The Year in Review

It's always nice to look back at what I've accomplished over the year, much more heartening than resolutions that won't be/weren't kept. It's a "look what I've done!" instead of a "look what I didn't get to."

In 2015, I published two new novels. GATHERING MIST and RISING MIST to complete the trilogy, and put together a bundle of all three of the Mist books (in one handy-dandy package). I completed the first draft of the next book (another in the Northwest Suburbs series featuring Matt, the paramedic), so I have the first one for 2016 in the wings.

I met my Goodreads reading goal, in fact I DOUBLED it. A good mix of "new to me" authors, authors I know and love and reads by fellow authors I'm getting to know. I left reviews for most of those books (all authors need love!).

I caught up with old friends, renewed old acquaintances, am spending regularly scheduled time with my aging parents.

Tried new recipes to add to the dinner menu instead of the same old thing every week (even though DH LIKES the same old things).

Saw another part of the world. Seattle, Mount Ranier, Juneau, Alaska, Western Canada.

I'd like to count off my accomplishments at the day job, but those are often counterbalanced with bureaucratic red tape or "enhancements" that actually made the job more difficult. It has been a year of change there, but the positive spin is that we've survived yet another reorg, and while there are things to fix, I can be proud of my contributions.

2016 promises to be filled with more challenges, and isn't that what makes life interesting?

So here's to you and wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Aspiring Authors - Part 3, The Final Product

3) how do you get the final product (meaning the final version of the completed book)

You want to deliver the best quality product you can. Readers have very little patience for reading books filled with mistakes. Quick story. I met a woman and we really hit it off. Then I read her book. She gave credit to an editor, but there were so many mistakes in it, things like "enuff" or "ruff" (has she never encountered -ough words?). The story was good, but the editing was horrendous. I'm inclined to think her editor was a friend... I am a copyeditor by day. That means I have wicked grammar skills, but I have learned that editing my own work is nearly impossible. 

I have an excellent critique group, and they serve as my first editors, catching style and usage. By the time I think I'm done, I read it through for mistakes, and then I have a checklist of overused words and phrases that I cull out. I use a professional editor who doesn't want to see it until I've done my checklist. When I think it's perfect, I send it through to my editor, who looks it over for flow, logic, and how well it adheres to market rules (and yes, rules can sometimes be broken). She also points out anything I missed along the way. My crit group often find the same things my editor does, but I rely on my editor to be my pro. She's my definitive answer when I disagree with comments my crit partners might have made. 

That final product... I generally have read mine - ad nauseum - upwords of ten times. The good news is that if I still like the story after ten times, its worth sticking with it (I have a couple of duds that didn't make the cut). I read it as I write the first draft. I go back and fill in the missing details, reading it as I go along those subsequent drafts. When I feel I have a finished product, I read through it for flow. Does it follow logically? Then I start the culling process. Get rid of the crutch words, the overused phrases, the unnecessary details that slow down the pace. Then I read it for mistakes (and somehow I ALWAYS find mistakes, no matter what stage I'm at). Then I read it out loud, to make sure it sounds as good as it reads (that's usually the final read). - You get the picture.

Next week - Copyrighting 

With that, I with you all a Happy New Year!

Aspiring Authors - Part 2 - Cover Art

The second question I received from an aspiring author:

2) who to go to to design the cover art

This is dependent on your genre, but there are lots of cover artists out there if you're willing to spend some money for a quality cover. If you have some decent creative ability, you can design your own using a good photo design program (PhotoShop or PaintShopPro or something like that). You can buy stock art from places like Dreamstime or Shutterstock (and there are others) and add your own fonts and cover copy, etc. I've used Adobe Indesign (if you plan to put it out in paperback) to design some of my covers, but the last several books I put out were done by The Killion Group, which specializes in romance novels. A mystery author friend of mine uses Dave Fymbo and there are forums, like the one at Goodreads, as well, where you can find cover artists.

Cover artists will charge you anywhere from $50 to $200 (and some go much higher) depending on if you only want a thumbnail for an e-book or an e-book and print cover, etc.

Keys are to make sure it is readable at thumbprint size - You want people to see/recognize your name and be able to read the title, and you want it to look professional and provocative, something that makes a reader want to pick up the book, and that speaks to the genre represented. Covers distributed by the major publishers are more genre-driven than they are story-driven. They want the first impression to speak to what type of story lies inside rather than a true representation of the characters (although in my mind, its nice when you can match both).

Go to your favorite book seller and research the covers in your genre. See what they look like so you have a good idea of what the market is showing today and how you can adapt your cover to fit in (while standing out!).

As mentioned last week, I've taken what I've learned at conferences and inside the industry, but authors tend to fly by the seat of our pants. There are rules to follow, and guidance on genres and what works and what doesn't, but at the end of the day, you need to appeal to an audience.

Next week's question - how to get to the final product.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas! And if you want to know the background of my Christmas story, MIST ON THE MEADOW, I'm guest blogging over at Long and Short Reviews Winter Blogfest. Stop by for a chance to win! 



(oh, and I designed this cover, with a photograph from a friend!)

Aspiring Authors, Part 1 - Promo

I had a unique experience this summer - a grade school reunion! I went to a small grade school, our graduating class was probably less than 20, and a core group of us went through all eight grades together. Recently, one of my classmate's son's approached me about a project he's working on, asking me for advice.

If you know anything about authors, it's that we are flying by the seat of our pants. There are rules to follow, and guidance on genres and what works and what doesn't, but at the end of the day, you need to appeal to an audience. Take 50 Shades. I haven't read the book, but I've heard some terrible things about the writing, about the "fast and loose with the facts." But it reached an audience. Jane Eyre, a classic book which I love, isn't exactly the best written book, but the deep point of view grabs you, nonetheless.

I thought I'd share some of the answers I gave to the questions he asked.

1) best ways to advertise/make your book well known and how to sell it

Okay, let me start with know your market. Make sure you know the "rules" for that genre. Some genres provide more leeway than others in different areas. For instance, you may be familiar with the term "Info Dumping." When you write sci-fi, you are building a world, so you necessarily have to include more detail, more info. Dumping is still frowned upon, but the amount of information is necessary. In other genres, there are "As You Know Bob" details (most people are familiar, you don't need to spell it out). Bottom line, make sure the writing is strong and focused on the requirements for your market/genre.

Marketing is a challenge, especially right now. I'm hearing from all my indie author friends that sales are down across the board. With that being said, here are some of the things that have worked for me. There are book newsletters who will promote you, some of them fairly inexpensively and others for a bit more money. Fussy Librarian is a good one, and BargainBooksy/FreeBooksy. Bookbub is a bigger player in the field, but also costs quite a bit more to run with, and there are pre-requisites. A certain number of good reviews. In addition to the newsletters, pop around to "real world" places that might be relevant to your story. An example would be if your book featured a bed and breakfast. Organize an event at a bed and breakfast, or ask them to sell your books on consignment. It never hurts to contact your local bookstores, too. They like to help authors, although B&N is a little harder to get into these days. They often do local author nights, but the ones in my area are store by store (i.e., corporate B&N doesn't support the expense so much anymore). Blog tours are big, or Facebook parties. Find Facebook groups or book blogs. There are bunches of them that do group events and it's only a matter of signing up. The tricky part is to find readers, not just a bunch of authors pitching to each other (although authors are also readers). Lots of authors do blog tours. I recommend the tours. 

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

A moment to brag - I took time off from the day job last week and actually made it through a workable first draft of the new book. Lots of holes to fill, details to add, chapters to finish, but thinking of it as a details outline, I'm pretty pleased with myself! Need a title, however. Calling it Matt's Book will only go so far. Matt the cheating paramedic (he had his reasons, and he didn't make excuses for his bad behavior) and Elizabeth, a woman touched by more than a little of trauma of her own. Cameos by Audrey, Sue, Cinda and Mary Ellen.

Which means now I have time to relax and enjoy the holidays just a little bit more, not driven by daily word counts and trying to balance work at the day job with work on the writing front, although both are still front and center.

So I'm going to make cookies! It's part of the holidays. It's part of what centers me and I don't allow myself the luxury very often anymore. Feel free to stop over at my Cookies link (top of the page) to see some of the recipes I love, some of the recipes that look yummy enough to try. And feel free to share your recipes with me! Always love new ideas.

And if you have any great ideas for a title for this book that I'm cleaning up, please share those, too. Trouble or Klutz don't seem like the best ideas, but maybe I can work with those as key words while I'm entertaining ideas.

Cookie of the day:  I'm going to make Chocolate Cherry Shortbread cookies. I made them last year for the first time and discovered DH loves shortbread. My ice cream loving husband actually has a favorite type of cookie! (and they're pretty darn good!)

Inspiring Architecture

So while I've been doing the legwork for the new work in progress, I was chatting with an indie bookstore owner who mentioned a local castle to me.

Wait.

What?

Turns out I live less than three miles from a castle and I never knew it! Nestled in along the river, next to the bike path, there's an honest-to-goodness castle with a drawbridge and a moat ... And why am I surprised? Granted it isn't inhabited, but it's right there!

Two towns over there is another castle, this one on a well-traveled road and inhabited. (I knew about that one...)

The city I live in is rich with architecture. So many different styles are represented, from bungalows, to Victorians, to Edwardians, to stone cottages. You name it, we got it. I love driving down the side streets looking at other people's homes. One of the houses down the street looks right out of a fairy tale, and they've landscaped and decorated it that way.

Once upon a time, while driving to the day job, I drove past a house surrounded by an iron fence, set off the road, looking very mysterious and potentially haunted. I'd hoped to photograph that place, knowing it would show up in one of my stories. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't make it in time. That house has been replaced by a strip mall. What a shame. So I had to improvise with "this" picture when I finally wrote "Harper Manor." It isn't what I'd pictured, but it works.

The city does a historic house tour every Labor Day, and I've had the privilege to tour some of the grander abodes about town.

There are mansions and manor homes all throughout my city, most of them on main thoroughfares. Since Labor Day has come and gone this year, DH and I went out on Sunday, creeping down the side streets well below the speed limit admiring the interesting houses. Don't worry, he pulled over to the side when cars got close enough to follow us. My favorites are still the stone cottages by the river - I wrote one of those into HEART FOR RENT, with an Option.

Back when houses were being built everywhere, DH and I used to tour them - not so much to buy as to see some of the new ideas in home layouts and decorating. All of these things help when I write my sense of "place."

I'm always moved by a unique setting, interesting architecture or where a place is situated. Something tells me that castle in the neighborhood may show up in a story somewhere down the road. The legends that go with it are very interesting...