazon (who sets their own price), B&N, etc.?

Have you thought about the future of the publishing business as it relates to the format of your books, and how you might need to adjust? Do you think the future is now?