Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing

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Too Many Choices - A NYT Author Decides
By Susan Squires What a crazy, confusing and possibly wonderful world publishing is today. The traditional publishing world is under duress and their business model depends more and more on writers who are already selling a zillion books. While they may still be looking for the next big thing, just like in other mediums, the next big thing must hit quickly or it’s discarded. The continuing niche for a mid-list writer with respectable sales is disappearing. Many traditional publishers are getting into digital publishing to compete with the e-publishers who established themselves while New York wasn’t looking. And it has become really easy to publish yourself. The number of self-published titles is growing exponentially, but many of those books are not of professional quality. Readers are becoming wary of spending money on what I’ve heard one reader call “books only the author could love.” What all this means is a lot of choices for an author, which should be a good thing. But since when has having a lot of choices made things easier?  In the recent Romance Writers Report, there was an excellent piece by Marliss Melton on the pros and cons of self-publishing. Everyone writer should read it. But I thought I’d put a personal spin on those pros and cons, because just recently I had to make that choice. I was at an interesting time in my life. I was burned out on writing because I’d had both a hefty day job and deadlines from my publisher for almost twelve years. After seventeen novels, frankly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to write anymore. But I did have an idea I liked for a series (The Children of Merlin) so I sent it in to my lovely editor at St. Martin’s Press. I knew something had to change though. I did the numbers, and found that I could finally retire from the day job. Here’s where it gets tricky. St. Martin’s passed on my series. My agent thought he could sell it elsewhere, but I told him to hold sending it out. I had to find out whether I still wanted to write. It took a while, but the joy came back. I completed the first novel in the series, DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? I gave my agent the go ahead to try and sell the series. But the changes in publishing were becoming more evident. I had writer friend who was doing very well publishing herself, and loved the fact that she could choose her own covers, write her own copy and set her own deadlines. She was producing lots of quirky cozy mysteries that sold well. She encouraged me to strike out on my own. Choose your cover? Write your copy? I found that intimidating. (If you want to check her out, her name is Melanie Jackson and her newest series is Miss Henry Mysteries) As my proposal ran through the levels at some print houses, and digital first presses expressed immediate interest, I felt like a deer in the headlights. What did I want to do? The moment of clarity for me came when Angela James, editor at Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital division, spoke at the Orange County Romance Writers of America meeting. She did a great job answering the question, “Why you should write for Carina rather than self-publish?” Here’s my recollection of her checklist: 1) Write for Carina if you aren’t familiar with the editing and publishing process to gain experience. 2) You can get an advance at Carina and some digital presses like it (though not a large one.) 3) You have the backing of a big publisher. 4) Publishing your book in the various formats requires time and skill. I think that afternoon in January was the point where I truly considered publishing my series myself. 1) I had twelve years of experience publishing with NY and felt I knew the process pretty well. I could hire copy-editing, cover art, and even content editing if I wanted. 2) I was at the time of my life where advances weren’t as important. Would I make more money with a NY contract? Or a small press contract? Unclear. NY gives (usually) 10% royalties and 25% on e-books. Carina gave 40% royalties but didn’t do print. Self-publishing yields 70% royalties, though with very few exceptions you will sell far fewer books. I know authors who are doing financially very well publishing themselves, and authors who aren’t. However, if ever I was going to take the risk, it was when I was no longer dependent on advances. 3) Publishing houses have provided little support for authors for years, except if you happen to be Nora Roberts or Charlaine Harris. You are expected to promote your books, manage contests and websites, etc., for yourself. I had a healthy mailing list, of 37,000 names and was willing to take time to promote the book. 4) I had friends that said that publishing yourself wasn’t that hard. And if I couldn’t do it myself, I could hire it done very cheaply. So what would I be losing, making a leap to self publishing? Well, I’d be saying goodbye to contest wins. No Rita in my future. My work would not be reviewed by the mainstream press. I wouldn’t be getting the respect of writing for a NY house. And that was the final decider. I actually started to laugh. Was THAT why I was writing? For contests and reviews and respect? Or was I writing to give people a good ride, to tell the stories I had inside me, to progress in my craft and have the satisfaction of earning money for my work? Besides, I’d done all that. Suddenly it was all clear. It was time to take a risk and go into business for myself. So I had my agent retract the work from consideration at both print and digital-first publishers. Publishing my book turned out to be very doable, with a little coaching from my friends who had already figured it out. I published DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? in April. And I’m two- thirds through writing the second book in the series. Sales are coming in, and I feel good about my decision. Now, here’s the million-dollar question. Would I have wanted to self-publish if I hadn’t already been published in print by NY houses? No. I have to say I would have tried as hard as I could to get published in traditional print. Here’s why: 1) I think it’s much harder to have significant sales if you are currently unpublished, and I wanted my books to have as wide an audience as possible. 3) I needed an editor, and experience, and time to build that mailing list, and learn how to promote. 4) I needed to demonstrate to myself that I could produce on time, on a deadline, and be sure that I was motivated enough to make writing a career. 5)  Though I hate to admit it, I needed the validation of people telling me that I was writing at a professional level. I’m not especially proud that I needed that, but it’s no use in denying that psychological factor. My risky venture may not pay off. But I’ll never be sorry I tried. I’m just glad that the confluence of burnout, rejection, and a turning point my life combined to help me decide to give it a shot. So, have you made a choice yet? What did you choose, and why? Your logic may help others in their decision! Susan Squires is New York Times bestselling author known for breaking the rules of romance writing. She has won multiple contests for published novels and reviewer’s choice awards. Publisher’s Weekly named Body Electric one of the most influential mass market books of 2003 and One with the Shadows, the fifth in her vampire Companion Series, a Best book of 2007. Susan has a Masters in English literature from UCLA and once toiled as an executive for a Fortune 500 company. Now she lives at the beach in Southern California with her husband, Harry, a writer of supernatural thrillers, and three very active Belgian Sheepdogs, who like to help by putting their chins on the keyboarddddddddddddddddd.
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5 Reasons Why I *Heart* Twitter (And Why You Should Too)
By Laura Drake This was the conversation at crit group last week... Me: So I was tweeting with Chicken on a Chain last night, and – Jenny: Chicken WHAT? Me: He’s a bull. Retired from the PBR, one of the best. You should’ve seen him at the finals in 2009 -- Jenny: You did not just say that you were tweeting with a bull. Hello – no opposed thumbs! Me: Well I was more worried about his attitude. That dude is politically incorrect.

Hey – they’re no better. They then asked me if he tweeted about his cow girlfriends.

Sheesh. Romance Writers.

This conversation made me realize how entwined Twitter has become in my life. It’s my social media weapon of choice. I love it. Let me count the ways: 1. I found my Peeps I’ve ‘met’ so many amazing people (and animals - I also follow a tortoise, a horse and an iguana) on Twitter. I am a bull riding FANatic, and there’s a huge PBR following on Twitter. If an event isn’t televised, someone is bound to be in the stands, tweeting the scores as the rides happen. This must have been what it was like back in the days of radio, listening to a prize fight. Your imagination fills in the blanks, and you actually bond as a group. 2. Entertainment & News News: Earthquake in New York? Tornados in Texas?  It’s on Twitter, first. And not just a talking head – but people who are experiencing it firsthand. People I ‘know.’ Entertainment: Humor hits – people are so clever! They keep me laughing through my lunch hour (okay, so I pop in now and again through the day too – fire me!) 3. Support Through responding to tweets and retweeting (RT for short,) I can support my peeps, and they support me. All in 140 characters!  You don’t think that’s enough? Go create an account, gather a couple of friends, and check it out. It’s amazing! It’s a great lesson for writers in ‘write tight!’ 4. Research The other day when I was writing, and had a question about what the PBR calls the ‘roadies’ that set up the arena before an event. I tweeted my bud, Joe Scully, a rodeo announcer, and he got back to me in two minutes with the answer! That’s quicker than Google! I’ve found whatever experts I’ve ever needed on Twitter. Gypsies, bullfighters, goat ropers, mutton busters. People are so giving and helpful! 5. Advertisement & Marketing Notice this is listed LAST. For a reason. Nothing will make me unfollow faster than someone who does nothing but pimp – themselves or their friends. Yes, I know – if you’re self-published (or even if you’re not) you have to promote yourself. But people, promote is in a different place in the dictionary than pimp. It also has a slightly different definition – it’s a matter of degree. You don’t think you have "peeps?" Sure you do. I don’t care how esoteric your subject – someone on Twitter is interested. You may just have to get creative. I wanted to broaden my scope – to follow peeps who would find my book interesting (I haven’t broken my rule #5 above...my book doesn’t come out for over a year – plenty of time to connect on a personal level with people before I pimp promo.) So I thought about it. Who else would like to read my PBR novels, besides PBR fans?  How about people who live in the country? Small towns? Western states? Farmers, horse people, dairymen, even truck gardeners! Do you know how many people that is?  Wow. Find new hashtags to follow. That will help you find where those peeps hang out.  #agchat helped me a lot. Your turn. How do you use Twitter? How do you find your Peeps there?  Do you follow animals, or is it just me?
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Lessons I've Learned About Memoir Writing
by Jenny Hansen In my wildest dreams, I never imagined I’d write a memoir. Like most of you, I’ve written as long as I can remember, and from the very first day, I’ve lived solidly in the fiction camp. Before we get any farther, let’s make sure we’re all speaking the same language. What is a memoir? The best definition I’ve found of memoir and how it differs from autobiography can be found here. In case you don’t have time to read that fantastic post by Barbara Doyen, here’s a quick summary: A memoir is a special kind of autobiography, usually involving a public portion of the author’s life as it relates to a person, historic event, or thing. The text is about the personal knowledge and/or experiences of the author. It’s my personal opinion that memoir writers are made, not born.
  • You need to feel strongly enough about the events in the book that you’re willing to lay them out for the world to see, with none of the anonymous padding that fiction provides.
  • You must be well-versed in 3-Act Structure and story mechanics.
  • You need the objectivity to slice and dice your experience until it fits neatly into this 3-Act Structure.
What motivated ME to write a memoir? In 2005, I survived a massive bout with blood clots – two big ones (one in each leg) became a swarm of them in my lungs. They call those pulmonary emboli, but really, they’re all blood clots. 1% of the people who experience what I did live through it. When my treatment was done (after 4 months in bed and 9 months on blood thinners), I found out I have a blood clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden. Many things about my daily living habits had to change to accommodate this disorder. Was the experience memoir-worthy? I don’t think so. It simply wasn’t universal or compelling enough. I lived and I was thankful, and I had to make some lifestyle changes. End of story. But what about when I threw pregnancy into the mix? The four main causes of a blood clot are cancer, obesity, a previous blood clot and a genetic disorder. Obviously, I fit several of these risk criteria. I couldn’t just decide to have a baby, I had to visit the high risk OB and ask permission just to try. Pregnant women gain four pounds of blood, which increases the risk of forming a blood clot by 8 times. Yowza. My pregnancy journey was rocky, to put it mildly – infertility, shots in the stomach twice a day, worries about late-term miscarriage and fetal demise. Was the pregnancy itself a big enough theme to support the frame of a memoir? By itself, probably not. Memoirs must have themes that speak to a wide audience. These aren’t how-to books, and they’re not autobiographies. As Barbara Doyen says in the “what is memoir” post I reference above:
A memoir does not contain everything from this particular slice of the author’s life, but rather, events are selected and examined for meaning relative to the purpose of the book. The author has questioned what happened and come to some kind of new understanding or lesson learned by it. The author shows us how he or she was affected by this experience, how it has profoundly changed the way he sees the world. And by extension, reading the book will change the way the reader sees the world.
I worried about whether I could make my book universally compelling. All the writers here at WITS will tell you, I spend a lot of time and effort on theme, whether it's their books or mine. To me, a book works like this:
  • Plot is the train that drives your book.
  • Theme is the track the plot runs on.
  • Characters are the ones who populate the train and make things interesting.
One of the reasons why memoirs are so tough is that your plot and characters are already in place. All you have left to work with is theme. Your theme (or themes if you're lucky) are what really hold a memoir together and make it a journey worth taking. A deep soul-search for themes in my memoir yielded more than I thought:
  • Survival: What if I showed how the lessons learned with the blood clot scare helped save the day during my pregnancy?
  • Self-worth: What if I discussed the guilt and depression that women feel when they can’t conceive?
  • Fear: What if there were things that I knew that could help other women, and their family members, have an easier time through their own rocky journey?
This last is at the heart of why I would put my fiction aside. I was compelled to write about high-risk/high-worry pregnancy because these women feel so terrified and alone. They’re not experiencing the joyous, “fluffy cloud” type of pregnancy so many of their friends and family tell them about. Worst of all, the end-game isn’t guaranteed and they're scared. High-risk mommies have all the information overload of “regular” mommies, but there’s a whole lot more. Shots, bed rest, miscarriages, endless doctor appointments. These women spend some or all of their pregnancies wondering things like: “Will I get to keep this baby?” and “Will I die?” I spent my entire pregnancy wondering, "Where's the book for THIS kind of pregnancy?!" I simply could not rest until I wrote one. In my opinion, this sort of compulsion is the only thing that will sustain you through the hassle of fact-checking, research and structuring of ANY book. But the memoir factor adds an extra dollop of a pain. It’s hard to figure out how to break a true story into 3-Act structure – we simply can’t see our own lives clearly. Still, you MUST do it, the same as you would any other novel. A quick note on 3-Act structure: Many, many writers don’t have a clear concept of it. I know I didn’t until I saw Stephen Cannell (creator of the Rockford Files and like 40 other TV shows) give a talk. If you want to read an entire post on this topic, click here. In the meantime, here’s a quick summary of 3-Act Structure using Stephen Cannell’s words – feel free to skip this if you’re a 3-Act Pro: “When I ask young writers what 3-Act Structure is, they say it has a beginning, middle and an end. This is not the answer. A lunch line has a beginning, middle and an end. The Three-Act structure is critical to good dramatic writing, and each act has specific story moves.” Take the movie, “When Harry Met Sally.” The First Act is all about the hook, or the premise. In this case, it’s that “men and women cannot be friends.” So you’ve got the set-up where they meet and then decide they’re not going to be friends. Act Two opens with Harry and Sally meeting up again in the bookstore and slowly becoming friends. Their friendship becomes the single most important thing in their lives and the worst thing in the world would be to lose it. The scene in the wedding is the dark moment climax of Act 2 because it is the end of their friendship as we know it. The curtain closes on Act 2 because the WORST thing has happened…the two of them are no longer friends. Act Three is the “clean up” act, the resolution to your story. In this case, it’s all about Harry trying to get back into Sally’s good graces so the two of them can be friends again, just as they were. Sally’s having none of it. Finally, on New Year’s Eve, Harry has his turning point and we get the final scene of the movie where he runs through New York City to get to Sally before midnight. When he sees her at the party, he gives his now famous I-Love-You speech. When I heard this talk, the light bulb turned on for me. Hopefully, it did the same for any of you that were iffy about why there’s such a time disparity in the three acts. Just remember the 25-50-25 rule:
  • Act 1: First 25% of your story – the hook
  • Act 2: Next 50% of your story – ends with the black moment
  • Act 3: Last 25% of your story – the resolution of the black moment, leaving your main character with a new understanding.
To see Stephen Cannell’s “official description” of 3-Act Structure click here – he does a fantastic breakdown of the movie, Love Story. I'm going to turn the floor over to you now... Are you attracted to memoirs, either as a reader or a writer? What interests you the most about this genre? What do you dislike about it? Feel free to ask any questions or share any insights you have in the comments. We’d love to hear from you! Jenny

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About Jenny Hansen

Jenny fills her nights with humor: writing memoir, women’s fiction, chick lit, short stories (and chasing after her young daughter). By day, she provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. After 18 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s digging this sit down and write thing. When she’s not at her blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter at JennyHansenCA or here at Writers In The Storm.
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