The Editing Process - Track Changes

I know, I know, I should have loaded this earlier, but it’s still the 28^th right? I was having a hard time on how to conclude this…

*

Okay so you’ve just got your book back from the editor. Your heart beats hard in your chest as you download it into your computer and hope they like it. You open it up and start to look through it.

I have a couple of tips to make your life easier as you work your way through the edits.

Do you have the same program as your publisher? Can you see the track changes? Can you see the comments the editor made? Questions they might have asked? I bring this up because most publishers use MS Word and if you don’t have that program you might not be able to see the comments they could make.

Do you know how to use track changes? In MS Word if you look up at the top of the screen you’ll see a line of words – file, home, insert, page layout, reference, mailings, review, and view.  If you click on the word review you’ll see the bar below it change. About half way across in that lower bar is track changes. If it is on the background it sits on turns yellow. When it’s off it is white. I found out when I get my ms’s back from my editor and I turn it off I can still accept and reject their changes. The great thing is that if I find something I need to fix that the editor didn’t mark I can make my changes without having to approve everything I alter.

 I also like the using the accept and reject section in the toolbar when I have a few of those pesky track changes I can’t seem to find. That shows it to me every time. Normally, I just right click on the underlined section and a box will appear that allows me to do the same thing the tool bar does.

Really early versions of Word put the comments in the body of the documents but as they kept upgrading the program it moved to the side of the document – the one nice thing is they are easy to delete when you have completed the comment or to add to it if you need to. Just right click to delete if you don’t want to use the tool bar up top.

I still haven’t figured out how to end this particular blog. I hope this info helps you and I’ll be continuing with the editing process next month.

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.

Author Sites:

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

the image I used came from my pinterest account - and from writer-write-creative-blog.posthaven.com

Sign OFF for Simple Painless Promo #MFRWOrg

How often have you checked out a post from someone and thought "Interesting, I'd like to know more about this person" or you've seen an invitation, on a discussion group, to share blogs, but no e-mail or blog address. Sure you can reply publicly...which in some groups is not encouraged. Or you can hope the individual e-mail will show up when you click on reply.

That's a lot of work, even when one of our goals as writers is to be available to those who want to communicate. How can we easily provide our contact information without a constant shout out, or without typing it in every time we post.

Simple. Just sign off with everything you want people to know.

When we are in author mode, we need to be thinking about ways to let people get in touch with us. That's as opposed to writer mode, where we just want people to leave us alone so we can write. Even then, if we stick our head up out of our story to check our e-mail (yeah, shame on us but it happens!) we want to get the best return on our posts.

So, we want to let people know WHO we are, WHERE to find us, and HOW to get in touch. In my case, it would be  [Monica Stoner w/a Mona Karel http://mona-karel.com/ tsent@ix.netcom.com Discover the Enchantment in Romance https://twitter.com/MonaKarel] which also includes my tagline. When we use one e-mail for more than one purpose (for me, I'm Mona the Writer, Monica the AKC Delegate, and also the day to day Monica) we can develop a unique sign off for each identity.

How do I handle this? My e-mail server allows multiple signatures. For each one, I set up a signature line. Monica Henderson Stoner is Delegate to the Saluki Club of America; Mona's signature line is above. Monica has a cute snippet: We only have a little spark of madness, we must preserve it. ALL of these signatures have at least an e-mail if not also a website contact. The only thing I have to remember to do is change the "from" bar when I start a message.

Almost painless, yes? Guaranteed to make it easier for people to stay in touch, which is a very good thing.

You can go further, of course. You can list every book you've ever written, add their covers, include glowing reviews. You can make your signature line bigger than your message.  And some people will happily read that information, at least the first time. If you're participating in an online discussion and no one is trimming their message, that display of information will be seen over and over and...which is one of the reasons you want to be trimming your messages!

Make it easy on readers and on yourself to stay in touch. Have a bright day!

Monica Stoner w/a Mona Karel http://mona-karel.com/ tsent@ix.netcom.com Discover the Enchantment in Romance https://twitter.com/MonaKarel
MFRW Staff, Blog Hop Coordinator

BIO
I think my first story written was in sixth grade, something to show my penmanship for the county fair. Penmanship, me. Right. I wrote Beatles fan fiction, and horrible Gothic romances, then set aside writing for my other obsession, horses. I worked in horses and dogs (and restaurants) until my mid thirties when I discovered real jobs in materials management, and married Tom.

We were married for 25 years, most of them spent in Los Angeles county. It had to be true love for me to live there that long. New Mexico was our ultimate goal and we had five wonderful years on the high plains. For all that time, I wrote. Writing helped me deal with living around too many people, and then helped me express the joy of the high plains, and deal with the shock of losing my best friend. I write to share my dreams...and the beautiful New Mexico skies.

Retweet Day on July 8 - Share #MFRWAuthors Tweets

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Once the tweet has been posted. Click on the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy this link and put it in the comment section of this post.

On Sept 9, click on each link and share everyone's post on twitter. Also, make sure to have #MFRWauthor in the tweet.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle

Tina Gayle writes stories with strong women fiction elements. Visit her website and read the 1st chapter of any of her books. www.tinagayle.net

What's Your Critique Group Experience? @kayelleallen #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Tarthian Empire Companion 

I live in a small town in Georgia, and honestly thought I'd never find a writer's group where I would fit. I write non-fiction, contemporary romance, scifi, scifi romance, gay romance, and I'm moving into mainstream with all my books simply to broaden my reader base. So instead of erotic content, I'm writing with a focus on character relationships and other story aspects.

When I found a group on MeetUp that brought together local writers, I intended to stay "in the closet" as far as my erotic writing went. I was focusing on other aspects anyway. They'd never see my spicy scenes. Members knew going in that I wrote gay romance, and that was never an issue with anyone. Considering it is such a small town, I was a little surprised when no one even blinked when I said what I write. About three months later, we got a new member from California who was writing a lesbian romance series. It's literary fiction with characters who happen to be lesbians. She's an incredible writer -- one of the most gifted I've ever read. She's become my friend.

When she asked if the group could meet an additional day of the week just for critiques, we took a vote. Everyone who was interested began meeting on the new day as well. Later, we gained another writer who writes romance, but who has a serious love for gay romance. I'm still amazed at how diverse this group is for such a tiny town. I never expected to find this. We have one writer in her 70s who's probably the most open-minded person I've ever met. She just isn't shocked at anything, unless it's us saying something nice about her work. We have a 20-something guy who's a new writer honing his love of pony fanfic. And we have a serious literary writer who uses multimillion dollar words and you would think is pretentious until you realize he's being himself. He speaks the way he writes. If I made these characters up for a book people would think I had an outrageous imagination. But they are real, and I get to hang out with them every week.

My point is that no matter where you live, there is probably someone like you, looking for a writer friend. Ask at the library if you can put out flyers to start a writers' group. Take out an ad in the local paper. Reach out on social media. Try MeetUp like I did, and see what happens. But get out there and meet writers. The fun and camaraderie of working together is too good to miss.

What is your experience? Have you belonged to a critique group in the past? Are you in one now? Please share in the comments.

--- 

Kayelle Allen, author of the Tarthian Empire Companion
A World-Building Bible and Guide to Writing a Science Fiction Series
Amazon http://bit.ly/companion-az Smashwords http://bit.ly/companion-smw
Website http://kayelleallen.mobi Blog http://kayelleallen.com/blog
Twitter http://twitter.com/kayelleallen Facebook http://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author
Google+ https://plus.google.com/+KayelleAllen/

The Writing Process: Self Publishing #mfrworg

So this month we’ll talk about self publishing...something I haven’t done so don’t know much about, but I’ll do my best.

There are a lot of places where you can publish your own work. I googled it and found a slew of places. A few I recognized were Lulu, Createspace, IUniverse, Xlibris and of course Amazon, but there are a ton more out there. I found out there is even a Readers Digest book on self publishing companies. Each has their good and bad points and you need to find the one that works best for you.

After you’ve done your research you should reach out to other authors who have self published. Find out why they went that route and what worked and didn’t work for them. Which publishers they have tried and which ones they ended up using.

You’ll also need to find a cover artist and editor. Most of these publishers will offer a package deal that cover most, if not all, of what you want. Others seem to do things ala cart. You can also find companies that make covers, have editors – they do everything but publish your book. I did search but couldn’t6 find what I was looking for so those of you who know companies like this please chime in...

I asked some of my self published friends out there what an author should do and Kayelle Allen gave me these five suggestions:

1. Create a company name for your publishing endeavor (she uses Romance Lives Forever Books).

2. Set up accounts well ahead of your first book. You'll want to be on Amazon KDP, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, etc.

3. Create a PayPal account you can use for your books, especially if you want to sell them yourself from your site or at conventions.

4. Find a good cover artist and a good editor. Don't skimp on either one.

5. Make a marketing plan for your books that goes from pre-release through to the next book.

Next month – more on editing...

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.

Author Sites:

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

Monique DeVere's Secret to a Polished Manuscript #Novel #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg #EditTip

Last month I shared my secret to writing great dialogue. This month, I'm going to share my secret to a polished manuscript. This is my prized resource for catching mistakes, plot holes, story flow/pacing, clarity, and the dozen other errors we as authors miss because we're so close to our work.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise when I tell you that every author would be prudent to find a way to HEAR her/his story read aloud. You've heard this advice a thousand times before, right? So have I, and I've heard other authors say they print out their MS and read it aloud so they can hear it. Or they read it aloud while recording their voice so they can replay it. I don't know about you, but that seems so last century to me.

I can't imagine sitting around reading my MS for hours on end hoping to hear mistakes. Surely, it's almost impossible to read and listen so carefully as to pick out errors at the same time. Personally, I don't believe we can effectively catch mistakes this way since we're still too close to what we've written. Then we encounter the problem of wasted hours of reading aloud that we'll never get back.

My solution? My biggest helper--outside of my CP--is my beautiful Kindle Keyboard. I love that baby. All I need to do is email my word doc to my Kindle, turn on Text-to-Speech and I can easily listen while I do the school run or clean the house. When I hear something I wish to change, I pause the Kindle, bookmark the page and make a note of what I need to change. If this happens while I'm driving, I'll make a mental note and write it down as soon as I reach my destination. On occasion, I've been known to pull over to the side of the road and make notes. But I'm sure you guys do that too. :)

I've found that using Kindle to read my story while I listen is the best option for me. I've tried using read aloud in PDF but the voice is far too tinny and computer generated for my taste. It distracts and irritate me, and I end up missing mistakes. Plus I lose the on-the-go editing option that I love so much.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is fool proof. I'm simply saying it's another wonderful editing resource to add to our creative arsenal. For instance, you won't notice homophones, but you'll certainly notice flow and pacing. You'll notice tone and characterization, plot problems or whether you spend too much time in your characters' heads, whether your dialogue sounds natural, and a host of other niggles you might've otherwise overlooked.

The Kindle Keyboard isn't the only Kindle that has the Text-to-Speech function. According to the Text-to-Speech: Enabled link in the Product details section of my books on Amazon, Text-to-Speech is available for Kindle Fire HDX, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle (2nd generation), and Kindle DX. That's a huge choice of read aloud choices I never knew existed until lately. I haven't researched it, so I can't say if the other devices also have a read aloud function. If you know of any other reader besides the ones I listed, please tell us about it in the comments section below.

What do you use to help you polish your MS? Do you listen to your WIP via your reading device? Have you any special, trusted and adored methods for polishing your MS? If so, please share, I'd love to hear your secrets. 

Do leave a comment in the comment section below. Even if you just want to say "Hi!", I'd be thrilled to know you stopped by.

Until next time, write with clarity and style!


Monique x 

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 HERE to learn more about her and check out her other books.

Celebrate the Day - Retweet Feast on Twitter June 10 #MFRWauthor

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Once the tweet has been posted. Click on the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.


This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy this link and put it in the comment section of this post.


On June 10, click on each link and share everyone's post on twitter. Also, make sure to have #MFRWauthor in the tweet.




This month I did not create a MFRWauthor thunderclap campaign for lack of interest.


Here's to a great day of retweets,


Tina Gayle


Tina Gayle writes stories with strong women fiction elements. Visit her website and read the 1st chapter of any of her books. www.tinagayle.net

How Indie Authors Pick Keywords @kayelleallen #MFRWauthor #authortips

 A Romance for Christmas 

Today's post on Marketing for Romance Writers Marketing blog is by the founder, Kayelle Allen.

If you are an independently published author (also called self published, self pubbed, indie, hybrid author, and entrepreneurial author), you know the necessity of picking the right keywords for your books. If you are just getting started on this journey, here are a few tips to help you choose the right keywords. 

What's Your Story?

You must start by knowing what your book is about. That sounds silly but not all authors know. You should be able to relate the topic of your book in one or two sentences. I'll use my best selling holiday romance, A Romance for Christmas, as an example. It's about two people who have lost their spouses and are alone at Christmas. They meet, are attracted to one another, and must decide if they're ready to risk falling in love again.

Have the blurb and tagline for your book on hand and consider the words you used in that. Your keywords should be used within the blurb if possible. If not, you might need to consider a rewrite or tweak.

Is Anyone Searching for Your Genre

I decided what keywords to use by researching them on Amazon. I went to the site's homepage, put my cursor in the search box, and began typing in keywords that I thought were relevant. I would see what suggested things showed up in the drop down search listing and jot them down in a brainstorm-type list.

I didn't have to type the whole word. Just part of it. When I typed in "Christmas roma" (without the quotes) I got "christmas romance" "christmas romance ebooks" "christmas romance movies" and more.

"Christmas roma" search

Then, type those keywords fully and see how many come up. Before you decide on a keyword, you want to be sure people are searching for it. "Christmas romance" for Kindle on Amazon brings up about 8000 books. That's a huge category but it's also the main genre for the book, so it was necessary. I used other keywords to narrow it. If it was less than 200 I didn't use it. If it was over 3000 I didn't use it. I used phrases that stayed in the midrange between those two.

You can have up to 7 keywords on Amazon. Keywords can be phrases, and aren't limited to single words. For example: urban fantasy, science fiction fantasy, new adult romance, young adult historical romance, and so on.

Doing the research to see what others are searching for will narrow the keywords that help readers find your book.

What Not to Use

Don't use your name, because that's automatically searchable on any of the book selling site, since you are the author. Don't waste your keyword resources with words that don't fit your genre, thinking that will draw new readers to your book. It won't work -- if you mislead readers, they will not be pleased. Be as specific as possible while still using words that are being used on the book's site (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.).

Once you have your keywords, record them with your blurb, buy links, and other info for you book, and use them on your website, guest blog spots, and elsewhere.

What I Used

For A Romance for Christmas, here's the tagline and blurb used on Amazon:

A cop at the door on Christmas Eve brings an unexpected gift. A sweet holiday romance showcasing love, loss, and the spirit of giving. It's Christmas Eve, and the end of a year in which everything Dara loves has been lost. Everything but her little girl and a fierce determination to survive. When a cop brings Christmas to her door, he brings another gift she never expected to get.

My keywords are:

• Christmas romance
• holiday romance
• sweet christmas romance
• sweet holiday romance
• sweet contemporary christmas
• alone at christmas

Did It Work?

Yes, it did. A Romance for Christmas was in the top 100 on Amazon for 3 months. I'm convinced most of that was due to A) a good story, B) a good cover, and C) good keywords. It jumped to #18 within a day of release. I promoted it heavily on Twitter and by guest blogging. I shared it only 2-3 times on Facebook. It's now June, and the book is still selling 1-3 copies a day.

In summary, to pick good keywords, see if others are searching for your genre, how many are searching for it, and decide which best fits your book. Try to include the keywords in your blurb for the book. Research each before you decide.

I adapted this tip from author Travis Luedke, who's a member of ASMSG (Author Social Media Support Group). He's a NY Times and USA Today best selling author.

Feel free to share your experience on how you choose keywords. Did you use another method? Please let me know what you think in the comments.

--- 

Kayelle Allen, author of A Romance for Christmas
A cop at the door on Christmas Eve brings an unexpected gift.
Amazon http://amzn.to/1wpW8qE ~ Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/1wpYfL2

The Writing Process: Meeting Your Editor - Part 2

The editing process is a very in depth topic and not one I feel should be crammed into one blog so I'm going to spread this out a little. :D

Here we go with the next installment:

Some publishers will introduce you to your editor by sending you both an e-mail. That way you and the editor will have each other’s e-mail address. This doesn’t mean you’re supposed to e-mail her/him all the time, asking where they are in your work. Other publishers will leave it up to the editor to contact the author.

Full time editors work on more than one manuscript at a time. Depending on how fast they can edit they could be working on five or more when they are working on yours. If they are part-time they might only work on one at a time, but most of us will edit one, send it to the author and pick up another one. As an avid reader I always want a book to read.

Your editor also has a life. They have family, some have children, some have elderly parents they take care of. They get sick, have a bad day, work a day job, have bills to pay. Understand we’re not perfect. I’ve had have times were it has taken me a long time (almost a month) to edit a book because of things going on in my life. Please know your editor is working as hard and as fast as they can to get your book back to you.

They want to make your book the best it can be and to rush would defeat that purpose. I know you have a deadline and it’s approaching fast but which would you rather have? A decent book put out on time or a great book that is a little late? Something to think about.

Next month I’ll be talking about what little I know about self publishing...Then we’ll get into the actual editing process.

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.

Author Sites:

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

Monique DeVere's Secret to Great Dialogue #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg #WriteTips #Authors

Over the years, one of the compliments I often receive is for my dialogue skills. While contemplating the subject for my column this month, I decided to share my "secret" for writing great dialogue. I would love to unveil some amazing trick that I alone have uncovered. 

Alas, it is not to be. 

My simple trick is to write the dialogue first. I write in scenes and chapters. I never view the book I'm writing as a whole until I reach the end. Therefore, each day I sit to write my scenes and sequels, I visualize only the scene/sequel I'm about to write. Like all authors, I see my characters in conversation, what they're talking about and whether it's what I need them to talk about in order to fulfil my requirements for that part of the story. At this stage, I'm not worried about what my character is thinking, feeling, smelling, eating, seeing or anything else.  I just need to know that they're involved in dialogue that excites me enough to make me want to write it.

I've found that writing dialogue first, so you have only dialogue nothing else to start, gives me a clear indication on whether what my characters are saying is worth listening to AKA reading. Then I can turn my attention to fleshing out the scene with introspection, emotion, the senses, internal conflict, traits and everything else I need in order to create a rounded and complete scene. 

I'm sure you know dialogue in romance has five main functions. When we write dialogue first we're able to see at a glance if we've achieved the objective. 

Five Functions of Dialogue

1. To move the plot forward. 
2. Create conflict. 
3. To inform or reveal something pertinent to the plot.
4. Reveal character.
5. Create tension--sexual/emotional.

I have found that by writing dialogue first--think talking heads--it allows me to see if I've left questions unanswered, taken a side road in the conversation or have fallen into the trap of writing pointless conversation--think boring bits when people talk about nothing. The sort of yakety-yak that goes nowhere.

"Hi, how are you?"
"I'm fine. How are you?"

That sort of thing.

Dialogue is my absolute favourite part of a book. I just love the way we can create situations that pit two characters against each other in wit and banter. The way the characters can argue even while we let the tension simmer underneath. The way we can let them just say whatever they're thinking and see how it creates fireworks. Even letting the characters dodge questions is pretty fun to write. I love cheeky heroes who say the most scandalous things, and sassy heroines who gives him back just as good.

Dialogue is the heart of the novel. Without good dialogue, the most thoroughly planned out and executed story can become a drag to read.

So the next time you sit down to write, take a good hard look at your dialogue. Picture or write only the dialogue and see if it makes a difference to your end result. Then take a look at your character's introspection and see whether you're hiding some of your best dialogue in your character's thoughts. Why not let her/him say what s/he's thinking and see if you can't up the conflict a little.

Do you have any secrets on writing great dialogue? I'd love to hear them. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. I look forward to reading and learning new dialogue tricks.


Until next time, write with clarity and style!
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.

Author-to-Author: Using Goodreads @HelenaFairfax #MFRWauthor

How to use Goodreads as an Author
Earlier this year Harper Collins and Harlequin held an online Romance Festival (http://romance-festival.com/) in the UK. One of the topics discussed was how to make better use of Goodreads as an author. I already have a Goodreads author page  - CLICK HERE. Feel free to friend or follow me. I list all my books read. I have over a hundred reviews of my books with an average rating of 4.5, which “isn’t too shabby,” as my nephew would say. I also love adding and rating books I’ve read myself, too, and checking out other listings and reviews. Apart from that, though, I don’t connect with people as I should, and I’m sure I could make better use of Goodreads.

During the Romance Festival, Cynthia Shannon, marketing co-ordinator at Goodreads, answered questions live in this post on Facebook - CLICK HERE, and Goodreads librarian, Julie Whitely wrote an excellent post on Understanding Goodreads for the Romance Festival blog.

What I learned from both was invaluable, and I’m determined to start using Goodreads much more productively.

Here are the main facts/tips I came away with:
• Goodreads is used by an incredible 25 million readers. That’s a phenomenal audience of people who love books, who are looking for great books to read, and who are discussing and debating new releases.
• Goodreads has had a bad press in some quarters for allowing trolling and author bullying.  In my limited experience so far, though, people have reached out to me and been willing to make friends and discuss books. Of course there are the exceptions, unfortunately, but as Julie Whitely points out, “Any site that encourages readers to read more and get involved can’t be all bad.”
• Goodreads is a reader site – it’s not there for author promo. But if I want to promote my own book, how do I go about it? One suggestion was to choose a few reader groups, join them, and more or less promote by stealth. I feel quite uncomfortable doing this! I’d sooner just join reader groups and be me – a reader who writes romance novels. So if anyone reading this post has any suggestions for groups I’d enjoy, I’d love to hear from you!
• If you do join a group, read the guidelines about promotion. Julie Whitely says “Nearly every single genre specific or discussion group has a folder for book promotions. Find that folder and use it to tell readers about a sale, a promotion, a new release or whatever else you want to share. Post in that folder only.” I hadn’t realised this about the folders. I’ll check this one out, as I feel more comfortable doing this than promoting in front of an actual group. But do people actually read the entries in the folders? I suppose it’s worth a try!
• You can link your Facebook author page to Goodreads. I already have a Goodreads tab on my FB page. Whether anyone has ever actually clicked through from the tab to go to Goodreads is another question. You can also add a Goodreads widget to your FB page, but I’ve struggled to understand how to do this. Is it worth the effort of working it out, I wonder?
• You can also add Goodreads author widgets to your blog.
• You can add your blog feed to your Goodreads author page
• You can add an “Ask the Author” box to your Goodreads author page, which is there to invite readers to ask you any questions they like. I have done this a while ago. So far, no one has asked me anything. Please go to my Goodreads page and ask me a question! :) Even what did I have for tea. Just so I can know it was all worthwhile!
• There’s also a section called Listopia, which enables you or your fans either to create or add one of your books to a list. That doesn’t mean add your book to a list that says “Best books of the 21st century” – no one likes a braggart – but a list that tells the plain facts is OK.

For example a long while ago I added my novel The Silk Romance to a list of romances set in France/ Belgium/ Luxembourg. Since then – other readers have voted for it! It’s now 1st out of 239 books. I only realised this when I went to check the list right now. So exciting to see it top of the list! But has anyone bought my book because of it, though? This is what I don’t know. But again, it can’t hurt, and it doesn’t require a lot of effort to add your own book to a list.

• The most important tip of all I learned was the importance to authors of listing your book in the giveaway program. LEARN HOW HERE.  Authors who host a giveaway of their books can expect to receive on average over 800 readers entering their giveaway.
So from the Festival I’ve picked up quite a few tips – some I knew already, some were news to me. I’ve also learned just how much reach Goodreads has.

Do you use Goodreads as an author? As a reader? If so, which aspects do you use and like? Is there anything you don’t like about it? What other advice would you give?

If you have any questions or comments at all, I’d love to hear from you!
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Contributed by MFRW Author Helena Fairfax
Helena was born in Uganda and came to England as a child. She's grown used to the cold now, and these days she lives in an old Victorian mill town in Yorkshire, in the north of England. After many years working in factories and dark, satanic mills, Helena has become a full-time writer of contemporary romance. Her first novel, The Silk Romance, was a contender for the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme Award and a runner-up in the Global Ebook Awards 2014. A Way from Heart to Heart is her latest release.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelenaFairfax
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenaFairfax
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/helenafairfax/
Blog: www.helenafairfax.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7082986.Helena_Fairfax

Helena's newest book is A Way from Heart to Heart, a Young Adult Romance, with Accent Press. A knock at the door shatters Kate Hemingway’s life when she’s informed of her husband Stuart’s death in Afghanistan. She struggles to care for their young son George with only Stuart’s aloof best friend Paul as emotional support.

Piece by fragile piece, she tries to rebuild her life, realising Paul and her son have formed an unlikely bond. When Paul agrees to accompany Kate and a group of disadvantaged teenagers on a trip to the Yorkshire moors, he finally reveals something he’s kept secret for years. Kate’s own scarred heart begins to open up … but can she risk her son’s happiness as well as her own?

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#MFRWauthor -to-Author: Who Am I? Author Branding @Kris_Bock

Who I Am: Author Branding
Walk through a grocery store. Chances are you can spot your favorite products from the colors and style of the packaging. Drive down the highway. Does your stomach rumble when you see the familiar Golden Arches of a fast food restaurant?  That's successful branding.

Branding authors seems like more of a challenge, but the basic principle is the same. You want readers to have an instant reaction to your name and cover style. Authors can also take advantage of genre branding by matching the kinds of titles and covers a genre typically uses.

Developing your brand helps readers find you. It lets readers know what to expect when they pick up your books. And whether you like it or not, you already have a brand if you are anywhere on the Internet. People get an impression when they browse your website or Facebook page, or read your tweets. Why not control that impression?

Study other authors in your genre. Look at the colors, imagery, language, and fonts on their social media sites and publicity materials. What impression do you get? Can you identify the genre and target audience? Does it fit the work?

Studying other authors' sites should give you ideas for your own branding. Then it's simply a matter of being honest about yourself and your work. If your books are humorous, your social media presence should be playful. If your work is lyrical and poetic, take the time to make sure your Facebook posts and tweets have the same feel. If you write nonfiction, use keywords that people will search for if they want to find something like your work. For fiction, come up with a good tagline to give people an impression of your books.

If you write in a variety of genres, or for a variety of ages, look for common themes. Do you always have strong female characters? Do you bring humor to everything you write? Do you explore history in fiction and nonfiction?

You may also want to focus your brand on only some of your work. For example, I do a lot of educational nonfiction on a work-for-hire basis. I don't promote this, since I don't get royalties. I also teach writing workshops and offer critiques. One tab of one of my websites focuses on that, but the rest of my branding focuses on my fiction.

In some cases, you might be better off creating more than one brand. I write romantic suspense novels for adults as Kris Bock, and children's books as Chris Eboch. While maintaining two websites and two Facebook pages is a hassle, I didn't want young readers accidentally getting my sexier adult books. The separation also allows me to brand each persona differently. My Kris Bock website’s mysterious red background suggests danger and passion. My tagline ""Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Adventures"" hints at my characters and plots. For my Chris Eboch children’s book site, an antique paper background references the past, appropriate to both my historical fiction and my ghost stories. On both sites, I use travel and outdoor photos, branding myself as adventurous.

If you are newly published, don't tie your brand too closely to your first work. Think about the elements that are likely to reappear throughout your career. In addition, look for elements that people will enjoy or find useful. If you write cozy mysteries about a caterer, offer recipes on your blog. If your children's books are suited for classroom use, provide free materials for teachers. If you write inspirational romances, share inspiring news stories or blog about maintaining a happy marriage. Give people a reason to visit, rather than focusing on ""buy my book.""

This may sound like a lot of work, and it is, at the beginning. But once you have figured out your brand, you can use those elements across social media. Get an appropriate, professional-looking headshot and use it everywhere. Use the same color scheme, tagline, and keywords for business cards, post cards, bookmarks, social media networks, your blog, and even your e-mail signature. Collect all the material in a convenient place, and you can quickly create an author page on whatever new media site comes along.

Branding comes down to a simple principle:
Know who you are and share it with the world.

Questions to help you develop your brand:

• Who is your ideal audience?
• What is your message? What themes do you address? 
• What is your attitude? 
• How do you want to be known? 
• What words and phrases would you like people to associate with you? 
• What colors and images suit those elements?
• Where do you hope to be in five years? Ten years? How will that affect your branding?
• How do authors with a similar genre/audience express their brand?

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Contributed by MFRW Author Kris Bock
Kris writes novels of suspense and romance involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Counterfeits features an art theft that brings danger to a small New Mexico town. Whispers in the Dark follows a young archaeologist who stumbles into peril as mysteries unfold among ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found is a mystery with romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. The Mad Monk’s Treasure features two friends and a handsome helicopter pilot hunting for a long-lost treasure in New Mexico. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.

Kris Bock's latest book is The Mad Monk’s Treasure, a Romantic Suspense, with Pig River Press.
The lost Victorio Peak treasure is the stuff of legends—a heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an Apache raider. When Erin, a quiet history professor, uncovers a clue that may pinpoint the lost treasure cave, she prepares for adventure. But when a hit and run driver nearly kills her, she realizes she’s not the only one after the treasure. And is the handsome pilot who found her bleeding in a ditch really a hero, or one of the enemy?

REVIEW

"Oh my wow! You've heard people say you gotta read this book...well for this one, it's true!! The story is worth the read (not a page turner, but a page burner) and the characters are awesome! Can't wait to read more from this author!" – Kathia 

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Author-to-Author with #MFRWauthor Thea Dawson: Proofing Your Book @AeroplaneMedia #amediting

Best Eyes Forward: How to Proof Your Own Work
I'm going to pass along some tips that I've picked up from my other life as a professional copy editor on proofing your own work.

Now, obviously you want to hire a proofreader whenever possible because it's very, very difficult to proof your own work. But you can save time and money if your manuscript is very clean to begin with, and you'll be more likely to pick up anything your proofreader misses if you try some—or, if you're feeling ambitious, all—of these tricks:

1. Try to leave some time in between readings, several days or a week if possible, so that you can approach the manuscript with fresh eyes.

2. Double space your manuscript and view it at 200+%. It may sound silly, but you're more likely to see mistakes if they're large.

3. Switch to a different font and font color every time you do a read through. Try switching between serif and sans serif fonts.

4. In the same vein, try reading your manuscript in different formats: laptop, Kindle, iPad, etc.

5. Read chapters out of order. Better yet, if you have the patience for it, begin at the end of each chapter and read backwards, one sentence at a time.

6. If you know you're prone to certain mistakes (such as lay v. laid or typing “hte” for “the”), do a search specifically for those words.

7. Use your writing software's grammar/spell check. It won't catch everything (and it will catch a lot of things that aren't mistakes), but it will usually catch at least a few errors.

8. Use text to speech software or the Kindle Fire's text-to-speech function to have your book read aloud to you. You'll often catch missing words or odd word order.

You’ll notice that a lot of these tips center around disruption. Your brain gets complacent reading the same thing over and over again; changing the manuscript helps you experience it as something fresh and new. Don't be afraid to experiment and see what works best for you.

I’d love to hear any other tips writers have on proofing their own work!
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Thea Dawson

Thea Dawson has lived in Rome, Tokyo and London and spent much of her twenties traveling around some of the more exotic corners of the globe. She was finally talked into settling down when her boyfriend proposed to her in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Now she’s stateside again and embarking on a new career as a writer. Inspired by the places she's been and the people she met on the way, she plans to tell tales of romance and adventure.

website  |  twitter  |  goodreads  |  google+

Wanderlust

A writer and world traveler, Monica has everything she wants … except a free-spirited man to join her for life on the road. But when she bumps into Jason, who broke her heart in college, she lets him think she’s engaged. It wouldn’t take much to fall for him again—and that’s one road she doesn’t want to go down.

Jason dreams of the day he can quit his terrible job. Then he runs into Monica, the girl he never got over. Thinking she’s marrying a wealthy financier, he pretends he’s an ambitious career man in order to impress her.

Old feelings resurface, but Monica has trust issues and Jason doesn’t like risks. To top it off, Monica is leaving for Bangkok in two weeks—and she won’t be back soon. Time is running out for them to come to terms with the past and embrace their wanderlust.

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