Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

Latest Youtube Videos

Guest Post by Caroline Burau
For Writers

Guest Post by Caroline Burau

Self-publishing: The good news is, it’s all you! And the hard part is, it’s all you.

Having my memoir, Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat picked up by a well-respected publisher in 2006 was a huge thrill. I signed a contract, finished my first draft, and immediately the wheels started turning.
During the six months leading up to publication, someone other than me did a whole slew of things I didn’t fully appreciate at the time. A gorgeous cover was designed, drafts of the book were edited multiple times (some with, some without my input), advanced copies were sent out to numerous media outlets for reviews, and respected authors were picked to provide blurbs. As if this wasn’t enough, about a month before the release date, a lovely young lady name Jana called me and introduced herself as my publicist. My publicist? I have a publicist? Jana took care of booking readings, signings, radio, newspaper, and TV interviews.
In short, I wrote a book, participated in the editing process, then basically made sure I showed up when and where I was told to go. The pace got somewhat rigorous, and I fought my own nerves at every single appearance, but it was a wonderful ride that I know many writers would kill to experience.
And then it was over. One day, I called Jana about a request I’d gotten for a reading at a local library and she broke the news: “I’m not your publicist anymore.” I was aghast! But it was nothing personal. My time was up; she was on to the next new title.
Over the years, I continued doing occasional readings and appearances for Answering 911. In 2011, I completed a novel, Sugarfiend, and hoped that my status as a published author would give me an advantage. After querying more than two dozen agents and getting little to no response, I felt like giving up.
Novels, I was told, are more numerous and therefore harder to sell than memoir or nonfiction. I would have to be patient. I’m not big on being patient. Self-publishing seemed the logical choice.
And it’s been great . . . but it’s been slow. Why? Because I’m it. I’m the writer, editor, cover designer, marketing department, publisher, and publicist. If it wasn’t for my husband’s technical know-how and marketing background, I might truly be overwhelmed.
To start, I had to get over my biggest fear: that because the book hadn’t been picked up by a “real” publisher, it wasn’t any good. But over the course of four meticulous full edits, I at last reached a point where I not only liked Sugarfiend, but enjoyed it. That’s when I knew it was ready.
From there, I formatted the book for three different self-publishing formats: Kindle, Nook, and CreateSpace (for the trade paperback.) It was time-consuming and taxed my scant technical know-how. (Again, husband! To the rescue.)
Now that the book is available, the responsibility of getting the word out is all mine. Media outlets tend to look askance at self-published works. They get a lot of queries from people looking for publicity, and without a reputable publisher’s seal of approval, it’s hard to get them to pay attention.
So, while my royalties are much higher with my self-published book (70-50 percent versus 10 percent or less with a traditional publisher) the number of units sold will inevitably be much lower. But thanks to the power of social media, newspapers, radio, and TV no longer hold a monopoly on information. Plenty of self published authors have used Facebook, Twitter and other outlets to drum up huge word of mouth.
To get the word out, I now blog regularly for www.women.com and as a guest blogger for anyone who will have me (like this awesome site). It’s fun, and it keeps my writing chops up. I stick to sites where I think my target audience will find me: women, sugar “addicts”, and lovers of humorous fiction. I also hired a web designer to set up my own author blog and web site (www.carolineburau.com) a central location for fans to check out both books, read updates, and link to my social media pages.
In short, the great part is that it’s all up to me. And the hard part is that it’s all up to me.
It’s too soon to tell whether I made the right choice. I still entertain fantasies of Sugarfiend getting the attention of some big exec at Penguin, getting signed to a 50,000-unit first-run, then being adapted for a major motion picture (which I’ve already decided must star Kat Dennings.)
But mostly, I’m glad I can say to fans of my first book and anyone else who asks, that Sugarfiend is out there and ready for the world to enjoy. And I didn’t wait for anyone’s nod of approval. I did it for myself.

Caroline Burau is a freelance writer in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and author of Sugarfiend http://www.amazon.com/Sugarfiend-ebook/dp/B0071BFKOW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328076456&sr=8-2 and Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat. http://www.amazon.com/Answering-911-Life-Hot-Seat/dp/0873516028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328076456&sr=8-1
You can also follow her on Twitter (@carolineburau)

May 3, 2012
1 Comment
Guest Post by Terri Giuliano Long
For Writers

Guest Post by Terri Giuliano Long

Big thank you to Terri Giuliano Long to stop by CLP on her blog tour for In Leah’s Wake!   “It is our choices…that show…

May 3, 2012
2 Comments
Guest Post by Nancy Scrofano
For Writers

Guest Post by Nancy Scrofano

Letting Characters Go I love characters from my favorite TV shows, movies, and books, so I definitely fell in love with my own characters from…

April 28, 2012
2 Comments
Well-Heeled Writer Platform
For Writers

Well-Heeled Writer Platform

Building a writing platform is an important ingredient in finding success with our craft. I’m talking more about how we validate our work, answering the question … Why are you the one to write this Mystery/Romance/Family Drama/YA book? What expertise can you bring to the work? Take this chair, for instance. It definitely has “platform” going on. At the same time, it brings something fresh to the seat genre. But without that platform, the chair so lacks authority!

Platform is helpful in both fiction and nonfiction, and there are several ways a writer can build one. Some include holding an MFA. Are you a lawyer? Back up the legal thriller you’ve written with that title. Love to cook? Parlay that passion into your own unique cookbook.

Authority in a subject does lend credibility to a piece of writing, and can help influence agents, editors, and especially your reading audience. At the same time it gives you a rich knowledge of wisdom and experience to bring to the page, layering your story with authenticity.

For me, I’ve developed my blog as an extension of my novel Whole Latte Life. The blog looks at the same questions the book does, that of living our passions, whatever they may be. I’ve posed questions to my readers, initiated active dialogues in the Comments, and interviewed experts in the arts of music, writing, greeting card design, cooking, and others, to bring their experiences to my readers, and to build my own base of knowledge on the subject.

So think Platform … Consider your education, employment, hobby, expertise, craft, as a shoe-in to building your writing resume.

~Joanne

April 23, 2012
1 Comment
Guest Post by Rainbow Rowell
For Writers

Guest Post by Rainbow Rowell

As I was working on my first novel, Attachments, I remember reading author blogs and listening to authors talk and always hoping they would reveal some secret that would make all the difference. Some sort of publishing shortcut or insider information or unbeatable writing tip…I don’t think these exist.

Everyone pretty much says the same thing — READ. WRITE. FINISH. (That third one is crucial)

But one piece of advice, which really didn’t have anything to do with writing, really did end up making all the difference personally. I read an interview with Diana Gabaldon, who writes the excellent Outlander series, and she was talking about how she managed to write and work and be a mom. And she said (paraphrasing here) that she stopped caring about cleaning. She forgave herself for not being a great housekeeper.

This idea hit me like three and a half tons of bricks. It seemed so wise — and so freeing!

It’s too much to work full-time and have small kids and write novels. That right there is already too much. Trying to keep up with laundry, too? MADNESS.

I asked myself what my real priorities were. Being a good mom and a good newspaper columnist were important to me. Giving myself a real shot as a novelist was important for me. Making sure that my house was always ready for company…was not.

So I gave myself permission not to clean. (Does that sound radical? It felt radical.)

My husband pinched in a lot. Between the two of us, we kept the house from smelling or changing colors. But we didn’t try to beat back the clutter. We still don’t.

There are almost always dishes in our sink — we pat ourselves on the back for getting them that far. And I sort my personal laundry on a quarterly basis. (You probably think I’m kidding. I’m not kidding. I have a hundred pairs of socks. I dig out the high-priority stuff, jeans and my favorite nerdy T-shirts, as necessary.)

I’m not exactly proud of our messy house. And it does bother me sometimes … the stacks of shoes by the door, the piles of homework and mail, the dust. But I try to think of everything I’m accomplishing instead.

My first novel is published — it’s real, I can touch it. My second comes out next year and I just finished my first draft of the third. I could never have written these books and stay on top of everything else.

I have plenty of dirty laundry, yes — but no regrets.

April 5, 2012
1 Comment
Guest Post by Lori Verni-Fogarsi
Chick Lit Authors

Guest Post by Lori Verni-Fogarsi

Chick Lit Plus
Guest Author Article

“The Nitty Gritty Process of Being an Author”
By Lori Verni-Fogarsi, author of “Momnesia”

What kind of a title is that? For heaven’s sake! It sounds as if being an author is nitty. And gritty! Which it both is and isn’t. The truth is, if your goal is to have strangers read your book and have it be successful, there is far more involved than the pleasure of writing.

Everywhere I go, I meet people that say, “You’re a published author? Omigod! I have a great idea for a novel but can’t get around to writing it!” (This is largely because everyone I come across gets a bookmark foisted on them.) My advice? Just write it. Don’t worry about what you’re going to do with it later. Get your story out of your head and into the computer.

They look at me dubiously. “But how am I going to get it published?” My answer? “If you don’t write it, it can never be published.”

The next step is to be a cruel and brutal monster against your own work. How many words is it? More than 90,000? It’s too long. When I first finished “Momnesia,” it was 130,000 words and rest assured, finding 40,000 words to cut was extremely painful, yet necessary. Along the way, I did my spelling and punctuation corrections, and formatting.

Moving on, it’s time to let someone else mess with your work. And I don’t mean your mother, sister, or husband—not even if they’re an editor. I mean an impartial professional who has no personal stake in your life. Who will tell you if something stinks and praise you if it sings. Who knows that Roller Blades is supposed to be capitalized, and is not afraid to tell you that almost ALL of your parentheses need to be removed. They will identify characters that need development, inconsistencies in the timeline, and redundancies that cause readers to glaze over. Pay them. It’s worth it.

Here is the point where I could easily launch into a series of additional articles: Whether to seek an agent or self-publish, unusual aspects to keep in mind for your book’s cover, the roles of additional professionals, the marketing you’ll have to do. How to make your book stand out as the professional, highly readable work that it is (as opposed to an unedited, too long thing that people may read once but will never recommend).

One of the most common questions people ask is, “How long did the process take?” “Momnesia” took me a year to write, a year to edit, and a year to launch. As of the writing of this article, its success is still to be measured (release date was 3/16/12 in paperback and Kindle). “Everything You Need to Know About House Training Puppies and Adult Dogs” took two years. It was published in 2005 and I still receive a decent royalty check every quarter.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips! I invite you to join me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LoriTheAuthor), and find additional resources on my website, (www.LoriTheAuthor.com). Happy authoring!

P.S: This article was 868 words. Too long! See? I had to edit it to a length that people will have time to read—all 526 words of it! (Um, perhaps still a teeny bit too long.)

March 29, 2012
7 Comments
Guest Post by MJ Rose
For Writers

Guest Post by MJ Rose

Researching The Book of Lost Fragrances was a labor of love. One of the most wonderful parts was working with a famous blogger, Dimi of The Sorcery of Scent. He helped me find out about fragrances that have been lost to us and what they smelled like.

I thought it would interesting for us to tell you about some of them.

Guerlain first focused on verveine (verbena) varieties to use in perfumes in the mid-late 1800’s. Eau de Verveine was released first in the 1870’s and made brief reappearances in the 1950s and the 1980s before being retired from Guerlain’s perfume portfolio. Eau de Verveine is the scent of high summer… sharp, uplifting notes of citrus-green lemon verbena flood the mouth with saliva with their crisp, energising aroma. Below is a prickle of something darker – perhaps carnation or clove – which adds incredible depth. There is a dry, tea-like quality that emerges as the scent dries on the skin. This impossibly rare scent evokes feelings of long days at the summer’s end with the chirrup of cicadas ringing in the ears.

The most coveted and rare perfume from the Guerlain portfolio, Djedi was launched in 1926, right on the heels of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Presented in a flacon resembling a golden sarcophagus with its lid being raised, Djedi is an exploration into decomposition and decay. Gloomy and desolate, Djedi has a dry, arid quality like the shifting desert sands… a “closed over the ages” feel furnished by dry vetiver, oakmoss, musk, and leather. This olfactory requiem pays hommage to fallen ancient Egyptian dynasties that have been lost to the sands of time.

COQUE D’OR is an exceptionally beautiful leather chypre created in 1937 by Jacques Guerlain.Soft florals tumble over a buttery leather accord which evoke thoughts of paper-thin hand-made gloves of extraordinary quality. Built over a classic Guerlain chypre base of sandalwood, amber and oakmoss… this perfume is pre-WWII finery at its best. A scent to be worn with cashmere, pearls and soft furs, but sadly one that has been out of production for the last 60 years.

March 26, 2012
Leave a comment
Guest Post by Kathleen Long
For Writers

Guest Post by Kathleen Long

Thank you, Samantha, for inviting me to visit Chick Lit Plus today! I’m thrilled to be here.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what I’d like to say, and then I remembered a blog I wrote four years ago in which I said writing is about doing the legwork. Well, four years later, writing is still about doing the legwork, even though much has changed for me during that time.
I took a break from deadlines and promotion to watch my two-year-old grow into a beautiful, funny, and smart six-year-old. I shopped two new series proposals, neither of which sold. After thirteen contracted books, the rejections were tough to swallow, but did they stop me? No.
Writing is about doing the legwork, but it’s also about shifting tactics when you hit a wall. Writing is about coming up with Plan B when Plan A doesn’t work out. It’s about brainstorming Plan C when Plan B falls apart.
Writing is about never saying, “I quit.”
Writing is about believing your dream is worth chasing. It’s about dusting yourself off and trying again each time you face an obstacle in the road. Writing is about reading how-to books, favorite authors, and market news. Writing is about learning pacing, plotting, and story techniques. Writing is about writing—first drafts, second drafts, third drafts, and more. It’s about starting over time after time simply because you refuse to quit, and because the need to write is part of who you are.
Writing is about setting the alarm to wake up two hours before your family to steal time in front of your computer. It’s about staying up far too late—or early—because the story in your head won’t take no for an answer.
Writing is about setting free the words and characters and places in your mind that form so clearly and purely you couldn’t ignore them even if you wanted to. Writing is about creating worlds into which readers might escape for an hour or two or three.
Writing is about accepting that those same worlds won’t appeal to all readers. Some readers will love the story worlds you create. Some readers won’t.
Writing is about believing in your work enough to take the good with the bad. Writing is about moving forward.
What did I do after taking a career break and facing back-to-back rejections? I pulled out the book of my heart—a manuscript my agent liked but didn’t love—and dusted off the story. I watched friends and acquaintances dip their toes into the self-publishing pool, and I thought, “why not?”
I studied the market. I designed a cover. I networked. I planned. I edited and polished. I had my book professionally formatted. Then, when the book was ready, I published.
For me, self-publishing has been a career changer—utterly and completely. CHASING RAINBOWS became a Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY bestseller. I’m about to sign a new two-book women’s fiction contract, even as I make plans to self-publish a new suspense trilogy.
Did I get lucky? Heck, yes!! The self-publishing and e-reader revolution could not have come at a better time for me as an author, but what if I’d stopped after those rejections? What if I hadn’t believed in my story enough to show it to the world?
My parting thought for you all today? No matter whether your goal is New York or Indie publishing…or both, do the legwork.
Believe in yourself. Keep writing.
And never, never quit.

March 1, 2012
1 Comment
Guest Post by RaeAnne Thayne
For Writers

Guest Post by RaeAnne Thayne

Punch up the Emotion! By RaeAnne Thayne Writing a book about an emotional topic without your prose becoming maudlin or overblown can definitely be a challenge – but if you’re able to pull it off, your readers will definitely connect to your characters and your story.
I just finished my 40th book and in the course of my career, I have written about many emotional issues – infertility, the loss of a child, the loss of a spouse. My current release, WOODROSE MOUNTAIN, focuses on a girl who was severely injured in a car accident a few months before the book opens. It’s about healing and hope, about leaning on others and also about some of the difficulties faced by both the victims of TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) and those who love them.
In this book – and all my others – I try to depict my characters facing their adversities with humor and grace, never losing sight of the emotional connection I want my readers to find with my characters. Here’s a quick checklist that might help improve the emotional punch in your writing:
WOW CHARACTERS: Are my characters compelling, vivid, larger-than-life people that my readers can easily relate to? Even if they’re aliens or shapeshifters or demons, do they possess emotional depth that resonates with my readers?
TRUE CONFLICT: Have I created a conflict between my H/H that cannot be resolved without flaying them open, digging deeply into their psyche and exploring their innermost fears and insecurities?
PROPER PACING: Have I paid careful attention to proper pacing, interspersing moments of raw emotion with levity or sweetness or quiet reflection?
DIALOGUE: Have I used dialogue appropriately to best convey my characters’ moods and emotions? Not just what they say but how they say it: Terse, hard words during moments of anger; softer, rounder sentences in times of reflection or quiet sharing?
POINT OF VIEW: Is the point-of-view character I’ve chosen in a given scene the appropriate one to best intensify the emotional arc?
SETTING: Have I truly utilized setting as effectively as possible to enhance the emotions my characters are experiencing? Weather, time of day, physical location: All can be used to reflect the emotional mood.
THE WRITING! Have I “layered in lusciousness” as the fabulous Barbara Samuel so eloquently puts it, by using all sensory tools at my disposal to accentuate my characters’ emotions through texture and scent and color?
LIVE THE EMOTION: Finally, have I been willing to dig as deeply as I can – in my characters’ psyches and in my own – to explore the wide range of feelings inside us all? If I tend to shy away from intense emotions in my life, am I willing to overcome that instinctive self-protective mechanism in order to allow my characters to experience reactions that might personally frighten me?
If you look at your own favorite books, I’m sure you’ll find the selections on your keeper shelf are those books where the emotional intensity of the characters really resonated with you, no matter what the genre.
What tips do you have for heightening the emotional connection your readers can make with your characters?

February 28, 2012
2 Comments