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
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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.
Kim Kardashian to File for Divorce
Who saw this one coming? Oh, right––the majority of America! After Kim Kardashian received her 20.5 carat ring from NBA player Kris Humphries, the reality star and fiancée embarked on their engagement journey––all filmed courtesy of the E! network. When preparations for the wedding began, one could easily tell this couple was just not meant to be. The constant fights, Kim’s prissy attitude compared to the laid-back one Kris showed, the family’s angst against their new addition––who really thought this was going to last? Even the days right before the wedding seemed to be a joke. What I wondered––was it for real, or just a show for the cameras? Now the bigger question––was the whole wedding a joke?
Just 72 days after saying “I do” in a lavish ceremony in Montecito, California in front of 440 guests, Kim Kardashian is filing for divorce. Ryan Seacrest tweeted early today, “Yes @kimkardashian is filing for divorce this morning. I touched base with her, getting a statement in just a few minutes.” TMZ is reporting that Kardashian, 31, will not seek an annulment and plans to cite “irreconcilable differences in her filing.”
If you can’t tell, I’m just grossed out by this whole thing. The preparations that went into it, the time, effort, and money that went into making “Kim’s Fairytale Wedding” are all for a naught. Some “sources” are claiming that Kardashian knew before the wedding that she had made a mistake, but got “caught up” in the wedding planning and the fairytale aspect. How selfish. Usually, I am not this opinionated over celebrities, but this just really rubbed me the wrong way. And for how many viewers and followers Kim and the whole Kardashian family has––how does that look? To me, the message is no matter how much is costs or who it will affect, make sure you have your way. When it doesn’t work, marriage isn’t a big deal––just get a divorce! What a great role model. Then again, this is the same woman who to rose to fame off a sex tape.
How do you feel about the divorce? Did you see it coming? Do you care? Would love to get your thoughts!
Chosen by Denise Grover Swank
I am a big fan of chick lit (no, really!) but every once in awhile I like to dip into another genre. When Denise Grover Swank questioned me about CLP Blog Tours being a good fit for her second novel––the paranormal romance Chosen––I immediately jumped at the chance. Denise impressed me on a whole new level when I read her debut Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes for her first blog tour go-round. Not surprisingly, my other bloggers jumped at the chance to host her again––even those who don’t normally go for paranormal reads. So how did Denise do with Chosen?
Stellar! Another page-turner that had me biting my nails and desperately clicking the ‘next’ page on my Kindle. Emma Thompson and her five-year-old son Jake have been on the run from bad men for years. Though Emma isn’t positive what these men want with her son, she knows it has to do with Jake’s ability to see into the future. While on the run, Emma meets Will, who offers to help her escape. Little does Emma know that Will is actually on the job––he is a mercenary who has been given orders to capture Emma. Chosen is full of twists and turns and gasping and heart-breaking and blushing moments. The paranormal/fantasy aspect of Jake seeing in the future and the tattoos that mysteriously appear on Emma and Will are well written and flow with precision. I was on my seat almost the entire time reading this, and the cliff hanger ending will leave you wanting to yell at Denise to hurry up with book number two! Another five star review for a Denise Grover Swank novel, who clearly shows her writing skills and ability to work with multiple genres.
[Rating: 5]
