Writers in the Storm

by Orly Konig-Lopez

Is your manuscript good enough to hook an agent? Make a sale?

If you have the beta stamp of approval it just might be.

And no, I'm not talking about your critique partners.

A critique partner and a beta reader are two very different animals (and honestly, neither should be fluffy and soft.)

Beta Reader vs. Critique Partner

I'm very lucky to be part of two amazing critique groups. My CPs were a tremendous help during the drafting process of my last manuscript. Critique groups aren't for everyone, but I couldn't do without mine. Why?

A critique partner will:

• Nit-pick chapter-by-chapter
• Catch your tense shifts
• Find your missing commas and catch your typos
• Cajole fresh phrases out of you when you fall into the cliché pit
• Question why your character just walked out of the house when the page before, she was in the shower -- and you haven’t shown her getting dressed. Hello neighbors!
• Cheer you on when you're ready to torch the manuscript and get a job as a barista

And then one day, you're done with the draft. Woo hoo. Squiggle dance. DONE!

And that, my friends, is the point when many of us run head first into trouble. Because, let’s face it, we’ve poured our hearts into these books and we have blisters on our butts from hours in the chair. We want to query!

STOP! Send the manuscript to a few beta readers instead. Trust me!

I hear you whining … “but it’s done and I want to query.” After all, you’ve already gotten feedback from your critique partners. And your mom read it and said it was positively brilliant. Why the heck should you take more time and wait for more feedback that will lead to more revisions?

Because your manuscript will thank you for it. Mine did.

Why? Because your beta reader will:

• Read it from beginning to end without stopping and tell you what works and what doesn’t
• Find the plot hole or the thread that unraveled three-quarters of the way through
• Call you out on the main character who just can’t pull on her big girl panties and learn from her mistakes. Yeah, mine was wearing granny bloomers.

Finding the Right Beta For You

I have a few beta readers I turn to—there are the “writerly” ones and the “readerly” ones.

A couple of the writerly betas are actually my critique partners as well, but others are writer friends who I trust and value their feedback. My readerly betas are close friends who I know won’t tiptoe around the truth.

Why do I want both types of readers? Because they approach reading differently. Remember the days when you picked up a novel and just read for enjoyment versus analyzing what the author did right or wrong? I want to know both types of readers will like my book.

I’ve had a few people recently ask advice on finding beta readers.

First of all, if you’re in a critique group, ask one of your CPs. Not everyone wants to commit to reading a full manuscript, and that’s okay, but you might be pleasantly surprised. Don’t forget to return the favor though.

Writing groups are another great way to make connections. If you’re on a yahoo loop, for example, try sending out an email asking if anyone is interested in exchanging manuscripts.

Engage in discussions with other writers about where they are in their writing process. You might be surprised at who steps up with an offer to help if they know you’re looking for readers.

As for the “readerly” betas, ask a close friend or someone in a reading club or knitting club or whatever club. Just make sure it’s someone whose opinions you value.

I’ll fully admit that I was incredibly intimated asking friends to read my work. But guess what? The couple of friends I did ask were tickled at being part of the process. Those friends have become my loudest cheerleaders.

Feeding Your Beta Reader

So now you have beta readers lined up and they’re anxious to rip into the manuscript. Most of the time I season the manuscript with a few questions before tossing it over:

• Is the main character likeable?
• Does the story ring true?
• Is there a subplot that particularly works or doesn’t?
• Is there something or someone you wanted to see less of? More of?

Sometimes there’s one nagging question about a story, maybe a comment that came up during critique group and I want to make sure I addressed it properly in the rewrite. For example, in the manuscript I just finished, one of the characters has Alzheimer’s so I asked a reader with personal experience of the disease to read for authenticity.

There are times when I want a gut reaction.  In that case, I wait until I get the feedback before asking any specific questions. Regardless of who is reading, I want them to be brutally honest—they’re not doing me any favors by being fluffy and soft.

Chew Slowly and Swallow

When the feedback comes in, I read through all the comments once, and let them sink in. Then I read a second time and make notes in the manuscript. If a couple of people call me out on one particular point, I know there’s work to be done. Sometimes one beta reader’s comment perfectly nails what’s missing. Other times I’ll scrunch up my nose and discard a comment if it doesn’t fit with my story. Why?

Because at the end of the day it is YOUR story.

What about you? Do you have trusted beta readers who help make your manuscripts better? What kind of feedback do you look for?

By Lyn Horner

I’m sure you’ve all heard this before but it bears repeating. When you publish an e-book, expect to spend as much time on marketing as you spend writing the next book, especially if you’re new on the publishing scene. In order to get the most from promotional efforts, it’s wise to pick and choose where you’ll invest your precious time. Today I’ll share some suggestions gleaned from two successful e-book authors.

Most writers have heard of John Locke, the New York Times Best Selling Author who was the first self-published author in history to sell one million Kindle books. Last year he published How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months, a helpful guide I highly recommend. It reveals how the author built a loyal following of readers who promote his books for him. Before Mr. Locke explained his marketing system, he listed several tactics that didn’t work for him:

1. Attempts to get into brick and mortar book stores
2. Seeking newspaper interviews
3. A hired publicist
4. Press releases
5. Radio interview
6. Media ads

The author concedes that some of these things might work for others, but he found them to be time and money wasters. I can’t go into the reasons here, but it might be worth your while to read Locke’s book for the details.

Now for the good stuff he does recommend!

First, write for a specific audience and know how to find that audience. In Locke’s opinion, most authors do things backwards. They write a book then try to find an audience and form a marketing plan. He sees that as “shooting in the dark.” In my case I admit he’s correct. I write cross-genre books intended mainly for western romance readers, but with paranormal elements that make them unique – and kind of hard to sell.

To solve this problem, Locke suggests running a survey (on your blog or website, linked to twitter) to find out what readers like about your book. Ask specific questions such as which is their favorite scene and why, how the scene made them feel, etc. Evaluate their answers to see what they have in common. This can help you determine where and how to promote your book.

Other recommendations from John Locke:

1. Get your book in print (investigate CreateSpace and/or Lulu for this option)
2. Set up a website and blog site
3. Seek reviews (great ones help)
4. Build a mailing list of at least 25 people who will buy your next book
5. Connect with at least 100 “quality” followers on twitter; converse with these people, get to know them, let them get to know you. The goal is to make them loyal readers who will help promote your books.

Now I’ll pass on advice received from Liliana Hart, a very successful e-book author. She’s a member of Yellow Rose RWA, a Texas chapter I belong to, where she has kindly shared her experience with me and other members.

Here are a few of Liliana’s tips:

1. Use twitter extensively to build followers. The best hours to be online are between 8 and 10 a.m. and in the evening between 8 and 10 p.m.
2. Post on Kindleboards and get involved in discussions.
3. Start a “Street Team” on your website. Recruit readers who love your book(s) to spread the word to their friends. Send them packets with freebies they can hand out such as bookmarks, romance trading cards, whatever you can afford. Offer incentives to top team members. You might offer a mug or T-shirt with a cute saying related to your book(s).

Another marketing tool for you to consider is Amazon’s KDP Select program. I’ve used it to make my books more visible on Amazon, and for several months it really boosted my sales. If you choose to take part in KDP Select, you must sell your e-book exclusively on Amazon during the time it’s enrolled in the program. Enrollment periods are for 90 days but can be renewed indefinitely.

However, I don’t recommend keeping your books on KDP Select for more than a few months because it limits your audience to Amazon readers. To optimize exposure and sales long term, your books need to be available through a variety of e-book retailers. These include Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, and the Apple i-store.

I hope you find these marketing suggestions helpful. Do you have other favorite ways to market your books? I’d love for you to share them. Many heads are better than one!

Lyn's Amazon Author Page
Lyn Horner's Corner
Lyn Horner’s Texas Druids

By Sharla Rae

Put on the sexy music [See Fae Rowan’s blog on Music As Writing Inspiration. ] I’m giving you the sister blog to my Sensual Word Menu, Sexy Phrases For In And Out Of The Bedroom.

Many writers bemoan writing love scenes. I have to admit that they aren’t one of my favorite things to write either. I rewrite them more than any other scenes in my books. It’s not the idea of writing sex that plagues most of us. It’s all the pesky problems both real and perceived that pop up during the writing.

Merely fitting part A into part B turns your characters into stick people. It's not sensual and it's just plain boring.

Okay, so we need to add emotion. Figuring out the right balance of emotion in relation to the physical aspects can be tricky. Too much emotion or internalization interrupts the action and throws cold water on the heat. If the emotion doesn't seem right, the problem could be that the characters aren't ready for sex.

In any story, sex means something. Good or bad, sex alters characters and their relationships. It’s hard enough just to write these scenes, and now as writers we must show character growth, and like all scenes in a book, the love scene must move the plot forward.

Which brings us to the problem of Gratuitous Sex, or sex that happens for no apparent reason. As writers, especially romance writers, we sometimes stop and panic -- “I’m a third of the way through the book. My characters should be having sex by now!” And then we plug in a sex scene whether the characters are ready for it or not! NOT SEXY! And because it’s gratuitous, we usually break the rule of balancing emotion with the physical act. Such a love scene will not move the plot forward. This is a throw-the-book-across-the-room mistake.

And last but not least, is one of the most abused problems. All the love scenes in a book sound alike. To be frank, no matter the where and how it takes place, there is always a part A that is fits into a part B, and every scene should be emotional. But I can’t tell you how many published books I’ve read where the author used the same words and phrases over, and over, and over again until I finally just skipped the love scenes.

My Word Menu and Phrases List might help you with this last problem by offering ideas for changing up the wording.

Yes, some of the following phrases in the list do, by themselves, sound like purple prose. Can’t be helped. It’s the nature of the beast. Keep in mind it’s how you use the list that counts. These phrases are meant to kick up your own creative juices. So study them, then write the love scene in your own words.

Don’t forget --  sex scenes demand your entire repertoire of writing skills: emotions, body language, dialog, plotting etc. I started out with a list I called Sensual Phrases. For this blog, I robbed a few phrases from my other lists: Kisses - All Kinds, Descriptions of Men, Descriptions of Women, and Body Language. I could have included a few from my list of emotions too, but this is already a really really long list. As it is, you will find some emotion phrases too.

I think it’s only fair to admit that I do have a list of names for the male and female private parts. Don’t laugh. I’ve actually seen similar lists on line. Mine got started while I was on the Leisure Ladies list serve. One of the authors mentioned that she was sick to death of reading “manhood” for the male sex organ. We all laughed and offered alternatives. Hence, the Manhood List was born. It was very . . . edifying. <g>

Okay, here are the Sexy Phrases For In and Out Of The Bedroom.

Absorbed the feel of him
Aching tension between them built
Acute surge of desire
Admired the full length of his powerful physique
Aflame with
Agile fingers fondled
All thoughts became superfluous but one
All-over kiss of two bodies
Allowing his erection to cushion against
Already plumb and swollen
An opiate, she had no wish to kick
An unfurling of
Anticipation so keen
Apex of her legs
Arched her back to better accept him
Ardent loving
Attraction that became much more
Attractive dishabille
Beautiful landscape of plains, tight abs and
Beckoned him like a siren’s song
Beguiling her with his
Between her thighs
Blood humming in her veins
Blown apart by heat
Body surged into hers
Bold caress of his tongue
Boneless limbs
Brain wouldn’t focus
Brazen hands
Breached her every defense
Breathless urgency
Breathtakingly aware
Brutal strength of his passion
Building of a gripping sensation
Bunched her skirt up her thighs
Burgeoning frenzy
Buried in her sweet heat
Burn, tremble and yearn
Catalogued every curve and dip
Caused women to hyperventilate
Charge of excitement
Chuckled at her goose bumps
Circled his hard length with her hands
Circled his neck with her arms
Clad only in panties
Clever hands
Climax came at her in drugging waves
Closed about her breasts
Clutched fistfuls of his shirt
Coaxing her to abandon
Collapsed, spent
Come hither grin
Complied without thought
Consuming climax
Convulsed with her orgasm
Crumbling barrier of resistance
Cry of release
Cupped her soft blond mons
Cupped him in her hands
Cupped his face between her hands
Curve of her collarbone
Damp quivery thighs
Dazed and mellowed
Deep dips and curves in all the right places
Deep primitive tug that signaled
Deep sense of completion
Deliberately stretching her
Delicate inner face of her thigh
Delighted with her excited anticipation
Devastating her control
Dragged his mouth from hers
Drank freely of him
Draped her arms
Drew her into the maelstrom
Driving force of his kiss
Driving hips
Eager to sample
Engulfing emotion
Entered her slowly
Enthralled her with his touch
Enticing image of her beneath the
Essential speed
Euphoric aftermath
Evocative stroll to the bed
Excellent molecular structure
Explored the texture of his
Eyes narrowed to half mast
Eyes slid shut in ecstasy
Familiar hot longing squeezed his
Fascinated with the soft roundness of
Feathery strokes of her tongue
Feel of him next to her
Feminine portal
Fervor of her response
Fevered skin
Fierce flare of yearning
Filling her
Final surrender
Fingers tangled in the curls at her
Firm curves and slender limbs
Firm male lips that knew what they were about
Flawless skin
Flexing muscles in his back and legs
Flicked open the buttons one by one
Flooded her
Fly apart
Focused on the sensation
Focused totally on her
For his private deletion
French cut panties and lacy bra cupped
Frenzied race to fulfillment
Full lips softened under his
Fused his flesh with hers
Gentle persuasion of his kisses
Going up in smoke
Grasped her knees and eased them apart
Gravelly words uttered against her flesh
Greedy mouth took bold possession
Handsome, hypnotic, and powerful
Hard little kernel of tormented flesh
Hauled in a breath and tensed
Head of his staff nudged
Head twisting frantically as he
Heart-shaped ass begged a squeeze
Heart-stopping tenderness
Heat and power radiated
Her body closed tightly around him
His erection bumped against
His hard thighs crowned her hips
Hormones percolated
Hot flavor of desire
Hot/warm honey
Hunk of sexy brawn
Husky voice whispered want and need
Ignited a hunger
Introduction of delights
It was damn potent
Joined her in the void of
Joined their heated flesh
Keening sound as she threw back her head
Kiss held  promise of fulfillment
Kiss spoke of things left unsaid
Kissed the back of her knees
Kissed the slender column of her throat
Kneaded her bosom
Knees clamped his naked hips
Lean muscles of his belly
Legs entangled with his
Lethargy of spent passion
Licking her
Lips fused and held
Lips grazed the ripe buds
Long, liquid kiss that rushed lust through her
Long, slow ride of delight
Loomed over her
Lost her senses
Loved this swarthy virile man
Loving attack on
Low slung jeans hugged his
Low sultry, incoherent mews
Luscious vessel
Made him more rigid and engorged
Made mincemeat of her will
Mapped her body with his
Matched his rhythm
Molded intimately against
Molding her to him
Molten waves of pleasure
Narcotic power of his voice and eyes
Naughty smile that had him imagining
Nearly maddened
Nearly melted in his Armani loafers
Need that defied reason
Nerves stretched taut
Nibbled her ears
Nipples pebbled
Only he could appease
Onslaught of raw physical desire
Passionate tide overtook
Past her own will
Peeled off her tight blue jeans
Penetrated her
Perceived her every desire
Pert nipple beckoned
Picked up his rhythm
Plea in her eyes
Pleasure licked at
Plucked kisses from
Poised at her entrance
Potency of his presence
Preparing her for him
Pressed her back and took his fill
Pressed two fingers into the silken curls
Pressing her against his arousal
Primitive maleness
Probing in a slow repetitive rhythm
Prolonged the pleasure
Purring beneath his touch
Quiet sensuality brewed in
Quivery awareness shot
Radiated each others heat
Ragged breathing
Rained kisses across her silky shoulder
Rapid, shallow breaths
Reason tumbled into oblivion
Reckless savage lust unlike anything he’d
Reeled in wicked delight
Relentlessly moved her hips against his
Restraint that drove her to distraction
Riding rhythm
Ripples of pleasure
Rose over her
Saucy grin invited his touch
Savored her
Scent rising to torment
Sea of pleasure
Searing need
Seeking all her secrets
Sexy little mole on her
Sexy, tight man buns
Shackled his raging lust
Shaft reared hot and hard against her
Sharp spasm of need
Shattering climax
She was tight
Shocking, possessive gaze climbed
Shock waves of pleasure sizzled
Shuddering with desire
Silken length of her thigh
Sinewy arms holding her captive
Sinuous, leonine strength
Slick heat
Slid another finger inside.
Sliding thrust
Sliding upwards against him
Smelled of Jasmine and sex
Smoldering eyes drew him in
Sneaked into her heart
Soared high
Soft cheeks of her bottom filled
Soft coziness of passion’s aftermath
Spasms of pure unadulterated
Spilled his seed within
Splintered into
Startled by his intimate kiss
Stirring of primal needs
Stoking a fire
Stretching her softness
Stripped away her restraint
Stroking fingers matched that of his tongue
Sucking them into his mouth
Surge of his possession
Swiftly dealt with her clothes
Swirling hotly
Taking him to the hilt
Tampering with her sanity
Tangy taste and male scent
Tasted of heat and honey
Taunting the pink morsels
Taut steely muscles
Teased her lips apart
Teased the tiny bud
Tender assault
Tension built where their bodies
Testosterone was getting a workout
Throbbing inside of her
Tight-ass jeans left no doubt about
Tinder beneath his touch
Tingles ricocheted
Tongue dipped and swirled
Tongue skimmed her trembling lips
Tormented the hidden morsel
Touch provoked a cry of
Transcended physical pleasure
Tremors rose in the wake of his
T-shirt bulged with rock-hard chest and muscle-bound arms
Ultimate surcease
Unbearable heights
Unchaining wild, delicious feelings
Undulating hips
Urgent need flowed/commanded
Urging her on
Voice not entirely steady
Voice quavered with the after effects
Vortex of heady sensations
Wanton striptease
Warm and pliant
Warm, calloused man’s hand enfolded
Warm, wet, recesses
Watched her face
Welcomed with an open-mouth kiss
Wild and fierce possession
Wild ride
Wild, reckless and restless mood
Wildness brewed beneath the gentleness
With consummate skill
Withdrew and slid home again
Wrapped in a web of magic
Wrestled it off
Wrestled with his need