On Tour: Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole
Kathleen in on tour with Dollars to Donuts from November 7-28. Take one newspaper columnist; move her from the anonymity of her home city to…
Guest Post by Samantha March: Writing Goals
When I first decided to really buckle down and write a book, I didn’t have any idea what that would entail. I thought I would write a few chapters a day, clean it up/edit a bit, and boom! Published. That’s not really how it worked out for me. About three years ago, I started to get the itch to write. I had told myself that if I went to a “real” college, got a fancy degree, and still wanted to write, I would follow that path. But even before I slipped on my cap and gown and moved the tassel from the left to the right (or is it the right to the left) I had already begun to outline my plot and develop characters. I just couldn’t wait.
My ambition to write a few chapters a day quickly met the real world. Going to school, working three jobs (at a gym, hotel, and hospital) did not add up to chapters being written. I was lucky if I got in two hundred words a day. Some days, I was too exhausted to even look at a computer screen. And did I mention I didn’t own a computer as this time––I was using the computer lab at my school to get my writing done, and saving my work to flash drives. So that only added to the challenge. A year went by––a whole 365 days––and my book was just over halfway written. Something needed to change.
It took me some time, but I was able to figure out little plans and deadlines to help keep me on track. I realized that I write effectively in the morning as opposed to the afternoon or night (shocking, since I hate mornings). So I carved out pieces of time each morning to write. I didn’t give myself an impossible goal, I just told myself to write from 6:30-8:00 each morning. Nothing spectacular, nothing huge. But with that little goal, I found myself writing each morning, cracking my knuckles first thing and excited to dive back in. This plan has been working for me ever since. Sometimes, I add some new goals in here and there. Finish chapter 9 by Friday. Introduce Emily’s character by Wednesday. Finish all revisions by December 7. This bigger goals help keep me on track and help me maintain a look at the bigger picture. I’ll give an example of some deadlines I have imposed on myself for book number two:
November:
Monday-Friday: write 7:30-10:30
Introduce Henry/Kevin conflict by November 3
Figure out Carmen’s big secret by November 7
Finish Chapter 15 by November 15
*If you’re wondering what “figure out Carmen’s big secret” means, it literally means figure out what Carmen, one of my supporting characters, is hiding. I still haven’t figured this out. I hope she tells me soon.*
You may also be wondering why I only write three hours a day. It’s all I can do. Really. I work full-time, I run ChickLitPlus, CLP Blog Tours, freelance editing services, and have two more websites/businesses underway for launches next year. Oh, yes––and I also just published Destined to Fail and am feverishly trying to do my own marketing. Then I have a life on top of that. Sometimes. So, three hours is the best I can do. But, when you really put your mind to something and work hard, it doesn’t seem that bad. It isn’t unusual for me to write 3,000 words a day, which I think is great. I am hoping to have book #2 out by late spring of next year. Now that I have been through the process and know what works for me, the second time around has already been much easier.
My advice is to create your own goals. Keep in mind that you might have to tweak them along the way. Maybe you realize you write better at night. Switch it. Maybe you realize you work better by giving yourself word count goals. Shoot for what is feasible to you. Don’t make your goals based on someone else’s. We all lead different lives, have different jobs and families and responsibilities, so none of our goals and deadlines should look the same. But keep yourself motivated, and keep writing!
Blog Tour Sign Up: Mad About the Boy by Suzan …
Suzan will be on tour in January/February with her romance novel Mad About the Boy. This will be an eBook only tour. Please use the…
Guest Post by Bethany Ramos
3 Ways to Increase Your Odds of Getting Published
Every aspiring writer is dying to get published. But not every writer will be published. So what separates a published writer from a non-published writer?
The good news is that getting published can be simple if your work is polished, ready to submit, and what agents or publishers are looking for.
The world of publishing can seem daunting and overwhelming at first. But if you check out the following tips, it may shed some light on what it takes to get published successfully. At the very least, you can prevent wasted time from barking up the wrong tree, not to mention the heartache caused by rejection after rejection after rejection. We’ve all been there…
1. Don’t give up! This one may seem like a no-brainer, but you have to try and try again. And try again. And try again if you want any chance of getting published. When I sent out both of my manuscripts for my chick lit book and my children’s book, I literally e-mailed more than five hundred agents and publishing houses each.
That is over one thousand e-mails in total! You need to be seriously committed to sending out your work for representation. And as it always is in life, just when you start to give up hope, you’ll probably hear back from agent or publishing house with some good news. Don’t give up just yet.
2. Personalize your query letter. Of course, I didn’t write a thousand individual query letters because that just doesn’t make sense. I had a basic query letter that I sent out to agents and publishing houses, but I also did a little bit of homework on agent blogs and websites to see what work they represented.
At the beginning of your query letter, it is best to identify with an agent by mentioning the work that they represent or that you are a fan of one of their authors. I also made sure to personally connect with agents in Colorado since my chick lit book is set in Denver. Do whatever it takes to stand out.
3. Think outside of the box. Both publishing houses that I have worked with so far are small publishers that work one-on-one with writers. This was an excellent way for me to break into the industry.
I did e-mail hundreds of agents and publishing houses and received numerous rejections. I finally broke down and started searching deep in the recesses of Google to find publishing houses that published chick lit and children’s books. It was then and only then did I receive legitimate interest in my work from small publishers that were willing to walk me through the publishing process.
Bottom line? Getting that first publishing contract is one of the most rewarding moments of your life. But it doesn’t come instantly. Be prepared to receive rejection and keep forging ahead. Just at the moment when you think that your manuscript is totally worthless is probably when you will hear something positive back from a literary agent or publishing house!
Bethany Ramos is the author of the chick lit novel 5 Stages of Grief and is under contract to publish her children’s book Lions Can’t Eat Spaghetti. She also reviews chick lit books on her blog ChickLit-Books.com.
Challenge:Post Reviews:November
November Challenge Reviews January Reviews February Reviews March Reviews April Reviews May Review June Reviews July Reviews August Reviews September Reviews October Reviews Please note…
A Life That Fits by Heather Wardell
When Andrea returns home from a business trip, she is sure her boyfriend of fourteen years, Alex, is about to propose. Imagine her surprise when instead of diamond ring she gets her heartbroken. Alex has found someone else, and promptly moves out of their shared home. Andrea is devastated, in shock, and can only think of ways to get Alex back. She doesn’t care that he cheated––she just wants her first love back.
A Life That Fits is another superb novel from Heather Wardell. I didn’t want to give too much away in the synopsis, so I cut myself off short. But let me tell you––there were more than a few times that I gasped while reading. I just love the plot twists that are in there! Wardell shows off her writing and character development skills yet again, especially with her heroine. It could have been easy to view Andrea as a weak, pathetic woman who will gladly take her cheating boyfriend back, but that’s wasn’t how I felt at all. I understood Andrea’s pain and confusion, and even her plan to reinvent herself to try to get Alex back. It didn’t surprise the minute I closed this book that I knew I would give it 5 stars. Keep them coming Heather!
[Rating: 5]
Blog Tour Sign Up: Princess of Park Avenue by Daniella …
Daniella Brodsky will be on tour in January with her chick lit novel Princess of Park Avenue. This will be an eBook tour only, open…
Interview with Anne McAneny
Q: Why is writing a passion for you?
It’s one of the few things I can do for 8 hours straight without reaching for M&M’s every 20 minutes.
Q: Where do you find inspiration for your stories and characters?
I read everything from cereal boxes to political editorials, from off-kilter magazines to other people’s personal notes (if I can catch a glimpse). It all gets churned through a warped WHAT IF gear in my head. No different than other people’s minds. It’s just that my wacky conclusions get written down.
Many ideas come to me while exercising. For example, thinking about how I would act as a hostage during a bank robbery led to wondering about who would make an ideal hostage, which led to pondering if a blind person would be a good hostage, which led to musing about a blind hostage who merely pretends to be blind… but who would do that? An actress, of course! And all of that resulted in a screenplay I wrote that’s been very well-received — and is available for any producers out there reading this… wink-wink.
Q: Can you describe your latest novel, Our Eyes Met Over Cantaloupe in twenty words or less?
No way! Wait, do those count? Fourteen left… What happens after someone places a cheesy personal ad… or refuses to?
Q: Besides writing books, you have also written screenplays. How does your writing process differ for these, or how is it the same?
Screenplays and novels both have to be well-constructed stories with heart and plot, but screenplays do it with far fewer words. In a screenplay, each description or set-up is limited to 4 lines or less so each word must be treated like gold.
Novels intimidated me at first because writing descriptive prose is like smashing my head against a cinder block: do it hard enough and long enough, and something worthwhile might fall onto the page – from either my head or the cinder block. You might notice my books are plot-driven with plenty of dialogue and relatively short scenes. That comes from having learned to write efficient, visual screenplays. And even though novels can stretch to 100,000 words or more, I try to value each word.
Q: What are your thoughts on the surge of eBooks? Do you own an eReader?
Ebooks are the iTunes of the publishing industry. They’re shaking it up and they’re here to stay so we might as well embrace them. Besides, what’s not to love? I used to lug around expensive, hard-cover books and now I can carry 50 e-books on my iTouch and even read them in the dark! It’s like the week I spent in the hospital at age five, all x-rays and needles. Guess what I remember about it? The TV remote. At home, we had a 12” black and white television with three channels and a manual dial. The remote control seemed light years ahead. I was living the high life! To me, e-book technology is the great game-changer. It’s that amazing, needle-filled week we all remember so fondly from childhood.
Ebooks also allowed me to find a real, live, reading audience for which I am grateful every minute of every day. My readers are even better than a remote!
Q: Who are a few authors that you would love to work with?
Helen Fielding, Nicholas Hornby, Jennifer Weiner, the late Erma Bombeck. And John Irving – but I wouldn’t speak to him – I’d just gape in awe.
Q: How important do you think social media is for authors?
I’m a bit of a social media Newbie but I think it’s going to play a huge role once everybody cracks the code. John Locke used Twitter and blogs to sell over a million e-books. Others have followed suit. We’re going to see rapid, mind-blowing changes as entire new industries blossom around e-books and social media. I love seeing the entrepreneurial spirit of individuals, i.e., Blog Tour Sites (go ChickLitPlus!), e-book cover design companies, e-book trailer producers, promotional websites, etc.
Q: What are you currently reading?
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon; THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak; and just finished BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett. All excellent.
Q: Where would be your dream vacation?
Belgium. Belgian chocolate and Belgian beer. ‘Nuff said.
Q: What is your advice to aspiring writers?
Know your story before you begin and write towards its wonderful conclusion. If you change your story midstream (which you probably will), go back and edit, edit, edit. And of course, read Anne McAneny’s books – not for any great writing lessons, but because it will help me get to Belgium. Thanks!
Jessica Simpson Confirms Pregnancy
Well, hallelujah. Jessica Simpson has finally confirmed that her large baby bump is indeed a baby bump. I was getting worried there. The singer and fashion designer, 31, tweeted a photo of herself on Monday wrapped up as a mummy––holding her baby bump a la Beyonce at the VMA’s. The caption? “It’s true – I’m going to be a mummy!” Haha. Oh, dear. This will be the first child for Simpson and fiancé Eric Johnson, a former NFL athlete. The couple were engaged in November.
