Insecure Writer's Support Group inaugural post. Can you help me? I don't know if I've got what it takes to get my novels published. Do you?

Well I don't believe myself to be much of a joiner, but recently I've blown that theory. I've joined the Writers Platform Building Campaign again and I couldn't resist Alex J Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group. Why on earth do we needed another group? Keep reading:


The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writers.

Connecting: There is a participation list on Alex's site (click link above). It also allows for comments if you have an immediate need. This is where we can help one another. Check this page whenever you visit – if you can help a fellow writer, hop over to their blog and offer assistance. Eventually I may set up lists of where people are in the process, so if you’re having querying issues, you can visit someone else who is querying or someone who signed a contract for help. Or a list of resources. Be watching for these updates!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Well it's the first Wednesday of the month so here is my inaugural post for the IWSG. Maybe I'm wrong but I think most writers are insecure - about their work, their talents, their chances of publishing - all the hoops you have to jump through, all the advice of the 'must dos' and 'must not dos'. It's enough to make anyone insecure, especially when you see these 'rules' being broken by best-selling authors all the time. Are they laughing at our insecurities?


So I'll use Alex's 'purposes' above for my post today. This is really making me think!


MY DOUBTS (which I haven't conquered yet Alex)

• Do I really have a talent for writing? Am I kidding myself? Does the world need more words, especially from me? Are the people who say they enjoy my stories just being kind? 
• My question is then - how do you know you've got what it takes to see a novel through to publication? I must be one of the world's most voracious readers and I  read some fabulous books and some very second-rate books that managed to find a publisher. Obviously there's more than talent involved...

MY FEARS (which I haven't conquered yet Alex)

• Do I have the stamina to see a novel through to publication? The articles/stories on this topic are pretty daunting. So much to do it seems like writing the novel is the easiest part. There are many edits, queries, pitches (is that the same thing?), proposals, first chapters, choosing who to approach, then if you find a contract you're often asked to practically re-write your ms. The mind boggles...

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER TO GO PRINT, E-BOOK OR SELF PUBLISH?

• Once again there's a plethora of information on all these topics. 
• To be accepted by an established publisher as a debut novelist seems highly unlikely these days, although I know there's exceptions. All debut novelists hope to find an agent/editor not 'allergic to the smell of a new writer' as Glenys Smy said in a post once. I posted a wonderful debut novelist's success story here on Meagan Spooner . 
• There seems to be no end of Indie e-book publishers. How do you know which are reputable? There's a lot involved in finding the right fit, I'm sure, but once again I had some great success stories posted here when I hosted my Publication Party series (use my Search button to find these posts.) I'll link to possibly the most successful e-pubbed author I interviewed, Christine Bell. She's since released at least one more novel.
• Self publish? Seems many bloggers are doing this.I've already been approaching friendly bloggers with some questions. Look at Roland Yeomans - 11 self-pubbed e-books in a few months. Amazing! It seems a mountain load of work and self promotion, but is it the best way? What do you think?

So over to you, friends and mentors...can you help me? Can you answer any of my doubts and fears? Can you add to them, ha ha? PLEASE tell me what your experience has been if you're published and tell me what road to publication you're following if you've not been yet. I will be so appreciative...If you're really happy to help/advise, please click on the IWSG link in my sidebar where you'll find 100-ish insecure writers...

Can you help any of the writers below?

Electronic Publishing Bingo - would Jeffrey Archer play?

See, I'm practising doing shorter posts for A - Z Challenge, so I thought after hearing Jeffrey Archer talk about e-Publishing this morning I'd trot this out. I think it's hilarious, tongue-in-cheek and lots of fun with a grain or two of truth. Found it at  John Scalzi's Whatever.

One of the commenters could place more in the squares. David Numez added:

“Focus on building a Platform.” (whatever that means)
“Apps are more [insert ANY adjective here] than ePub”
“Apple [will/won't] hold onto their lead for long! Better [ignore/be ready for] Android Tablets”
“Tech companies don’t get the publishing industry.” and “The publishing industry doesn’t get tech.”
“The only budgets for book apps is in the marketing department”
“[insert insulting development budget] should be more than enough to develop our [insert bloated book app here]”
“Offshore development, keep ‘creative’ local” (because, you know, developers aren’t ‘creative’)

These guys aren't dissing e-publishing, just saying that it's not all wine and roses. I totally get the humour. Do you? What do you think?

Oh BTW, Jeffrey Archer (Brit who has sold over a squillion books and just flew in and out of Oz and NZ to promote his new book Only Time Will Tell), says his publisher told him that 7% of his sales were digital. His publisher also said in a few years time to expect his digital sales to be 50%. We knew that already, didn't we? Mwhmwhmwhaaa!

Publication Party! First session - author Christine Bell. Win her e-book or critique...

Welcome to the inaugural Publication Party! Grab yourself a glass of champers or non-alcoholic wine, or try the freshly-squeezed orange juice, some delicious nibblies, then settle back and enjoy! Today I welcome author Christine Bell, our first speaker. I can't wait to hear her journey to publication.

Firstly, a little information about Christine if you haven't already had the pleasure of meeting her:

Christine Bell is one half of the happiest couple in the world. She and her handsome hubby currently reside in Pennsylvania with a four-pack of teenage boys and their two dogs, Gimli and Pug. If she gets time off from her duties as maid, chef, chauffeur, or therapist, she can be found reading just about anything she can get her hands on, from Young Adult novels to books on poker theory. She doesn’ t like root beer, clowns or bugs (except ladybugs, on account of their cute outfits), but lurrves chocolate, going to the movies, the New York Giants and playing Texas Hold ‘ Em. Writing is her passion, but if she had to pick another occupation, she would be a pirate…or, like, a ninja maybe. She loves writing steamy romance stories under her own name and also under her pen name, Chloe Cole. One day she hopes to publish something her dad can read without wanting to dig his eyes out with a rusty spoon. Christine loves to hear from readers, so please contact her through her website, www.christine-bell.com

Over to Christine.
  

First, thanks so much to Denise for inviting me to speak about my publishing journey today! Hopefully, you’ll find at least one worthwhile nugget in this post, and if not, we have a smashing contest running, (go here for further details) so *listening* to me blather for a few minutes can still pay off!

The most important thing I want you to know is that just six months ago, I was in the same place a lot of you are right now. Writing my ass off and biding my time, just waiting for a response that wasn’t a rejection. After the first three or four, you start to recognize them and just skim the first sentence for key words to put you out of your misery. If you’re an aspiring author who hasn’t submitted yet, I will share that list of words with you now, in no particular order, so that you will recognize the signs when you see them (and you will see them. I only personally know one author who sold to her first targeted publisher on her first try. I did the math and you have a better chance of seeing a unicorn. Granted, my math skills are dicey, but trust me on this: you will get rejected and if that’s something you want to avoid, find
another dream).

Okay, without further ado, list of words that tip you off to a rejection email/letter:

1. Regret
2. But
3. While
4. Whilst (then you know it's a rejection from across the pond)
5. Sorry
6. Unfortunately

Just to keep things even steven (cuz I am all about even steven) here is a list of words that tip you off to a contract:


1. Loved
2. Offer
3. Thrilled
4. Pleased
5. Excited
6. Happy
7. Enjoyed

SO, back to my original point. The one thing I want you to take with you from this is that I had gotten a pile of the former and none of the latter as of six months ago. Then, everything changed. To date, I have nine contracts with four publishers (Ellora’s Cave, Loose Id, Carina Press and Cobblestone Press). The only reason I don’t have more than nine is because I have sold everything I've written so far.

And you can do the same thing. You just have to figure out what needs to change, focus on your goal, and don’t quit. *Denise points to her motto at the top of her blog*. I don’t know what needs to change for you. I just know what worked for me.

The first turning point for me was when I got into a fab crit group. I realized that my writing was not where it needed to be. There was a kernel of something good in there, a knack for story telling maybe, and a voice, but I had a LOT of work to do on the craft. I’ll never forget opening my first crit and seeing all the red, highlights and comments, then emailing the most anal (in the best way) member of my crit group, who misses NOTHING (wave hello to all the nice people, Lisa!) and saying something like, “Wow. This is unbelievably on point. I don’t know how I missed all of this.” It was a total light-bulb moment for me.

Another game changer was an online workshop I took called Before You Hit Send by Angela James. It was really helpful and again, a turning point. I took all the stuff I learned from her and my CPs and applied it to my mss. Surprisingly, it worked and all the “meh” mss I had been churning out suddenly sparkled. Lucky for me, I had only shopped a few of them, and even those only to one publisher, so I still had a world of options opened to me.

I always knew I wanted to e-pub, mainly because I have no patience and the idea of waiting two+ years from query to shelf makes me break out in hives.

I targeted what I consider to be the best e-publishers. I read websites like Brenda Hyatt’s Show Me the Money, and Emily Veinglory’s EREC site, which are two of the few places you can get some actual info on royalties. I asked around to author friends I met on various sites, and then started submitting.


On July 5th I got my first offer, and they just kept coming. And one of the nicest things I’ve discovered so far is that, for me at least, the first one was the hardest. Once you get into the groove, understanding what they want, go through the editing process once (which is unbelievable, changes you as a writer), the writing gets easier. Also, once you can add that writing credit to your query, are invited to submit directly to an editor, or maybe contract on proposal, it becomes a much less arduous process.

SO, go forth, get thee a crit group, or at least a GOOD crit partner, take some workshops, get some books on craft. And above all, don’t quit. You might quit the day before you were about to submit the one ms that was going to crack the whole thing wide open for you, and wouldn’t that be the saddest thing ever…


Success continues for Christine. Today, January 12th, her latest book Naughty Godmother is released. Check it out here and here.

Thanks so much Christine! You had us all rivited! So many helpful links and such good advice. Now, to the prizes...

TODAY and for the next five days, everyone who comments and leaves their email address will be in the draw to win EITHER:

• an e-book of your choice by Christine Bell
• a first ten-pages critique by Christine. As Christine says: '...a good crit is worth its weight in gold and can often be a life changing moment for an aspiring author where all kinds of lightbulbs go off and you learn so much that you can apply to other works...'

Now I know not everyone wants to win an e-book or critique. In your comment tell us if you would like to enter to win today's prize. If you win the critique Christine would like (with your permission of course) to see it posted on this blog so everyone can see the process and learn from it. So, totally up to you. You'll need to say if you're happy to do this if you win the critique. You will still win either way if your name is drawn. (I've done this when I won a synopsis critique. The pain doesn't last long and it's a great thing to do to help everyone!)

So before you head out the door, please do the following:

• leave a comment with your email address if you want to be in the draw for this week's prizes or the GRAND PRIZE and giveaway books at the end of the series (you must comment on each post to win, starting today)
• tell us what you'd like to win today - e-book or critique
• tell us if we can published Christine's critique here at a later date
• ask Christine a question
• something further - why not look out for each other and say if you'd like to find a Crit Partner. I know I'd like one. So contact like-minded souls and we may be able to help each other in this way too...

Thanks for coming everyone! Winners for this week will be posted next Tuesday (NY time). Don't forget you have until Monday 17 at 8 pm NY time to enter! (I'll try not to get bamboozled with this time zone thang.)

Don't forget, next Wednesday 19 January we have author and blogger extraordinare Clarissa Draper coming to our party. Don't miss what she has to say! I'm intrigued by this mysterious mystery author!

Denise :)

Apple to the rescue? Self-publishing debate continues...

Did you see any of the articles where Apple has invited  authors to self-publish on iPad bookstore?

We all know that getting a book deal isn’t easy and Apple is now offering an alternative to the traditional publisher. The company this week opened a new portal for independent authors to self-publish their books for the iBooks Store open to iPad (and soon iPhone) customers.

More from the article:

Apple’s iTunes Connect program has a section where authors can self-publish their work under certain formatting requirements, MacLife first reported. Basically, the books must be made in the ePub format like the rest of the offerings in the iBooks Store.

With iBooks and the iPad, Apple’s biggest target is Amazon, who hosts its popular Amazon e-book store and sells the dedicated Kindle e-reader. Amazon, too, allows authors to self-publish books through their market. Their e-book sales now outnumber their print sales.

What do you think? Would you take up Apple's offer?

Have you self-published? I'd love to hear about it...

There is an informative article on Amazon e-books here...and another here...and a great site full of info on self publishing here...Thank you Lisa Shae.