Guest post: Escaping the Comfort Zone by Velda Brotherton

Today’s guest blog post, on the topic of writing a genre you’re not used to, is brought to you by Velda Brotherton.

Escaping the Comfort Zone

Writing romances in the mid Nineties came about by accident. When a western won first place in a contest, an editor at Penguin informed me westerns with women protagonists weren’t being published. He wanted me to turn it into a romance and send it back. With a lot of coaching from other writers I did just that. As a result my historical romances found a niche and are still being published.

But what happens when we want to try something new? Is it possible to step out of that comfort zone where we’re being published? It may well be if what we like to read is eclectic. Should we do it? Those are questions each one of us can answer for ourselves.

A few years ago I stepped out of that comfort zone and finished a horror novel I’d worked on sort of in secret when I needed a break from romances. A fan of Stephen King and Dean Koontz, it never occurred to me I could be published in that genre. So what really happens when we try to break the mold? First, we have to ask ourselves a lot of questions, which are showing up here. I discovered that I had trouble leaving hot sex scenes out of my horror novel. But it was mine, after all, so if I wanted to include what I’d become fairly good at, why not?

When a small publisher agreed to take a look at it, my first fear was there would be too much sex in a non-romance novel. It turned out they liked it, but sadly they went broke before they could publish it. So back into its plastic storage box went the manuscript. And I wrote another western historical romance.

But then people kept asking me why I didn’t write what I knew, namely stories from the nine years I’d worked for a newspaper as a feature writer. Weekly newspapers require that each employee wear different hats, so I did everything from chase ambulances to hold a huge python in my lap to sit in on city planning meetings. Then there was the time I flew with a barnstormer who just happened to be America’s first real space man. Well, you get the idea. Never did cover a murder, though, but I got to thinking that a mystery series set amidst all the characters I’d met and the odd stories I’d covered, might be of interest to readers.

So began A Twist of Poe mysteries. And guess what? Up reared that hot sex scene or two or three or more. It wasn’t long before my new publisher branded me. Sexy, Dark, and Gritty. It fit every genre I write in. The second book in that series, The Tell-Tale Stone, was published last month, and, oh yes, the horror novel, A Savage Grace, will be out from the same publisher in October in time for Halloween.

Advertisements

Guest post: Amy’s top ten steps to bagging that all important book deal! by Amy Lynch

Today’s guest blog post is brought to you by Amy Lynch.

Amy’s top ten steps to bagging that all important book deal!

1. Write about what you know. It’s a cliché, but it is true. I know nothing about space exploration. Ditto the history of Japan. I do, however, know about relationships, babies and weddings. Hence, my stories often revolve around these things. This is comfortable territory for me, and it doesn’t feel forced.
2. Persistence pays off! Rejection is all part of the author experience, but if you really believe in yourself, and truly want to be published, don’t stop until you get a yes!
3. Use criticism to improve. This is easier said than done, and something I struggled with and had to learn to master. In order to get published, you may have to improve your manuscript. Hiring an editor may be necessary, as it is hard to see the flaws in your own work. Read a lot, especially in the genre in which you write yourself, as you will subconsciously pick up tips.
4. Learn how to write a sharp pitch letter, concise book summary and author bio. Research publishers and agents and personalise / tailor each letter. 99% of manuscripts end up in “the slush pile.”
5. Make sure the first chapter or prologue is demonstrating your best writing skills. For me, the first chapter was not my strongest, so I moved another chapter forward, which made the start more exciting. The reader must be hooked straight away. I am fickle when reading other books – if I don’t like it straight away I will not finish it! Try and introduce a dilemma early on to peak interest.
6. Write every single day – even if it’s only a half hour before bed. Too busy working? Well, if you really want something, make time for it! Flex that writing muscle as often as you can, and it will come naturally. Stephen King recommends writing 1,000 words a day. This might seem like hard work if, like myself, you are juggling a day job and children, but if you enjoy writing it doesn’t feel like a chore.
7. Write short stories for magazines. Seeing your name in print will be addictive, add to your repertoire, keep you busy, and boost your confidence.
8. Think about a successful author in your genre – find out about their path to success and try to follow it. Contact him / her and ask for guidance. Pitch the publisher or agent that represents them, saying that you are similar.
9. Get a literary agent. This will hugely increase your chances of attracting a major publisher, as some do not accept unsolicited manuscripts! It will also help to have an agent at the negotiating stage!
10. If you still have no luck, but want to show off what you can do, commission an amazing book cover, self-publish on Amazon, create some hype and get good reviews! This could impress a major publisher and land you a major book deal. While you’re waiting for your big break, keep writing. Once you get a book deal, it will be a good idea to have a back catalogue of other books, so that you can keep them coming!

*

Thank you, Amy. That was great. My favourite is no.2. If you want to be a writer you will never give up.

Amy Lynch is an Irish author of humorous romantic women’s fiction, but not always with fairy tale endings! She has been working in the charity sector for many years, is married and has two young children. When she is not writing, she can be found juggling school runs, packing lunch boxes, tackling the laundry mountain and walking two large rescue dogs who stare at her until she walks them. Talk about multi-tasking!

• Her debut novel ‘Bride Without a Groom’ is a laugh out loud Bridezilla comedy, and
  will be published by Avon, Harper Collins in May 2015. Amy has published articles in Women’s Way, TV Choice Magazine, Sunday Times, and The Irish Examiner’ Ahe is represented by literary agent, Frank Fahy. You can find Amy and her book at:
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bride-without-Groom-Amy-Lynch-ebook/dp/B00V2VXACG
• Amylynchauthor.com
• facebook.com/AmyLynchauthor
• Twitter @Amylynchauthor

*

ABOUT THE BOOK

Author Spotlight no.381 – thriller / suspense novelist David McGowan

Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the three hundred and eighty-first, is of thriller / suspense novelist and interviewee David McGowan. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at author-spotlights.

David McGowan is from Liverpool in the United Kingdom. He gained a degree in English Language & Literature from The University of Liverpool.

He is a prolific reader, with Stephen King and Dean Koontz being two of his favourite authors. He lists Desperation as his favourite King novel, calling it the inspiration behind The Hunter Inside.  His favourite Koontz novel is False Memory. His all-time favourite novel is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

He began his debut novel during a bout of insomnia, declaring at the head of the manuscript,

“This is my attempt at writing a short story. God knows how far I will get.”

Fast forward a couple of years, and that short story became The Hunter Inside, a 100,000 word psychological suspense thriller that occupied the number 1 spot in the Amazon suspense charts, and has been downloaded onto more than 21,000 Kindles.

David’s current project is a science fiction trilogy called From The Sky.  The titles of the individual 80,000 word novels are ‘ARRIVAL’, ‘JOURNEY’ and ‘NEVADA’. It is the story of a small town in northern California called Camberway, what happens to the people who live there when giant UFOs suddenly appear in the skies above, and how the survivors band together to journey towards a final revelation that will shock his fans around the world.

David writes fiction with a twist – page-turners that keep readers up past their bedtime and have the power to chill, inspire, frighten and amaze in equal measure.

In the works is David’s fifth novel. It is a ghostly full-length offering with the working title of Addersley Hall. It is scheduled for release in early 2016.

A self-published author, David handles every aspect of his work, from writing to cover design to publishing and marketing. He is the author of many articles that aim to help other authors and bloggers reach their potential and find their niche.

When asked what he thought was more important – money or fame – he answered,

“Neither. What’s important is following your dreams and being happy. If you do those two things then you don’t need money or fame, and if you are true to yourself and give one hundred percent to everything you do, then you will be able to measure your success in satisfaction and happiness.”

David loves to connect directly with his fans and friends around the world, and responds directly to messages and questions on his Facebook author page and on Twitter.

“Writing is a pretty solitary enterprise at times, but as a self-published author I get to meet my readers and interact with them much more than traditional authors who have all of their publicity handled by their publishers. I’m often surprised by reader’s opinions of some of my characters, but I sometimes secretly love the villains and get annoyed by the good guys too! Hearing what people think of the worlds and characters that are constructed inside the narrow confines of my mind is uplifting for me as an author and as a person, because all I ever truly want to do is reach people with my work, and introduce them to these characters that to me are all too real. I want people who read my stories to remember the people in them long after they have finished and stepped out of the world of fiction.”

David lives alone with his books, his often blank manuscript files and his vices. He has promised himself that someday he will get a cat, as someone once told him that no home is complete without books and cats.

Until that day comes, he is relying on you to step into his world and meet the people he knows so well.

“Perhaps they can be your imaginary friends like they are mine,” he says with a wry smile. “That’s when I’m not killing them, of course.”

*

And now from the author himself:

Author Spotlight no.371 – author and talk show radio host Francine Silverman

Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the three hundred and seventy-first, is of author and talk show radio host Francine Silverman. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at author-spotlights.

Francine Silverman is a New York City girl, born and bred. As a child she loved writing letters and “poems” to friends and kept a diary. Ironically, her first published piece was at age 12 or 13 in the New York Post to columnist Dr. Rose Franzblau, complaining about her father’s failings. Fran never had any parental support on her writing and only discovered she had talent when a teacher at Bronx Community College gave her an A on a piece she penned.

Her first published article was in a judo publication. She and her husband belonged to a YMCA gym that had a track above the gym and they would watch the judo class below (their nephew was in the class). She got the idea to write about the beloved judo instructor while jogging around the perimeter. She recalls calling a writer she knew – the father of her daughter’s friend at school – and asking his take on the piece. He said it was full of clichés. It was but she was devastated!!

Fran honed her writing skills as a newspaper reporter. While married and raising a child, she worked at a local weekly newspaper as a sales person. She never liked it and one day interviewed a local doctor. She wrote the article and nervously asked the editor if she would publish it. Voila, she did, and from then on contributed articles. She remembers when she left the weekly, the staff said goodbye without fanfare. They were used to reporters and photographers leaving for greener pastures. She went on to freelance for a daily newspaper, doing feature articles. She was eventually hired by the daily and part of her responsibility was to go out and interview the man on the street about local issues – and take their pictures. Writing for newspapers was a wonderful experience and she recommends it to aspiring writers. Of course, there are less newspapers today but the Internet has many opportunities for writers.

During the time at the weekly and afterwards, she took myriad writing courses. A funny thing happened at one of them. She told the instructor where she would be working and he pooh-poohed the weekly. He must have assumed it was a rag. (Its editor later won a Pulitzer Prize!) A few months later, the instructor contacted her to ask if they would publish an article of his. Wonders never cease!

The second half of Fran’s life began with her ezine, Book Promotion Newsletter, launched in March 2003. She had written two guidebooks, Catskills Alive (Hunter Publishing 2000 and 2003) and Long Island Alive (Hunter Publishing 2003), but didn’t know how to market them or know any authors with whom to seek guidance. The ezine began with 10 authors and grew into the thousands. Recognizing the ingenuity of her subscribers through the questionnaires she sent them and their newsletter contributions, Fran took 325 of their best marketing strategies and put them into a book, Book Marketing from A-Z (Infinity Publishing 2003).

A reviewer at www.bvsreviews.com wrote: “In this book, more than 300 authors give the reader some insight on the who, what, where and when and how of marketing a book…There are a few known entities here, but for the most part, the authors in this book don’t have the recognition of someone like Stephen King, John Grisham… But that doesn’t mean their advice isn’t worthy. On the contrary, these folks get to the core of how to get your book out there, published and recognized.”

Guest post: Book Signings by Feather Schwarz Foster

Today’s guest blog post is brought to you by non-fiction historical author and interviewee Feather Schwarz Foster.

Some personal thoughts on Books signings: Yes? No? Hmmm?

There is a lot of discussion out there about whether in-store book signings are of any value to the author – or to the bookstore itself for that matter.

As far as a book store is concerned (particularly in these flux-ish days of e-books and online availability and everybody and his brother writing stuff, good or bad), as long as purchasing sufficient quantities is not a bookkeeping nightmare, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose.  Other than the expense of purchasing your books with guaranteed returnability (a biggie!) and perhaps providing a quickly whipped up blurb on their website, and maybe a little on-table poster, there is virtually no expense to them.  Some books stores will offer you a cup of coffee.  Still, no big deal.

As far as the author goes, this can be a little hairy.  If you are a mega celebrity like Stephen King or Madonna, there is no problem.  Your publisher takes cares of all expenses and the books stores stand in line clamoring to play host, ditto the customers.  If you are like the other 99.99% of the author-world however, there are definitely some expenses.

Forget about your time, as in “time is money”.  Unless you still haven’t quit your day job, your time should be considered an investment.  If you need to provide your own books for sale, this is usually not much of an issue, since you probably have sufficient quantity in the closet.  Your car, on the other hand, can be very cranky.  It is one thing to travel ten or fifteen minutes down the road.  It is something else to drive fifty miles ONE WAY.  There’s gas, wear and tear, insurance, and maybe tolls involved.   There is no guarantee that anyone will buy a book.

Most authors do not mind too much if they don’t MAKE money.  They do mind, however, if they LOSE money.

Probably the key to the value of book signings is the author’s expectations.  One must be realistic.  Where is the venue located?  Little-Town is not New York.  How many people are interested in your subject?   How many books do you think you can reasonably sell?   How much money can you expect to make per book?  Your books cost you money to purchase.  The store wants to make a little something.  The reader wants a good value.

But what will happen if you do nothing?  Nothing.  If you do nothing, nothing will happen for sure.

Author interview with contemporary, YA, and paranormal romance writer Christine Ashworth

Complementing the full interviews on this blog, which will be dropping to weekend mornings from March, another new interview on my interview-only blog has been posted! The (630+) interviews from this blog are there already so there’s plenty to read.

The latest interview on the new blog is with contemporary, YA, and paranormal romance author Christine Ashworth and can be read in full at http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/author-interview-with-contemporary-ya-and-paranormal-romance-writer-christine-ashworth.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:

Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

• http://nonfictionwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/335526669896374

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group

• http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189

Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group

• http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934

Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group

• http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017

Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group

• http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Author interview no.580 with Benedictine Oblate monk and non-fiction writer James Bishop

Welcome to the five hundred and eightieth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with non-fiction author James Bishop. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, James. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

James: Hello Morgen. My name is James Bishop. I grew up in southern California and now live in northern California. I’m a bit of a “nerd” and a great lover of mathematics and computers. I also have synaesthesia, and write about it occasionally.

Morgen: I grew up with an older brother so I had no chance of escape nerdiness or techieness – I’m grateful for the latter. 🙂 You write non-fiction, how do you decide what to write about?

James: I’ve written two non-fiction works, both completely different. The first, A Way in the Wilderness, is a commentary on the Rule of Benedict, and I wrote that on the insistence of a friend. My second non-fiction book, Rocket Man, is my autobiography, and my decision to write that was mostly based on personal catharsis. I needed to get it all out in the open, so to speak.

Morgen: I keep saying to my mum that she should write hers (amongst other things she was a groom for racing driver Stirling Moss’ sister and photographed several of our royals at show-jumping events). You’ve self-published, what lead to you going your own way?

James: I was very fortunate with Wilderness. It was picked up by the first publisher to whom it was offered, and I was delighted. When I finished Rocket Man, the publisher said it was not their genre, so I looked into self-publishing as an option and liked it very much. It just seemed easier at the time.

Morgen: I’ve seven eBooks and it’s really not that scary once you know how, or done one – I have a ‘how to guide’ on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/ebooks/how-to-create-an-ebook. Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?