TSTL

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When an author creates a protagonist who’s TSTL (too stupid to live) it’s beyond irritating.  The only characters keeping me in the story now are…  Well, I’m not sure who’s keeping me in the story.  Maybe a cop named Costanza.  His reaction to the snakes in the closet had me laughing so hard I was crying.

 I’m on book 8 of 17 and it’s become quite apparent the heroine doesn’t have any growth arc.  I was warned of this last Thursday, but I suppose I was hopeful.  I’ve now lost all hope and I was so looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the this series.

Will I be able to suspend my disbelief  through 9 more of them?  I don’t know.  I just don’t know.

5 Free E-Books Every Writer Needs

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Posted by Jane Friedman of Writer’s Digest.

1. 70 Solutions to Common Writing Mistakes by Bob Mayer. A fabulous resource from an experienced novelist.

2. 279 Days to Overnight Success by Chris Guillebeau. If you dream of being a full-time writer, this is the e-book for you! About 11,000 words of fabulous advice.

3. How to Write a Great Query Letter by literary agent Noah Lukeman. Lukeman is the author of several fabulous how-to books, including The First Five Pages. This free one on queries will not disappoint.

4. What Publishers Want: An Author’s Guide by Greenleaf Book Group. The good people at Greenleaf have made this brief guide available to beginning writers who are just getting into the writing and publishing game.

5. Smashwords Book Marketing Guide: How to Market Any Book for Free. This gem just came out this past month. An excellent starting resource.

Thank You, Mary Jo Putney

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On the off-chance the world as we know it comes to an end at 6p.m. this evening, I just want to thank you, Miss Mary Jo, for writing a story that was one of the best reads of my life.  I finished Silk and Secrets yesterday and can’t quit thinking about the characters.  I was really looking forward to starting Silk and Shadows, but I fear I won’t have time to read the whole thing before the apocolypse deadline.  However, I’m starting it and will read until whichever end comes first. ;-)

Reading: Her Ladyship’s Companion

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I love how Evangeline Collins writes!  I think I picked up this book at the 2010 RWA National Conference, but I’m not sure.  I brought home at least two dozen books and accumulate hords of romance novels from friends, book stores, and library sales so it’s really hard to say exactly from whence it came.  Maybe it was hidden in the depths of my goody bag from the Southern Lights Conference.  However it arrived in my house, I’m thrilled to have lifted it from one of my TBR stacks.

The writing is suberb and the setting descriptions are so well executed I feel like I’m in the carriage with the h/h, or in the garden, or hot house, etc. 

Her Ladyship's Companion

The emotions, actions, and reactions of the characters are perfect and plausible.  I wish I could live in their world with them.  The only thing that depresses me about this story is that it will come to an end. :-(   I’m trying to read it slow, to savor each and every page. 

This story definitely gets a 5-star rating from me. :-)

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing: Food for Thought

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Normally I’d put something like this up on Sandcastle Dreamer, but I feel it deserves serious and thoughtful consideration.  I’m beginning to think I’d be a lot further along in the game of publishing had I taken this route 2 years ago.  Hmmm…what do you think?  Amanda Hocking did it quite successfully, and now Barry Eisler’s about to switch gears and self-publish.

Here are some links to peruse and contemplate.  I’d love to know  if you’d give a self-published romance novel a read even though there’s a certain stigma of inferiority attached to such literary works.

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing: Which Way Will You Make More Money?

Nathan Bransford says:  “Thanks to Barry’s [Eisler] wonderfully transparent conversation with Joe Konrath, we know he was offered $500,000 for two books, turned it down, and currently plans to (I believe) self-publish his e-books on Amazon with a price around $4.99, or via Smashwords.”

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011/03/self-publishing-vs-traditional.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NathanBransford+%28Nathan+Bransford+-+Blog%29

Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know by David Carnoy

Mr. Carnoy explains in great detail–easily readable–25 points for those considering the self-publishing route.  Definitely some good food for thought.

http://reviews.cnet.com/self-publishing/

Tools for Secure Self-Publishing

LockLizard is a service that Safeguards PDF Security and stops unauthorized distribution of your PDF documents and files, controls what users can do with them, and how long they can be used.

http://www.locklizard.com/pdf_security.htm?gclid=CNTlxIzZ9qcCFaYSNAoddyXJxg

Seller Tools: Five Ways to Sell your Digital Goods Online

Great article on how to sell your work on your own website or blog.

http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/article.php/3794706/E-Commerce-Tools-Five-Ways-to-Sell-Digital-Goods-Online.htm

Digital Goods Delivery

Sell downloads on your website and/or eBay with PayPal!

http://www.digitalgoodsdelivery.com/index.html

With Payloadz  you can easily upload your PDF, get a buy button and sell your ebook.

https://www.payloadz.com/

How to Publish and Distribute Your Ebook with Smashwords!  It’s fast, easy and FREE!  Publish to the Apple iPad, B&N nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, iPhone and more…  Earn 85% Net at Smashwords, and 60% of List Price from Major Ebook Retailers

http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords

Lis’Anne ~ :-)

Light Up Your Career at the Southern Lights Writers’ Conference

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It’s not too late!  Register today to attend!  Spur of the moment decisions are often the BEST!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

*A full day of craft and career workshops

*Keynote luncheon with CL Wilson, New York Times and USA Today best-selling
author

*Q&A with Industry Professionals editor Tessa Woodward from Avon Publishing & agent Emmanuelle Morgen of Judith Ehrlich Literary Management

*Editor and Agent Appointments

*Critique Raffles with incredible prizes from:

Agents: 

Anita Mumm (Assistant to Kristen Nelson and Sara Megibow) Nelson Literary Agency, LLC

Andrea Somberg Harvey Klinger, Inc. 

Stephany Evans, President FinePrint Literary Management

Adrienne Rosado PMA Literary & Film Management

Lois Winston Ashley Grayson Literary Agency

Pattie Steele-Perkins Steele-Perkins Literary Agency 

Michelle Grajkowski 3 Seas Literary Agency

Scott Eagan Greyhaus Literary Agency

Kevan Lyon, Marsal-Lyon Literary Agency

Editors: 

Jhanteigh Kuppihea, Editor, New American Library (NAL) (Need details from Margie)

Raelene Gorlinksky, Publisher, Ellora’s Cave – erotic romances; Cerridwen Press – mainstream genre fiction: romance, mystery/suspense, futuristic/sci-fi, paranormal, women’s fiction, historical fiction; The Lotus Circle – metaphysical/psychic fiction and non-fiction

Rhonda Stapleton, Editor, Carina Press (E-publishing imprint of Harlequin)

Alissa Davis, Freelance Editor

Emily W. Carmain, Noteworthy Editing Services

Sherry’s Sage Suggestions, Editing Service

Authors: 

Margie Lawson, the amazing author of Empowering Characters’ Emotions, Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors,  Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More, Digging Deep into the EDITS System, Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist, Powering Up Body Language in Real Life  

Vanessa Kelly, Regency Romance, Zebra

Sharon Page, USA Today Bestselling Author, Sensual & Erotic Romance, Aphrodisia

Karen Hawkins, USA Today Bestselling Author, Historical Romance, Pocket

Joanne Rock, 3-Time Rita Nominee, Historical Romance, Harlequin

Elizabeth Sinclair, The Dreaded Synopsis, Multi-published Romantic Suspense, Harlequin

Kasey Michaels, New York Times Bestselling Author, Historical Romance/Romantic Suspense, Harlequin/Warner/Kensington/Zebra, et.al. 

*Too many raffle baskets filled to the brim with awesome books and fun stuff to list!

Registration- $110

Marriott-Jacksonville
4670 Salisbury Rd. – Jacksonville, FL

For more information:  http://www.firstcoastromancewriters.com

Implausible Everything

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My buddy, Charlie Allden, of Smart Girls SciFi asked a good question on her blog yesterday.  “How long do you give a book before you give up on it?”

I’ve read thousands of historical romance novels.  If one didn’t engage me after the first few pages I didn’t hesitate to put it down.  I’m still that way.  There are just too many from which to choose and time is a precious commodity these days.  However, what do you do when the first several chapters totally engage you then suddenly the author starts writing like a newbie?  She went from showing me how the characters felt, what they saw, etc., to telling me.  The dialogue went from realistic and tight to stupid and implausible.  Real men don’t say, think, and do the things she now is forcing them to.  *insert finger down throat and gag here*

What irritates me the most about this story/author is that she’s multi-published by a huge house.  This is the first of her stories I’ve ever read and she/they unwittingly lost a potential new reader of her other books.  Just because an author was previously successful doesn’t mean the editor should blindly okay future manuscripts without fully editing the dang things.  I don’t care who you are.  God willing, someday I’ll have an editor who’ll offer me the chance to prove my story-telling worth; I hope said editor will make me work my butt off for the privilege of signing with his/her house. 

My blogging partner, Abigail Sharpe, of Chicks in the Kitchen and her own blog Don’t Hang Up the Quill, always gives an author two tries.  When money’s tight and I already have a suitcase (she knows what I’m talking about!) full of books to read + a large canvas bag stuffed full from the RWA national conference + a giant box shoved into the bottom of my linen closet, I don’t have the inclination to give an author more of my time or money with lines such as, Edward made a concerned noise.  What the heck is a “concerned noise?”  A groan, a moan, a hmm, ahem?  What did it sound like?

Is this so wrong?  Am I being far too harsh?  Did I wake up on the wrong side of the planet AND someone stole my coffee?     

The problem now is, if I’ve invested over 200 pages of my time, should I press on even if the author totally turned me off to her writing?  A part of me keeps hoping the excitement and realism of the first 50 pages will magically infect the rest of the story.   The rational part of my brain says it’s not going to happen; the wishful part keeps turning the stupid page.

Happy reading?

Lis’Anne