The business of Writing: Now what do I do? #MFRWAuthor #MFRWorg

The manuscript is done and with the publisher. Now what do you do?

I can tell you not to just sit there and wait. Start working on your next manuscript. The more work you have to offer the more chances you have to sell your books.

Back in the days of RWA we were told not to do multiple submissions. Send in one ms and then wait for that publisher to get back to you. I learned personally that could take a year or more. Like a good little writer who followed the rules, I waited and wrote. So by the time I did sell my first book I had two others waiting in the wings.

Then someone asked me if I had a web page. Of course not. I wouldn’t need one until my book came out right? Wrong. I was told I needed to get my name out there. Did I write newsletter articles for my local RWA chapter? Put them on the web page. Today’s technology allows the publisher you submitted to, to google your name to see how visible you are. Having that webpage can be very important.

In the beginning I build my own webpage and loaded it with articles I wrote and other things I thought an author could use. Then I was lucky enough to win a professional web design at a conference, which is what I have now.

Then I heard about author’s Den. Free? Really? And I can build a web page for myself? Cool. Did that, although I’ll admit I haven’t updated it in years. In fact, I latched onto (and still do) anything free that would help promote me. Most of us do.

Then Facebook came along and I was asked if I had a facebook author page. What is that? Well, I did my research and created one of those. I try to keep it to writing, updates on my work, visitors to my blog, when a book is accepted, updates as I go through the editing process. Anything I think people might find interesting.

How about twitter? Did I belong to twitter? Well I created an account and ignored it for a long time, but I’m trying to do better now, even though I’m still a bit clueless when dealing with it.

Then I joined MFRW:

Since then I learned about the amazon author page. Have one and have my blog feed tied into it. I always make sure I go and add my new books as they come out.

Created a blog. This one was one of those kicking and screaming moments. I work, took care of my young son, and now my MIL. I had to fight to find time to write, how the heck was I going to find time to write a blog? And what would I put on it? I started using my writing knowledge. I’m a nurturer by nature so it’s natural for me to give back.

Joined Triberr a couple of years ago and I’m still learning – did you know that if you go to each tribe stream and release your tribemates blogs instead of doing it from your main stream you normally get more people releasing your blog as well? Who would have thunk it...

Not figured out how Goodreads helps...

I’ve now done blog hops, guest blogs, have guests on my blog and joined a small group of authors who are of like mind and writing. We’re working on promoting our group. I pay a little money on advertising when I can – I’m with TRS and RB4U. I’ve gone in on ads in RT mag, and bought ads in BTS mag. What else? Oh yeah, done chats, programs (online as well as in person), book signings.

Writer Tip: And every time I hear of something new I go and check it out...now I have to figure out what @me is all about. I have an account now it’s time to utilize it.

Barb:)

Bio:

Barbara Donlon Bradley wears many hats. She’s a mother, wife, care-giver, author, and editor. She’s a senior editor for Melange Books, and writes for Phaze and Melange books/Satin Romances with over twenty titles under her belt.

Links: 

Website: http://www.barbaradonlonbradley.com/

Publisher: http://www.phaze.com/author.php?author=21

Blog: http://barbaradonlonbradley.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barbara-Donlon-Bradley/118673448173249

Twitter: https://twitter.com/barbbradley

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/barbaradbradley/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7773192-barbara-bradley

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0072OTZJE

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Barbara-donlon-bradley

ARe:http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Barbara+Donlon+Bradley

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/Search?Query=Barbara%20Donlon%20Bradley

Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/search/books?Keywords=barbara%20donlon%20bradley

Can Novellas Be As Memorable As Full-Length Novels? #MFRWauthor #WriteTip #MFRWorg #Writers #Authors

Novels v Novellas 

This week I had the pleasure of writing “Ends” on a novella I need to send off to my publishers. This is a novella, and while it was a treat to write, it was no less work than a novel. 

I am curious about what others think about the novella. I write short stories, novels, and novellas. 

The difference is the number of scenes and whether there’s space for subplots and extra characters. Novella’s weigh in at around 20-30K, but this in no way allows the author to cut corners on story just because the word count is smaller. After all, a novella is not the poor relation to the novel. It’s a slim-lined cousin with a dynamic edge. 

The honey you grab when you want to be entertained, but you don’t have all day about it. The quick, simple read that gives you the same impact and enjoyment as a longer novel but in a fraction of the time, because really it’s about the story—not the length. And isn’t an excuse to give your readers less.

Word count doesn’t matter if the story still packs a punch. A novella can produce compelling characters. If it’s well-written, a novella will keep your readers glued to its pages. Like a full-length novel, it should make your reader laugh-out-loud, wipe away tears, get angry on your main character’s behalf, and sigh when she gets to your Happy Ever After. 

Regardless of which length fiction we write, one thing remains the same. We have to ensure we hit all of the turning points, give our characters depth, show the reader their wounds, GMC, Wants and Needs, Int and Ext Conflicts, the Black Moment, Climax and Resolution.  The Sexual Tension and the pull push of the plot.

Like a novel, a novella’s plot needs depth and all the same attention to detail. In a novella, there’s no space for a ton of extras with speaking parts. Of course, our characters will come into contact with other people. They'll have friends and family, but this cast will be more off stage than on and will be there to add atmosphere. To let the reader know your H/h lives in a world which is not a total bubble.

As I said before, there are not as many scenes—obviously—and the scenes must move along. No time to wander, or for meandering intros. It’s a matter of get in, do the job, and get out. 

What is your take on novellas? Do you like reading them? Or do you prefer the longer novel? Share your comments below, I'd love to hear from you.


Monique

Author/Screenwriter Monique DeVere currently resides in the UK with her amazing hero husband, four beautiful grown-up children, and three incredible granddaughters. 

Monique writes Romantic Comedy stories some call Smexy—Smart & Sexy—and others call fluff. Monique makes no apologies for writing fun, emotional feel-good romance! She also writes Christian Suspense with a more serious edge.  


Monique loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her by visiting her http://moniquedevere.blogspot.co.uk to learn more about her and check out her other books.

#MFRWorg Author-to-Author: Do Books on Writing Help? @ZeeMahal #MFRWauthor

Do Books on Writing Help?
From someone who entered a creative writing course with illusions of muses and inspiration as essential elements to writing, I've become a believer of perseverance and good old hard work instead.

I understand now, the importance of structure and form, and that writing is an art that improves with practice not with longing. The more I read about the craft of writing, the more familiar I become with concepts that seemed mysterious and confusing at first but gradually become less so because I practice them. I appreciate more and more how much self-discipline and self-critique goes into creating a work of passion.

A writer has to work at not just writing, but re-writing. That comes only after we allow the first flush of finishing the first draft to wear off. But then, how to tell what to edit, what not to edit, what to keep and what to throw out of the metaphorical and sometimes literal window? Which darlings to kill? Or which darlings to kill first? It's a bloody business.

Which brings me back to my original question, do books on writing help? More often than not, I'd say they do in a colossal way. Albeit I’ve read several that felt like a total waste of time to me, there were those that will be forever on my nightstand. Like Margaret Atwood’s Negotiating with the Dead; Dorothea Brande's Being a Writer, Henry James's Notebooks. Schopenhauer’s essay, ‘On Style’, and White and Strunk's Elemants of Style are mini-bibles on writing. Edith Wharton, Ursula Le Guinn, and E. M. Forster, David Lodge, all have valuable advice from which I continue to benefit.

The very first change that these books engender in one is of attitude, I think. They teaches you to be less precious about your writing and the process of writing. You realize that the ease with which the words flow on the page of your favourite writer isn’t because she’s a natural genius, but because she worked, re-drafted, edited and crafted her words in a way that made them flow on the page, and that is her genius. There is a definite shift in the POV—one's own—and you learn to balance criticism and your own judgment of your work. This is imperative. This balance must be learnt and maintained at all times.

Though books on writing offer much, half the time there’s contradictory advice, and then what is a cardinal rule for one writer may be considered utter nonsense by another. And so the bigger question of whether 'it' can be taught arises. 'It' being the art of creative writing.

My belief in books on writing has sustained because there are still things like the ‘voice’ that teachers and writers on writing fail to explain and define. The fact that there is something that is elusive and individual, re-establishes for me, the wonders of what CAN actually be taught.

Of course, there are many who are unable to teach, perhaps because they themselves don’t understand the mysteries of the craft, or because they want to keep the ‘ivory tower’ and the I-am-a-writer-bow-down-to-me concept alive. Taking the analogy from Dorothea Brande, if music and painting can be taught, and we can have Picasso and Matisse, Monet and Van Gogh, perhaps writers too should stop feeling threatened by each other, and freely accept that some parts of their craft is teachable and somewhat transferable to at least some.

There are so many different kinds of genres. It isn't a verbal universe any more, but a verbal multi-verse. It is a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, pluralistic world out there.

Embrace it. Celebrate it. 

CONTRIBUTED by Zeenat Mahal 
Zeenat has published two ebooks with Indireads in 2013 and She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not is her third novel. The Contract was an Indireads bestseller.

Her book Haveli was up to number 17 on amazon kindle and The Contract went up to number 9 on amazonIn.

Zeenat loves reading and writing romance and her favourite writers in the genre are Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Julia Quinn, Nora Roberts and Judith McNaught.

How NOT to Promote #MFRWAuthor

I remember, from back when I watched television, a cable show named "What Not To Wear." The British version featured two snarkily delightful women. The American version gave us Clinton and Stacy, who had their own version of snarky, with a softer tone. The idea was the hosts would completely revamp the victim's  guest's wardrobe, to give said guest a more fashionably correct look. I sometimes felt they were attempting to reduce individuality in their guests but that's a matter for another time. Like watching a train wreck I found myself clicking on that show no matter when it aired.
Along the same lines I've observed author self promotions for several years and more than once I've wanted to force encourage those authors to take a clear look at how they were presenting themselves

BUY  MY BOOK

LOOK WHAT I DID

Over and over and over. If they belonged to multiple Facebook groups I saw their not so clever promotional announcement numerous times in the same day. And after a while I ceased actually seeing it, I simply deleted as soon as it showed up.
Slightly more subtle authors would insert links to their own books in replies to another writer's blog,whether relevant or not.
All of this adds up to the same feeling I got from the kid who sat behind me in the school auditorium and insisted on kicking the back of my chair. Distracting me from his actual message, which was probably somewhere along the lines of "Hi, I'd like to get to know you better." Another potential romance lost in the dust of miscommunication.

To avoid this, what do we NOT want to do?
Don't shove your book into every conversation.
Don't put your notices on automatic share across the virtual universe.
Don't self promote where it's not allowed.
Don't put your links into someone else's blogs or discussions unless asked.

What SHOULD we do?
Funny you should ask.
If you're not already an MFRW member, join and take advantage of the many offers to help you promote your book.
Become a part of Triberr so you can help promote others while they help promote you.
Invite other authors onto your blog (you do have an active blog, right?) so you can promote their books.
Have an active blog. Write from your heart and your convictions, whatever those might be.
Respond to other blogs that interest you with comments relevant to that blog. If it's a blog hop, all the better then you can get name recognition multiple times.
Join blog hops, write clever blogs relevant to the hop theme. Here you can mention your book, without  making it the entire blog.
Write a good book. Then write another good book. Keep that promise to your readers that they will find happiness in your words. 

Notice, none of these suggestions have you pushing your book? Instead you are gaining name recognition for yourself. You are NOT one book, you are an author of many wonderful books.

Seek, Teach, Share, Learn, SUCCEED

thoughts shared from  Mona Karel

Blog Hop Coordinator

In addition to occasional curmudgeonly outbursts, Mona writes Romance both normal and paranormal as a way to share her daydreams with the rest of the world. When not writing she wraps her world around her Salukis, her home in the New Mexico high desert, and photographing the quirky, the unusual, and the just plain gorgeous. 

#MFRWorg Author-to-Author: Writing Tips @RobinGlasser1 #MFRWauthor

MFRW Author Robin Glasser shares some advice to improve your writing.

Besides being an author, I’m also an editor, which makes writing difficult because I’m constantly editing my work—one of the main reasons it takes me so long to write a book. A good exercise I learned from one of many writing groups is to keep paper and pen by your bed. As soon as you wake up, start scribbling. I've covered oodles of pages this way, some of which were real gems!

Read a lot.

Try to write something everyday. If you find yourself staring at a blank page and nothing's happening, promote your book on Twitter, Goodreads, LinkedIn, for examples.

Join a writing group for feedback and sympathy. If one’s not available, start your own in the library. I did and it was great fun plus I learned a lot too! Oh, and read what you've written aloud or have someone read your pages back to you. You’ll be amazed by what your ears pick up that your eyes might have missed!

I try extremely hard to avoid clichés and write lines that will stand out. Michael Chabon, another author I admire, always has some memorable phrases sprinkled throughout his books. One description that comes to mind (paraphrasing): “his face was like a sagging front porch…” I mean, how visual is that!

ABOUT Robin
Recovering copywriter, Robin Glasser has written for a variety of magazines ranging from Readers' Digest to Penthouse Letters, where she wrote a column called "The Red Hot Woman." Her poetry has been published in Upstairs at Duroc and The Riverside Poetry Review. Ms. Glasser's novel, MY LIFE AS A CONCUBINE, is based on her experiences in Paris or as she likes to call it, The City of Merde, and has been re-released from Smashwords and is available in paperback and as an ebook. Robin guarantees MEN AT WORK, her fully-illustrated book of poetry, will put twinkles in your eyes and sparkles in your pants. Don't forget to watch her fast-paced peepshows based on these tongue & cheeky poems at http://www.youtube.com/msrobinglasser. You can get a copy from robinglasser@yahoo.com. Her latest novel, THE BRAIN EXCHANGE, is available at Smashwords, Amazon, and virtual bookstores near you. She now reads at various venues in New York. 

The Brain Exchange

Erotic SciFi Suspense

BUY LINK

Abandon your beliefs and let your reality run wild. Imagine being fully aware inside a body of the opposite gender. Now imagine the best sex you ever had. Would this just be different? Or better? Or the best ever?

CONNECT with Robin
http://www.myspace.com/robinglasser https://www.twitter.com/RobinGlasser1
http://www.authorsden.com/robinglasser http://www.youtube.com/msrobinglasser