I've been distressed lately by the number of small presses shutting their doors for various reasons, and even more distressed by the authors who are left hanging--bitter and unhappy and wondering what happened to their dreams.
The problem is compounded by the Internet and the juicy rumors that fly all over the place--some spot on, some wildly inaccurate.
The sad fact is, the demise of some publishers casts doubt on other publishers who might be doing just fine. I'm amazed at the number of rumors I hear about solid companies, while everyone seemed to be taken by surprise when the not-so-solid ones go out of business.
Writers need to not only BE CAREFUL who you sign a contract with, but also know the difference between rumors circulated by disgruntled authors and a company that's truly in trouble.
Here are some top warning signs that a publishing company is crumbling:
1. Sudden turnover in top staff.
2. Checks that are very late (like months to a year).
3. Checks that bounce (this is one of the best signs that it's time to leave--ignore excuses).
4. Staff quitting quickly and not being replaced (attrition).
5. Very rapid veering from what company is good at to strange new ventures.
Many of the rumors ("so and so ran off with the money;" "this company is in serious financial trouble;" etc.) are not always verifiable, but the five things I've listed are very good signs--gossip aside--that it's best you quietly look for another place to sell your work.
Please remember that I'm talking about extreme things--all the executives being replaced in a week, every author's check bouncing, the company going from publishing erotic e-books to print travel guides. If your check is a week late, that's not a sign of bankruptcy. If the company replaces a CFO, it might be just fine (people do move on).
So how do you avoid signing up with a shaky publisher in the first place? Research!
1. Buy the books--are they typo-free, well formatted, don't look cheap?
2. Talk to the authors (a wide cross-section, not just cheerleaders or disgruntled former authors)--ask for their good experiences and bad.
3. Ask about sales. Don't be embarrassed. It takes just as much energy and time to write a book that sells 25 e-copies as one that sells 2000. Some authors sell better than others of course, but it's good to know the potential sales you might reach.
4. Check out the publisher's website--is it professionally done and easy to use; is it easy to purchase the books?
5. Attend conferences where the publisher is presenting itself. Are the executives professional or a little flaky? Just because you and the CEO both call your cats Cuddle Poos doesn't mean she's a good person to run a publishing company.
6. Look at their boilerplate contract. Does it meet industry standard (there's a reason for industry standards). Is it negotiable? (Pray that it is.)
None of this guarantees your publisher will never have problems, but you can avoid the worst of them if you think it through beforehand. It is a new writer's instinct to leap at the first contract offered--'cause, duh, we're dying to be published--but you need to be happily published, not ripped off.
One aside about contracts---Never, EVER, sign a contract where the royalty clause says you get royalties on the "Net Proceeds" of a book. DON'T. You should get royalties on the retail cover price.
Why? Because the retail cover price is fixed. If you get a 37% royalty on an ebook that sells for $5.95, you get about $2.00 per book. Period.
"Net proceeds" might mean that the publisher says: "Oh, the reader paid 5.95, but it cost us this much for the cover, and this much to re-do the link page when it broke, and this much for the editor, and this much for my cat's manicure for the promo session . . ." whittling down your share of the pie to possibly nothing. I'm not saying all publishers who pay on net proceeds do this, but you've handed them the means to do it if they want to.
Rule of thumb: Do NOT sign a book contract (e- or print) where the royalties are paid on net proceeds. I don't care how many epublishers do this (EC does not--I have contracts with them). Authors cannot afford to let this become standard. Refuse--or get an agent to refuse for you.
People get very hung up on the "we keep the rights forever" clauses (which are negotiable--if not, don't sign), and completely miss the net proceeds garbage. The forest for the trees . . .
That is my rant about authors getting taken by shaky publishers. Research, READ your contract thoroughly, and keep an eye out for the warning signs. None of this guarantees a fantastic career, but you'll be much more comfortable on your way up.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
What Makes a Bestseller?
Before I start, let me give one caveat: This is my take on things based on observation and asking pesky questions, not a scientific study!
I've gotten to a point in my career where I've been hitting bestseller lists and many of my writer friends (at about the same point as me) are too. It's kind of fun to sit back and watch which books hit, and I've come to realize what makes a bestseller.
Five things make a book hit the top lists (USA Today, Pub. Weekly, and NY Times) upon publication:
1. A large print run
2. Excellent distribution with reorders filled quickly
3. Placement in stores
4. Marketing
5. A great book on a subject readers care about.
Now, if you look at each of those, which do writers have most control over?
Number 5 of course.
(Number 4 a little bit, but when I say "marketing" I'm talking about to distributors and booksellers, which is done long before the book is due out.)
Looking at these in turn:
1. A large print run: A good sized print run (say 65K and up) will allow you to hit USA Today if all the other factors are in place. Bigger ones let you reach higher. Let's face it, the more books out there, the more available for purchase.
2. Excellent distribution with reorders quickly filled: If no one can find the book, no one can buy it. Simple as that. The largest chunk of books are sold in Walmart, Target, Costco, drug and grocery stores, and other retail giants. Surprisingly, bookstore chains order only a small percentage of the print run. Independent bookstores are also a small percent, but Indies are good at selling! (Because they're usually owned and operated by people who truly care about books. Go Indies!)
You want the sold books replaced quickly because, duh, if the book's not on the shelf, no one can buy it (online sales can't take up the slack at this point). Good distribution where the book stays on the shelf=good sales.
3. Placement: Getting your book on an end cap, a table, face-out on a shelf, or getting a shelf-talker (those labels of the author's name on the shelf itself) help readers find the books. Placement is not up to you the author, it's up to the bookseller, and what the publisher negotiates with the bookseller. Publishers can "buy" good visual space for a book they want to push.
4: Marketing: I mean the sales reps for the publisher enthusiastically selling the books to the distributors or bookstore buyers. The more belief a publisher has in an author or title, the more enthusiastic the reps are, and the more interest the buyers have.
Author marketing can help too. If the bookseller knows you're out there with a video, bookmarks, a website, a blog, a newsletter, etc., that's a good thing.
5. A darn good book that readers want to read: Ok, writers, this one's up to you! :-) A book with a strong voice and strong characters, well plotted and well constructed, on a topic readers care about is what you need to do. (Easy, right? [snicker]). Keep trying (I am).
When I say "what readers want to read" or "a topic readers care about" I don't mean the latest paranormal trend (though catching a rising trend helps). I mean a theme like healing, coming home, finding one's self through love of another--all those universal constants that appeal to us.
And, true, a popular time period and setting doesn't hurt. It's sad but true that certain times/places sell better than others. (This varies from genre to genre, so study your genre before you start!)
Ta da! A bestseller.
I know this is simplistic. I always need to break things down into simple terms to understand them myself.
If all of these factors are in place, there's still no guarantee the book will sell well. But it's a very good possibility that it will.
There are things that can weaken the above setup:
Books being sold early, so the first week's sales are not as strong (because of the dribbles before). There's a reason J.K Rowling's publishers were trying to sue people selling the last HP book early, and not just because they might give the plot away. They wanted that huge, frantic burst of sales on day one to guarantee that it was number 1 on every list.
The print run selling out quickly and not being replaced fast enough, or at all. (No books on shelves=no sales). Interestingly, some publishers just will not reprint a book. They decide--the print run's gone, we're done. I'm sure there's some accounting reason for this--don't ask me.
A stronger selling book than yours making booksellers adjust what's on the end caps, tables, etc.
Sometimes readers just don't connect with the book, even when you've done your job. If they don't like it, they stop buying.
But enough depressing stuff. Go out and write a strong, well-plotted, well-characterized appealing book :-) If the publisher likes it enough, they'll push it--and if they get factors 1 through 4 in place, you might be on your way to bestseller-dom.
Jennifer
http://www.jennifersromances.com/
I've gotten to a point in my career where I've been hitting bestseller lists and many of my writer friends (at about the same point as me) are too. It's kind of fun to sit back and watch which books hit, and I've come to realize what makes a bestseller.
Five things make a book hit the top lists (USA Today, Pub. Weekly, and NY Times) upon publication:
1. A large print run
2. Excellent distribution with reorders filled quickly
3. Placement in stores
4. Marketing
5. A great book on a subject readers care about.
Now, if you look at each of those, which do writers have most control over?
Number 5 of course.
(Number 4 a little bit, but when I say "marketing" I'm talking about to distributors and booksellers, which is done long before the book is due out.)
Looking at these in turn:
1. A large print run: A good sized print run (say 65K and up) will allow you to hit USA Today if all the other factors are in place. Bigger ones let you reach higher. Let's face it, the more books out there, the more available for purchase.
2. Excellent distribution with reorders quickly filled: If no one can find the book, no one can buy it. Simple as that. The largest chunk of books are sold in Walmart, Target, Costco, drug and grocery stores, and other retail giants. Surprisingly, bookstore chains order only a small percentage of the print run. Independent bookstores are also a small percent, but Indies are good at selling! (Because they're usually owned and operated by people who truly care about books. Go Indies!)
You want the sold books replaced quickly because, duh, if the book's not on the shelf, no one can buy it (online sales can't take up the slack at this point). Good distribution where the book stays on the shelf=good sales.
3. Placement: Getting your book on an end cap, a table, face-out on a shelf, or getting a shelf-talker (those labels of the author's name on the shelf itself) help readers find the books. Placement is not up to you the author, it's up to the bookseller, and what the publisher negotiates with the bookseller. Publishers can "buy" good visual space for a book they want to push.
4: Marketing: I mean the sales reps for the publisher enthusiastically selling the books to the distributors or bookstore buyers. The more belief a publisher has in an author or title, the more enthusiastic the reps are, and the more interest the buyers have.
Author marketing can help too. If the bookseller knows you're out there with a video, bookmarks, a website, a blog, a newsletter, etc., that's a good thing.
5. A darn good book that readers want to read: Ok, writers, this one's up to you! :-) A book with a strong voice and strong characters, well plotted and well constructed, on a topic readers care about is what you need to do. (Easy, right? [snicker]). Keep trying (I am).
When I say "what readers want to read" or "a topic readers care about" I don't mean the latest paranormal trend (though catching a rising trend helps). I mean a theme like healing, coming home, finding one's self through love of another--all those universal constants that appeal to us.
And, true, a popular time period and setting doesn't hurt. It's sad but true that certain times/places sell better than others. (This varies from genre to genre, so study your genre before you start!)
Ta da! A bestseller.
I know this is simplistic. I always need to break things down into simple terms to understand them myself.
If all of these factors are in place, there's still no guarantee the book will sell well. But it's a very good possibility that it will.
There are things that can weaken the above setup:
Books being sold early, so the first week's sales are not as strong (because of the dribbles before). There's a reason J.K Rowling's publishers were trying to sue people selling the last HP book early, and not just because they might give the plot away. They wanted that huge, frantic burst of sales on day one to guarantee that it was number 1 on every list.
The print run selling out quickly and not being replaced fast enough, or at all. (No books on shelves=no sales). Interestingly, some publishers just will not reprint a book. They decide--the print run's gone, we're done. I'm sure there's some accounting reason for this--don't ask me.
A stronger selling book than yours making booksellers adjust what's on the end caps, tables, etc.
Sometimes readers just don't connect with the book, even when you've done your job. If they don't like it, they stop buying.
But enough depressing stuff. Go out and write a strong, well-plotted, well-characterized appealing book :-) If the publisher likes it enough, they'll push it--and if they get factors 1 through 4 in place, you might be on your way to bestseller-dom.
Jennifer
http://www.jennifersromances.com/
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Sometimes No isn't always a bad answer
Rejection . . .
I hate it. I can't imagine anyone likes it. I got rejected plenty before I was published, had plenty of heartbreaks seeing that SASE come back in the mail with "Not for me" scrawled on the first page of the ms.
I got "good" rejections as well, where the editor took time to tell me what she felt was weak about the book. Those hurt less, because the editor was trying to help, and a busy editor doesn't have time to waste on a writer she doesn't take seriously. (It hurt less, but it still hurt!)
I got a lot of "almost"s before I finally got a "yes."
People often ask me if I have a drawer in which I keep my rejected mss, and if I have sent those to my editors for publication (implying "ha ha ha, see what you passed up" to the editors who initially rejected them.)
The answer is a decided NO.
I do have copies of my rejected mss (somewhere), but after I got published, it was like the fog lifting. I saw very clearly why Perils of the Heart got published and the first six or seven didn't. At least one of the following was wrong with each of them:
1. Weak or implausible plotting
2. Weak voice
3. Main characters were unbelievable or not very strong people
4. Stilted writing
5. Rushed pacing (I mean really rushed!)
The things I did ok or learned quickly were dialog, setting, and love scenes--I wonder what the last says about me. :-)
If any of those six books had been accepted, they would have needed massive revisions, and even then likely would not have sold very well. A book with weak sales can hurt your career, sometimes irreparably.
So in retrospect, those particular mss. should have been rejected, and I'm even glad they were. (There are two that possibly could be saved with work and a little plot rethinking; the rest--flush!)
I'm glad I was rejected because I want my very best work to go out in front of the world. Not my self-indulgent scribbles, but a polished, well-thought-out book with solid characters and plotting. This will be for sale! With my name on it!
Second point:
Even after I was published, I still got rejected. When I was talking to one of my editors several years ago about what I'd do for the last book of a contract, I mentioned four or five ideas, and--she didn't want any of them.
At the time I didn't want to write another pirate romance (I'd done two). I wanted to expand into something else, or at least have another book between pirates. I love writing pirate romance, but I didn't want to be the "Pirate Queen" for the rest of my life.
But my editor, my wise, wise editor, turned down my ideas and advised me to write another pirate book. I was a little disappointed, but in retrospect, she was right.
Why was she right?
1. The book I was keenest on hadn't been very well thought out. I've kept the idea in mind and it's grown into something much, much better and much, much stronger, and one day everyone may see it in print. But if she'd let me write and turn in that idea as it stood, it would have been a weak book. It might have ended my career, who knows?
2. A couple ideas I had really weren't marketable. "Marketable" means the reader in the bookstore "gets" what the book is about and connects with it quickly. You can't be standing next to every reader in every store in the world, explaining what the book is about. They have to know instantly. The ideas I had then didn't have this quality (I would have had to stand by every reader for fifteen minutes--and they'd have long since decided to buy something else.)
3. The book I ended up doing, The Care and Feeding of Pirates, was probably the best of my early books. It had a bigger print run, sold out that print run fairly quickly, had a strong sell-through, got several foreign rights sales, was reprinted, and I'm still getting good royalty checks on it. It was also pure joy to write, I think the hero, Christopher Raine, was one of my best ever heroes, and readers loved it. I still get enthusiastic fan mail for Care & Feeding.
So in this case, I'm glad my editor said No to my wild ideas and steered me back to what she knew I already knew how to do. Then when I pitched my fairy-tale historicals to her for the next contract, she welcomed them with open arms.
Third point:
Sometimes when someone is rejected, I hear them say: "The market isn't ready for my work."
Maybe that's true. The cynical me, on the other hand, remembering my own rejected mss., says, "Well, you can think that if it makes you feel better."
I'll grant that the market not being ready could be partly true. When I first started writing romance, I wrote very hot love scenes. They were raw, I named body parts, and I used naughty, four-letter words.
This was greeted by critiquers and contest judges with shock and horror. I couldn't use that word, I couldn't have them do that on page 36! I, the paranoid newbie, believed everyone, and tried to learn to say manhood. (I never could quite bring myself to write it, though... I mean who, in real life says manhood? With a straight face?)
That was in 1998. See how the market has changed since then? Readers at the moment prefer scenes in which nothing is left out to coy purple prose.
BUT, while I might have been "ahead of my time" writing romance scenes, that doesn't change the fact that the rest of the ms. was crap.
My point here is that rejection isn't necessarily Them not wanting the genius of You. (Those poor befuddled editors who don't understand what readers want.)
Writers need to learn to look at their own work objectively (or at least find someone they trust to analyze it for them), and be painfully honest!!
Is your ms. really too brilliant and scary for the publishing world to deal with? or could you do better with your dialog, revise your roundabout descriptions, get rid of your adverbs, cut some characters, tighten the plotting?
Sometimes, yes, ideas are outside of the box and editors don't want to gamble their careers on them.
But if you make sure your book is well-written, well-plotted, well-characterized, with good dialog, a strong voice, etc. etc. etc., your chance of getting that off-the-wall idea accepted is much, much, much higher.
My bottom line: Rejection hurts, but it should be a challenge for you to write better and stronger, not an excuse to rail that the world doesn't understand you. :-) (Well, ok, you can, but still get back in and write stronger stories.)
And soon all the nos and maybes will become an ecstatic yes!
I hate it. I can't imagine anyone likes it. I got rejected plenty before I was published, had plenty of heartbreaks seeing that SASE come back in the mail with "Not for me" scrawled on the first page of the ms.
I got "good" rejections as well, where the editor took time to tell me what she felt was weak about the book. Those hurt less, because the editor was trying to help, and a busy editor doesn't have time to waste on a writer she doesn't take seriously. (It hurt less, but it still hurt!)
I got a lot of "almost"s before I finally got a "yes."
People often ask me if I have a drawer in which I keep my rejected mss, and if I have sent those to my editors for publication (implying "ha ha ha, see what you passed up" to the editors who initially rejected them.)
The answer is a decided NO.
I do have copies of my rejected mss (somewhere), but after I got published, it was like the fog lifting. I saw very clearly why Perils of the Heart got published and the first six or seven didn't. At least one of the following was wrong with each of them:
1. Weak or implausible plotting
2. Weak voice
3. Main characters were unbelievable or not very strong people
4. Stilted writing
5. Rushed pacing (I mean really rushed!)
The things I did ok or learned quickly were dialog, setting, and love scenes--I wonder what the last says about me. :-)
If any of those six books had been accepted, they would have needed massive revisions, and even then likely would not have sold very well. A book with weak sales can hurt your career, sometimes irreparably.
So in retrospect, those particular mss. should have been rejected, and I'm even glad they were. (There are two that possibly could be saved with work and a little plot rethinking; the rest--flush!)
I'm glad I was rejected because I want my very best work to go out in front of the world. Not my self-indulgent scribbles, but a polished, well-thought-out book with solid characters and plotting. This will be for sale! With my name on it!
Second point:
Even after I was published, I still got rejected. When I was talking to one of my editors several years ago about what I'd do for the last book of a contract, I mentioned four or five ideas, and--she didn't want any of them.
At the time I didn't want to write another pirate romance (I'd done two). I wanted to expand into something else, or at least have another book between pirates. I love writing pirate romance, but I didn't want to be the "Pirate Queen" for the rest of my life.
But my editor, my wise, wise editor, turned down my ideas and advised me to write another pirate book. I was a little disappointed, but in retrospect, she was right.
Why was she right?
1. The book I was keenest on hadn't been very well thought out. I've kept the idea in mind and it's grown into something much, much better and much, much stronger, and one day everyone may see it in print. But if she'd let me write and turn in that idea as it stood, it would have been a weak book. It might have ended my career, who knows?
2. A couple ideas I had really weren't marketable. "Marketable" means the reader in the bookstore "gets" what the book is about and connects with it quickly. You can't be standing next to every reader in every store in the world, explaining what the book is about. They have to know instantly. The ideas I had then didn't have this quality (I would have had to stand by every reader for fifteen minutes--and they'd have long since decided to buy something else.)
3. The book I ended up doing, The Care and Feeding of Pirates, was probably the best of my early books. It had a bigger print run, sold out that print run fairly quickly, had a strong sell-through, got several foreign rights sales, was reprinted, and I'm still getting good royalty checks on it. It was also pure joy to write, I think the hero, Christopher Raine, was one of my best ever heroes, and readers loved it. I still get enthusiastic fan mail for Care & Feeding.
So in this case, I'm glad my editor said No to my wild ideas and steered me back to what she knew I already knew how to do. Then when I pitched my fairy-tale historicals to her for the next contract, she welcomed them with open arms.
Third point:
Sometimes when someone is rejected, I hear them say: "The market isn't ready for my work."
Maybe that's true. The cynical me, on the other hand, remembering my own rejected mss., says, "Well, you can think that if it makes you feel better."
I'll grant that the market not being ready could be partly true. When I first started writing romance, I wrote very hot love scenes. They were raw, I named body parts, and I used naughty, four-letter words.
This was greeted by critiquers and contest judges with shock and horror. I couldn't use that word, I couldn't have them do that on page 36! I, the paranoid newbie, believed everyone, and tried to learn to say manhood. (I never could quite bring myself to write it, though... I mean who, in real life says manhood? With a straight face?)
That was in 1998. See how the market has changed since then? Readers at the moment prefer scenes in which nothing is left out to coy purple prose.
BUT, while I might have been "ahead of my time" writing romance scenes, that doesn't change the fact that the rest of the ms. was crap.
My point here is that rejection isn't necessarily Them not wanting the genius of You. (Those poor befuddled editors who don't understand what readers want.)
Writers need to learn to look at their own work objectively (or at least find someone they trust to analyze it for them), and be painfully honest!!
Is your ms. really too brilliant and scary for the publishing world to deal with? or could you do better with your dialog, revise your roundabout descriptions, get rid of your adverbs, cut some characters, tighten the plotting?
Sometimes, yes, ideas are outside of the box and editors don't want to gamble their careers on them.
But if you make sure your book is well-written, well-plotted, well-characterized, with good dialog, a strong voice, etc. etc. etc., your chance of getting that off-the-wall idea accepted is much, much, much higher.
My bottom line: Rejection hurts, but it should be a challenge for you to write better and stronger, not an excuse to rail that the world doesn't understand you. :-) (Well, ok, you can, but still get back in and write stronger stories.)
And soon all the nos and maybes will become an ecstatic yes!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
More on Money--from Sabrina Jeffries
Sabrina Jeffries has a very good explanation of how print authors make money (and how much) on her site: http://www.sabrinajeffries.com/big-misunderstanding-about-money.php
Read this along with my own post about money, to learn "what authors really make." I get asked a lot why I write so many books under so many different names--this is why! (well, one of the reasons why). Enjoy!
Jennifer Ashley
http://www.jennifersromances.com/
Read this along with my own post about money, to learn "what authors really make." I get asked a lot why I write so many books under so many different names--this is why! (well, one of the reasons why). Enjoy!
Jennifer Ashley
http://www.jennifersromances.com/
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
RWA Nationals
I posted the saga of my journey through RWA Nationals on my other blog: www.jennifersromances.blogspot.com
Exciting stuff--my personal account of Nationals, plus winning the Rita and so forth. Scroll all the way down to start at Wednesday and work your way back up.
I hope once I get a little caught up to get this blog back to regular posts. I have lots to say about the industry and more interviews to post.
Jennifer
Exciting stuff--my personal account of Nationals, plus winning the Rita and so forth. Scroll all the way down to start at Wednesday and work your way back up.
I hope once I get a little caught up to get this blog back to regular posts. I have lots to say about the industry and more interviews to post.
Jennifer
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Love, Double-Shots, and Lois Winston
Today, I'm talking to Lois Winston, a fairly new author (her second book, Love, Lies, & a Double-Shot of Deception is a June release from Dorchester), about humor and her venture into publishing.
Lois's first book was Talk Gertie To Me (Dorchester, April 2006) a combination chick lit/hen lit/romantic comedy with a touch of the paranormal, and has won several awards and received nominations for plenty more.
JA: Your books have fun titles, great humor, and thoughtfulness. Why were you drawn to writing these particular kind of books? What about the subgenre do you like?
Lois: I don’t know who first coined the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine,” but I’ve found it to be very true. We’re bombarded each day by television, radio, and print news containing horrific stories -- murder, rape, war, famine, poverty, disease. When I pick up a book, I don’t want to read more of the same. I want an escape. That’s why I love romance and novels with romantic elements. I know I’ll always be guaranteed a happy ending, or at least a rich, satisfying ending. Same goes for the movies I watch. You’ll never catch me at a horror flick or an art film where everyone dies at the end. I want to be entertained at the movies, not scared to death or depressed.
Because my favorite books are the ones that make me laugh, I suppose it was only natural that my writing traveled down that path. I get a tremendous amount of pleasure each time someone tells me they laughed out loud while reading one of my books. So even when I write romantic suspense, I don’t write dark, gritty, violent romantic suspense. I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s nightmares. I’d rather be responsible for that embarrassing moment when they laughed out loud while reading one of my books on a train or bus.
I have to give chick lit credit for developing my comedic voice. Even though I don’t write straight chick lit, my voice is a direct result of the chick lit influence. My characters -- no matter their age -- are infused with that wry sensibility often found in chick lit. It’s either that or my New York attitude. Or maybe a combination of both. You can exile the city girl to the suburbs, but she’ll always be a city girl at heart.
JA: Do you have any advice for writers trying to get past the “gate” and into publication?
Lois: Write the best damn book you can. Then make it even better. Voice is key. The market is so tough that it’s not good enough to have a wonderful story. It has to be a wonderful story told in a unique, engaging voice. You need to hook an editor with your very first sentence and keep her hooked through 300 - 400 pages. With so many manuscripts vying for a limited number of slots, you don’t want to give an editor any excuse to put your manuscript down. You want to be responsible for keeping her up all night because she just had to finish that manuscript.
JA: What has been your best experience about getting published? Your worst?
Lois: The best experience? I don’t know that I can winnow it down to one. Knowing that I accomplished what I set out to do is certainly high up on the list. There’s no experience like the first time you walk into a bookstore and see your book on the shelf. Fan mail would be another. That a total stranger would take the time to write to me to say how much she enjoyed my book definitely ranks up there. Reviewers who tell the world to read my books? They deserve a special place in Heaven. Judges who have bestowed awards on my books? They’re up there right next to the reviewers. Each one of these things is a Sally Field moment for me. (They like me; they really like me!) I’m both thrilled and humbled by these events. So choosing one best experience is impossible.
As for the worst? I’d have to say that’s probably the wait between sales, the worry that I’ll be a one-book-wonder or now a two-book-wonder. Selling a book is no guarantee of a lifetime of sales. The worry never goes away. (Although a multi-book contract with a fat advance would go a long way to lessening the worry!)
JA: Thank you, Lois, taking time to answer my questions, and best of luck, on your current release! I understand it's already getting fabulous reviews.
Lois also works at the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Her website is http://www.loiswinston.com Since I forgot she worked at an agency, I'll have to ask her more questions about that aspect of her life!
Lois's first book was Talk Gertie To Me (Dorchester, April 2006) a combination chick lit/hen lit/romantic comedy with a touch of the paranormal, and has won several awards and received nominations for plenty more.
JA: Your books have fun titles, great humor, and thoughtfulness. Why were you drawn to writing these particular kind of books? What about the subgenre do you like?
Lois: I don’t know who first coined the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine,” but I’ve found it to be very true. We’re bombarded each day by television, radio, and print news containing horrific stories -- murder, rape, war, famine, poverty, disease. When I pick up a book, I don’t want to read more of the same. I want an escape. That’s why I love romance and novels with romantic elements. I know I’ll always be guaranteed a happy ending, or at least a rich, satisfying ending. Same goes for the movies I watch. You’ll never catch me at a horror flick or an art film where everyone dies at the end. I want to be entertained at the movies, not scared to death or depressed.
Because my favorite books are the ones that make me laugh, I suppose it was only natural that my writing traveled down that path. I get a tremendous amount of pleasure each time someone tells me they laughed out loud while reading one of my books. So even when I write romantic suspense, I don’t write dark, gritty, violent romantic suspense. I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s nightmares. I’d rather be responsible for that embarrassing moment when they laughed out loud while reading one of my books on a train or bus.
I have to give chick lit credit for developing my comedic voice. Even though I don’t write straight chick lit, my voice is a direct result of the chick lit influence. My characters -- no matter their age -- are infused with that wry sensibility often found in chick lit. It’s either that or my New York attitude. Or maybe a combination of both. You can exile the city girl to the suburbs, but she’ll always be a city girl at heart.
JA: Do you have any advice for writers trying to get past the “gate” and into publication?
Lois: Write the best damn book you can. Then make it even better. Voice is key. The market is so tough that it’s not good enough to have a wonderful story. It has to be a wonderful story told in a unique, engaging voice. You need to hook an editor with your very first sentence and keep her hooked through 300 - 400 pages. With so many manuscripts vying for a limited number of slots, you don’t want to give an editor any excuse to put your manuscript down. You want to be responsible for keeping her up all night because she just had to finish that manuscript.
JA: What has been your best experience about getting published? Your worst?
Lois: The best experience? I don’t know that I can winnow it down to one. Knowing that I accomplished what I set out to do is certainly high up on the list. There’s no experience like the first time you walk into a bookstore and see your book on the shelf. Fan mail would be another. That a total stranger would take the time to write to me to say how much she enjoyed my book definitely ranks up there. Reviewers who tell the world to read my books? They deserve a special place in Heaven. Judges who have bestowed awards on my books? They’re up there right next to the reviewers. Each one of these things is a Sally Field moment for me. (They like me; they really like me!) I’m both thrilled and humbled by these events. So choosing one best experience is impossible.
As for the worst? I’d have to say that’s probably the wait between sales, the worry that I’ll be a one-book-wonder or now a two-book-wonder. Selling a book is no guarantee of a lifetime of sales. The worry never goes away. (Although a multi-book contract with a fat advance would go a long way to lessening the worry!)
JA: Thank you, Lois, taking time to answer my questions, and best of luck, on your current release! I understand it's already getting fabulous reviews.
Lois also works at the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Her website is http://www.loiswinston.com Since I forgot she worked at an agency, I'll have to ask her more questions about that aspect of her life!
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Research by Sandra Schwab
I am finally back and mostly recovered from RT (though I seem to be sick today). Apologies for the lapse in blogs--RT usually takes the stuffing out of me! Fun but draining.
Today, I have invited a fairly new author, Sandra Schwab, to talk about research. Her book, Castle of the Wolf, is a May release from Dorchester/Love Spell.
Sandra says: I’m one of the people who loves doing research: I love delving into the history of everyday life and digging up old gossip and scandal. However, research often proves to be a difficult hurdle for beginner-writers of historical romances.
What is the best way to research a specific era of history? How and where do I find relevant material? And how do I incorporate the research into my novel and keep the balance between historical detail and the story? So let’s have a look at this:
What is the best way to research a specific era of history?
Research should always move from the general to the specific. While most romances do not greatly touch upon political events, it is a good idea to read a general overview of the era you have chosen as a setting for your story. This enables you to gain a basic knowledge of that era, which will become the basis for all of your future research. Once you've got a general idea of the political history of the time, you'll need to find out what the everyday life of people was like. Things you should research include
How and where do I find relevant material?
Thanks to the internet, research has become very easy today: you can visit websites of various libraries and museums worldwide, you'll find collections of primary literature online (e.g. the Project Gutenberg), you can order books online (I absolutely adore abebooks -- it’s wonderful for finding old books!), and you'll also find an enormous amount of pictures and photographs online. So don't be afraid of the research! It's easier than it was ever before.
How do I incorporate the research into my novel?
In fiction writing you always have to find the balance between pure background description and the story / your characters. Historical background is just one facet of this. Some suggestions how to handle historical background:
Today, I have invited a fairly new author, Sandra Schwab, to talk about research. Her book, Castle of the Wolf, is a May release from Dorchester/Love Spell.
Sandra says: I’m one of the people who loves doing research: I love delving into the history of everyday life and digging up old gossip and scandal. However, research often proves to be a difficult hurdle for beginner-writers of historical romances.
What is the best way to research a specific era of history? How and where do I find relevant material? And how do I incorporate the research into my novel and keep the balance between historical detail and the story? So let’s have a look at this:
What is the best way to research a specific era of history?
Research should always move from the general to the specific. While most romances do not greatly touch upon political events, it is a good idea to read a general overview of the era you have chosen as a setting for your story. This enables you to gain a basic knowledge of that era, which will become the basis for all of your future research. Once you've got a general idea of the political history of the time, you'll need to find out what the everyday life of people was like. Things you should research include
- architecture and housing (what did the houses look like? what was the set-up of a castle / a Regency town house? how was an estate run?)
- fashion (things to wear for your heroine and hero!)
- food (what kind of food was available for normal people / for the nobility? how was it served? how was it eaten?)
- entertainments (what did people do in their leisure time? where there fairs or parks? what kind of games were played?), etc.
- The Writer's Guide series from Writer's Digest Books, ranging from Sherrilyn Kenyon's The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages: The British Isles from 500 to 1500 (1999) to Marc McCutcheon's The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life from Prohibition Through World War II (1995)
- Sharon H. Laudermilk and Teresa L. Hamlin. The Regency Companion. New York: Garland, 1989.
- on architecture and housing: Christina Hardyment. Behind the Scenes: Domestic Arrangements in Historic Houses. London: National Trust, 1997.
- on fashion: C. Willett Cunnington. English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. 1937. New York: Dover, 1990.
- on food: Jane Pettigrew. A Social History of Tea. London: National Trust, 2001.
- on entertainments: Catherine Perry Hargrave. A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming. 1930. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2000.
- books which are published by museums (e.g. the V&A in London) and which highlight specific parts of their collections. These books usually contain many photographs.
- children's books like the See Through History series or the Eyewitness Guides: they contain many, sometimes very detailed illustrations with easy explanations
- guidebooks on specific castles or stately houses (neat for creating your hero's manor house)
How and where do I find relevant material?
Thanks to the internet, research has become very easy today: you can visit websites of various libraries and museums worldwide, you'll find collections of primary literature online (e.g. the Project Gutenberg), you can order books online (I absolutely adore abebooks -- it’s wonderful for finding old books!), and you'll also find an enormous amount of pictures and photographs online. So don't be afraid of the research! It's easier than it was ever before.
How do I incorporate the research into my novel?
In fiction writing you always have to find the balance between pure background description and the story / your characters. Historical background is just one facet of this. Some suggestions how to handle historical background:
- When you build scenes, use illustrations and photographs to help you visualize the setting.
- Include historical background in an unobstrusive way, i.e. don't throw your readers out of the story by giving endless, most detailed descriptions. Instead, make it part of the story: in The Lily Brand, Chinese decorations add to the apprehensive atmosphere of the reunion scene and foreshadow the hero's animosity: "Lillian's gaze was caught by the black dragons that curled threateningly across the bright red wallpaper and chased each other on the Chinese lanterns on the lacquered side tables. The feet of these were formed like the paws of a lion, with sharp golden claws that might tear through a man's flesh and bone." => escalation when hero enters the room: "Black dragons curled on the walls on each side of him as he strode toward them, tall and broud-shouldered, as graceful as a big cat."
- Try to keep explanations short.
- Never let a character give an explanation that is obviously only included for the reader's sake.
- Credit your readers with some intelligence: some things don't need to be explicitly explained, sometimes the context is enough, e.g. the betting book at White's is a) pretty much self-explanatory, imo, and b) by now most readers of Regency romances would know that there was a betting book at White's
And now ... Happy history hunting!
****
Thank you Sandy! This is terrific information. I just finished writing a book revolving around Elizabeth I, and I was up to my ears in books, maps, pictures, charts, and a ton of material from the Internet--and I already knew quite a bit about Tudor history!
Never be afraid of research, though, as she says. You will be amazed at how many ideas for characters, plots, and incidents you can find while leafing through historical material.
Read more about Sandy's intriguing and different historical romances at: http://www.sandraschwab.com
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Da Money
I’m going to post today about something everyone wants to talk about--and no one wants to talk about.
How much can you really make writing these books anyway??
A few years ago when I was giving a talk, a young woman raised her hand and told me that one of her professors told her that she couldn’t make any money writing romance novels. I replied that writers like Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Christine Feehan would likely be surprised to hear that.
There is much negativity surrounding the $$ in publishing. It is true that not as many people read now as they did before. Print runs are no longer commonly in the millions. There are so many published romance authors that our share of the diminishing pot has diminished.
But guess what? There is still money out there. Some romance authors are getting high six-figure to seven-figure advances. Authors are getting 200-500K print runs per title. Not everyone, of course. The majority of romance authors get five-figure advances, anywhere from low to high.
So how much can you really make? Let’s look at some concrete numbers.
You can have your book hit USA Today top 150 with a print run of 100,000. So let’s say you signed with a publisher, their marketing dept. got excited about you because your book was so well written and so marketable, and they got the booksellers to order 95,000 total.
Your print run will likely be about 100K. (Print runs are based on how many books the booksellers decide to order, not how much your editor loves you.)
Your book sells for $6.99. I’ll round that up to $7.00 to make math easier. You signed a contract that said you get 8% royalty. So for each book sold at retail cover price, you get about 56 cents a book.
I’m going to round that down to 50 cents--because books sold through discount book clubs and the like are usually sold at both lower cover price and usually lower royalty rate (although you can negotiate this point in your contract). But let's say in this example your average is 50 cents a book.
The book releases, those first books sell quickly enough that bookstores reorder and you ship out your entire 100K run.
Good for you. But—on average, most mass market paperbacks have about a 50% sell-through. Meaning that for every book sold, one gets returned unsold. (Hopefully you’ll sell better than that, but let’s say 50% for sake of example).
50% of a 100K run = 50,000 books. On each book you earn an average of 50 cents. 50 cents times 50K books = $25,000. If your publisher gave you a $20,000 advance for this book, you’ve earned that out and are due a royalty check (for simplicity’s sake I won’t go in to the money they hold back for returns).
Now if you’re smokin’ hot and readers love your book, and you sell 80,000 of those 100K copies, then your total earning is $40,000 and your royalty check will be $20,000 (‘cause remember, you already got your $20K advance.)
You get sell through like this in six-months to a year. After that, unless you have a blockbuster, your sales will still trickle in, but nothing like what you did the first six months.
Of course, this is a very simplified example. It does not take into account secondary rights—foreign translations, movie options, TV options, audio books—any bonuses, and much, much more. It also does not take into account the reserves held against returns, usually 18% of your royalties in the first year. (We all hate reserves, but they happen.)
Please keep in mind this is for ONE book. You will not live your life on the proceeds for one book (unless it’s a huge blockbuster, and even then, people will get tired of it). You will write anywhere from one to four books a year (don’t be like me and write seven 100K word-ers—you need a life.)
That means that you’ll get your turn-in advance for book three about the same time you start getting royalties from book one. You’ll get turn-in for book four as you get royalties for book two and book one. Turn-in $$ for book five as you get royalties for books one, two, and three. Plus all those secondary things you can sell, plus what you get when you sign new contracts—it all adds up.
Trust me, royalty income is a good thing. What you have to learn is not to expect it to come to a schedule (and certainly not your schedule, LOL), and you should expect the amounts to wildly flux. A key to earning a living as a writer is good budgeting—a subject beyond the scope of my blog!
I was going to go on about the importance of marketability (so those booksellers will want to order 100,000 books), but I think that’s enough for now. Another day, another blog.
So you see what I’m getting at—you can make a living, but you have to work at it! I’m always amused by people who tell me they want to be a writer someday so they can stop working. Sorry! This is the hardest job I’ve ever done.
It’s also the most fun and most rewarding job I’ve ever had.
Be flexible, don’t get discouraged, keep writing, keep believing.
I’ll be at RT next week, so my blog will be on hold until the week after. Take care!
Jennifer
www.jennifersromances.com
How much can you really make writing these books anyway??
A few years ago when I was giving a talk, a young woman raised her hand and told me that one of her professors told her that she couldn’t make any money writing romance novels. I replied that writers like Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Christine Feehan would likely be surprised to hear that.
There is much negativity surrounding the $$ in publishing. It is true that not as many people read now as they did before. Print runs are no longer commonly in the millions. There are so many published romance authors that our share of the diminishing pot has diminished.
But guess what? There is still money out there. Some romance authors are getting high six-figure to seven-figure advances. Authors are getting 200-500K print runs per title. Not everyone, of course. The majority of romance authors get five-figure advances, anywhere from low to high.
So how much can you really make? Let’s look at some concrete numbers.
You can have your book hit USA Today top 150 with a print run of 100,000. So let’s say you signed with a publisher, their marketing dept. got excited about you because your book was so well written and so marketable, and they got the booksellers to order 95,000 total.
Your print run will likely be about 100K. (Print runs are based on how many books the booksellers decide to order, not how much your editor loves you.)
Your book sells for $6.99. I’ll round that up to $7.00 to make math easier. You signed a contract that said you get 8% royalty. So for each book sold at retail cover price, you get about 56 cents a book.
I’m going to round that down to 50 cents--because books sold through discount book clubs and the like are usually sold at both lower cover price and usually lower royalty rate (although you can negotiate this point in your contract). But let's say in this example your average is 50 cents a book.
The book releases, those first books sell quickly enough that bookstores reorder and you ship out your entire 100K run.
Good for you. But—on average, most mass market paperbacks have about a 50% sell-through. Meaning that for every book sold, one gets returned unsold. (Hopefully you’ll sell better than that, but let’s say 50% for sake of example).
50% of a 100K run = 50,000 books. On each book you earn an average of 50 cents. 50 cents times 50K books = $25,000. If your publisher gave you a $20,000 advance for this book, you’ve earned that out and are due a royalty check (for simplicity’s sake I won’t go in to the money they hold back for returns).
Now if you’re smokin’ hot and readers love your book, and you sell 80,000 of those 100K copies, then your total earning is $40,000 and your royalty check will be $20,000 (‘cause remember, you already got your $20K advance.)
You get sell through like this in six-months to a year. After that, unless you have a blockbuster, your sales will still trickle in, but nothing like what you did the first six months.
Of course, this is a very simplified example. It does not take into account secondary rights—foreign translations, movie options, TV options, audio books—any bonuses, and much, much more. It also does not take into account the reserves held against returns, usually 18% of your royalties in the first year. (We all hate reserves, but they happen.)
Please keep in mind this is for ONE book. You will not live your life on the proceeds for one book (unless it’s a huge blockbuster, and even then, people will get tired of it). You will write anywhere from one to four books a year (don’t be like me and write seven 100K word-ers—you need a life.)
That means that you’ll get your turn-in advance for book three about the same time you start getting royalties from book one. You’ll get turn-in for book four as you get royalties for book two and book one. Turn-in $$ for book five as you get royalties for books one, two, and three. Plus all those secondary things you can sell, plus what you get when you sign new contracts—it all adds up.
Trust me, royalty income is a good thing. What you have to learn is not to expect it to come to a schedule (and certainly not your schedule, LOL), and you should expect the amounts to wildly flux. A key to earning a living as a writer is good budgeting—a subject beyond the scope of my blog!
I was going to go on about the importance of marketability (so those booksellers will want to order 100,000 books), but I think that’s enough for now. Another day, another blog.
So you see what I’m getting at—you can make a living, but you have to work at it! I’m always amused by people who tell me they want to be a writer someday so they can stop working. Sorry! This is the hardest job I’ve ever done.
It’s also the most fun and most rewarding job I’ve ever had.
Be flexible, don’t get discouraged, keep writing, keep believing.
I’ll be at RT next week, so my blog will be on hold until the week after. Take care!
Jennifer
www.jennifersromances.com
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Romance Template?
AH asked a good question in the comments, and I'll answer it for this week's post:
"Jennifer, I have a question about writing Romance. Is there a general template? For example, I know there needs to be a Black Moment just before the end, but is there a general pattern to follow such as Chapter 1 "this happens", Chapter 2 "this happens" and so on? Thanks, AH"
Jennifer says: Let me preface my answer by saying that I write single-title romance, and not category/series (e.g., the line romances published by Harlequin/Silhouette). Series romance has it's own "rules," and while I don't think there's anything as hard and fast as "Chapter 1 has X," "Chapter 2 has Y," editors do like to see certain things fall in certain places. See HQ's guidelines or better still, read a gob of HQ/Sil books of a certain line to fine the rhythms and patterns.
Ok, back to single title. Single Title romance, btw, if you don't know the term, refers to most mass market paperback books on the shelves that are not line romances by HQ/Sil. I'm talking about the thick paperbacks with the glossy covers and raised, shiny letters, many by blockbuster bestsellers. Single Title publishers are Berkley, Bantam, NAL, Leisure, Kensington/Zebra, Avon, and so forth. (All right HQN, which is by Harlequin, are also single title romances, just to confuse you.)
And the answer is: No, there is no template, no rules about what's in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc. Anything goes!
Well, within reason. You do need to get in a couple things right up front in your romance. Those are:
Introduction of the hero, his goal, and what keeps him from it.
Introduction of the heroine, her goal, and what keeps her from it
Introduction of the villain (if you have one), his/her goal, and what keeps him/her from it
Once these characters are introduced, the main plot problem of the story will be (should be, anyway) in place, because the main plot arises from the goals/hindrances of the h/h and villain.
Whether you do Chapter 1--hero, Chapter 2--heroine, or two scenes in one chapter introducing them both, or hero, heroine, and villain all appearing on the first few pages doesn't really matter.
A Note: In single-title romance, your h/h do NOT have to meet on the first page. They should meet when the story naturally brings them together. The reader should meet them and anticipate these two meeting, but you don't have to shove them together in Chapter 1. (I personally like the h/h together as early and as often as possible, but I've read terrific books when they don't meet until page 75.)
The rest of the story: The remainder of your book follows from what your h/h are trying to or need to do and what's stopping them.
I'm obviously being very simplistic here, but I've learned one important lesson from writing nearly twenty-three books for publication: Keep it Simple!
New writers have the tendency to shove everything they possibly can into one 450 page manuscript, but resist the temptation. Put in only what is necessary, save your other brilliant ideas for your next book. Few of us any more are going to write one masterpiece and live off its royalties for the rest of our lives, so count on writing a lot if you truly want to be a writer.
To recap:
Begin your romance novel by introducing the readers to the hero, the heroine, and the villain (if you have a villain). By now the readers know the main problem your characters must overcome.
The middle of the story consists of incidents (not many, stick to three or four) that move your plot forward--things the h/h try to solve their problem(s) but which don't work, miring them in deeper.
The Black Moment, when your hero and heroine decide to risk everything even though they are certain they are in a no-win situation. (A classic example is the hero decides to let the heroine go, because he knows that as much as he needs her, he'll make her miserable if he keeps her with him. He risks his own happiness to ensure hers.)
The Reward: After the h/h risk everything, they are rewarded by gaining everything. (The heroine returns to the hero on her own, because she loves him enough to stay with him and bring happiness into his life.)
I confess I'm a "pantser," which means I don't draw out my plot in detail before I begin. I have an idea of my characters, and then I just start off and see what happens. I don't like to know how books turn out before I read them, and I don't like to know when I write them, either! :-)
So that was the long answer to "Is there a romance template?" The short answer is: "Not really."
Take care,
Jennifer
www.jennifersromances.com
"Jennifer, I have a question about writing Romance. Is there a general template? For example, I know there needs to be a Black Moment just before the end, but is there a general pattern to follow such as Chapter 1 "this happens", Chapter 2 "this happens" and so on? Thanks, AH"
Jennifer says: Let me preface my answer by saying that I write single-title romance, and not category/series (e.g., the line romances published by Harlequin/Silhouette). Series romance has it's own "rules," and while I don't think there's anything as hard and fast as "Chapter 1 has X," "Chapter 2 has Y," editors do like to see certain things fall in certain places. See HQ's guidelines or better still, read a gob of HQ/Sil books of a certain line to fine the rhythms and patterns.
Ok, back to single title. Single Title romance, btw, if you don't know the term, refers to most mass market paperback books on the shelves that are not line romances by HQ/Sil. I'm talking about the thick paperbacks with the glossy covers and raised, shiny letters, many by blockbuster bestsellers. Single Title publishers are Berkley, Bantam, NAL, Leisure, Kensington/Zebra, Avon, and so forth. (All right HQN, which is by Harlequin, are also single title romances, just to confuse you.)
And the answer is: No, there is no template, no rules about what's in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc. Anything goes!
Well, within reason. You do need to get in a couple things right up front in your romance. Those are:
Introduction of the hero, his goal, and what keeps him from it.
Introduction of the heroine, her goal, and what keeps her from it
Introduction of the villain (if you have one), his/her goal, and what keeps him/her from it
Once these characters are introduced, the main plot problem of the story will be (should be, anyway) in place, because the main plot arises from the goals/hindrances of the h/h and villain.
Whether you do Chapter 1--hero, Chapter 2--heroine, or two scenes in one chapter introducing them both, or hero, heroine, and villain all appearing on the first few pages doesn't really matter.
A Note: In single-title romance, your h/h do NOT have to meet on the first page. They should meet when the story naturally brings them together. The reader should meet them and anticipate these two meeting, but you don't have to shove them together in Chapter 1. (I personally like the h/h together as early and as often as possible, but I've read terrific books when they don't meet until page 75.)
The rest of the story: The remainder of your book follows from what your h/h are trying to or need to do and what's stopping them.
I'm obviously being very simplistic here, but I've learned one important lesson from writing nearly twenty-three books for publication: Keep it Simple!
New writers have the tendency to shove everything they possibly can into one 450 page manuscript, but resist the temptation. Put in only what is necessary, save your other brilliant ideas for your next book. Few of us any more are going to write one masterpiece and live off its royalties for the rest of our lives, so count on writing a lot if you truly want to be a writer.
To recap:
Begin your romance novel by introducing the readers to the hero, the heroine, and the villain (if you have a villain). By now the readers know the main problem your characters must overcome.
The middle of the story consists of incidents (not many, stick to three or four) that move your plot forward--things the h/h try to solve their problem(s) but which don't work, miring them in deeper.
The Black Moment, when your hero and heroine decide to risk everything even though they are certain they are in a no-win situation. (A classic example is the hero decides to let the heroine go, because he knows that as much as he needs her, he'll make her miserable if he keeps her with him. He risks his own happiness to ensure hers.)
The Reward: After the h/h risk everything, they are rewarded by gaining everything. (The heroine returns to the hero on her own, because she loves him enough to stay with him and bring happiness into his life.)
I confess I'm a "pantser," which means I don't draw out my plot in detail before I begin. I have an idea of my characters, and then I just start off and see what happens. I don't like to know how books turn out before I read them, and I don't like to know when I write them, either! :-)
So that was the long answer to "Is there a romance template?" The short answer is: "Not really."
Take care,
Jennifer
www.jennifersromances.com
Monday, April 2, 2007
The Fire Within
Penny asked a very good question on the last post. First let me offer apologies for being late on this blog. I had to do back-to-back out of town trips in March and of course caught a bad cold from it, plus had to finish revisions on two books, not to mention numerous other tasks. I'm slowly catching up to myself--I'm only a few days behind schedule now, very exciting!!
All that is relevant to my post here. Penny asked how you keep writing through times of personal stress and life-changing events. Some writers tell me it's easy to write when their lives are stressful, because writing is a therapeutic escape for them. For me, on the other hand, personal and family troubles tend to intrude on the creative process and make focusing difficult.
I write best when times are peaceful and even when I’m a little bit bored—my stories are sure to be more interesting than my own life!
But sometimes you need or want to write (in my case, I often have a tight schedule) when there are stressful or even traumatic happenings in your own life. What do you do?
That's when I look for what I call "The Fire." There is s place deep inside you that no one--not family, or friends, or spouse, or your mother--can ever touch. It is the essence of you. It's what gives you your strange, unusual, or meaningful dreams, what gives you inspriation. The Fire is what gets that book out of you, what makes that story yours and no one else's.
How do you find and touch that Fire? It's not easy (of course not!). What I do is sit down and write rather mindlessly. I don't try to be good. I do what I heard from another writer about ten years ago: Allow yourself to be bad.
Just put words down that get your characters from A to B. If nothing exciting is happening in one section of the story, skip to a section where it is interesting.
THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR STORY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE GOOD!
No one ever needs to see it. This is you telling the story of your heart, typing until 400 pages are filled. This story belongs to you and you alone, not to critiquers or editors or the rest of the world. No one can tell you it's wrong.
If you think it's crud, no matter, you have plenty of opportunity to fix it before you send it to an editor or a contest or even your critique partner. And who knows, you might not ever want to show this story to anyone! It's perfectly ok to write a novel just to write it, just for yourself--to test your boundaries, to let go in a world all your own, to try something new.
The business of publishing books and the art of writing books are two entirely different things--always remember that.
Back to The Fire:
While you are sitting there typing mindlessly (500 words a day or 5000 words a day, it doesn't matter), the Fire will happen. When you are least looking for it, suddenly there is a spark deep inside you from that place no one knows but you. You will feel it--the excitement, the flush, the sudden light-bulb coming on--you inside your story saying: This is what I mean! When that happens, just go with it. Write. Free flow. Let it happen.
I guarantee one of two things: The Fire will either produce your very best prose writing, or it will produce your very worst. That doesn't matter. If it's the best prose, cool. If it's the worst, you can fix it--what came out of you is the heart of the story; it doesn't matter if your sentences are clunky. Clunky sentences are easy to fix. Because even if you have to polish up the words, you've found the essence of the story and dragged it onto your canvas.
I hope this makes sense. I really does happen, even when you're sick of the story, bored with your characters, and upset about something in your personal life.
Train yourself to sit and write a set amount every day (500 words, 1000 words, five pages, whatever), no matter how you feel (upset, tired, bored, angry, etc.) It doesn't matter whether the writing your sessions produce is good or not--any little amount will move you forward to the end.
Don't wait for The Fire to write--just write. It's when you are loosened up and letting it happen that The Fire will come. There's nothing quite like it.
All that is relevant to my post here. Penny asked how you keep writing through times of personal stress and life-changing events. Some writers tell me it's easy to write when their lives are stressful, because writing is a therapeutic escape for them. For me, on the other hand, personal and family troubles tend to intrude on the creative process and make focusing difficult.
I write best when times are peaceful and even when I’m a little bit bored—my stories are sure to be more interesting than my own life!
But sometimes you need or want to write (in my case, I often have a tight schedule) when there are stressful or even traumatic happenings in your own life. What do you do?
That's when I look for what I call "The Fire." There is s place deep inside you that no one--not family, or friends, or spouse, or your mother--can ever touch. It is the essence of you. It's what gives you your strange, unusual, or meaningful dreams, what gives you inspriation. The Fire is what gets that book out of you, what makes that story yours and no one else's.
How do you find and touch that Fire? It's not easy (of course not!). What I do is sit down and write rather mindlessly. I don't try to be good. I do what I heard from another writer about ten years ago: Allow yourself to be bad.
Just put words down that get your characters from A to B. If nothing exciting is happening in one section of the story, skip to a section where it is interesting.
THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR STORY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE GOOD!
No one ever needs to see it. This is you telling the story of your heart, typing until 400 pages are filled. This story belongs to you and you alone, not to critiquers or editors or the rest of the world. No one can tell you it's wrong.
If you think it's crud, no matter, you have plenty of opportunity to fix it before you send it to an editor or a contest or even your critique partner. And who knows, you might not ever want to show this story to anyone! It's perfectly ok to write a novel just to write it, just for yourself--to test your boundaries, to let go in a world all your own, to try something new.
The business of publishing books and the art of writing books are two entirely different things--always remember that.
Back to The Fire:
While you are sitting there typing mindlessly (500 words a day or 5000 words a day, it doesn't matter), the Fire will happen. When you are least looking for it, suddenly there is a spark deep inside you from that place no one knows but you. You will feel it--the excitement, the flush, the sudden light-bulb coming on--you inside your story saying: This is what I mean! When that happens, just go with it. Write. Free flow. Let it happen.
I guarantee one of two things: The Fire will either produce your very best prose writing, or it will produce your very worst. That doesn't matter. If it's the best prose, cool. If it's the worst, you can fix it--what came out of you is the heart of the story; it doesn't matter if your sentences are clunky. Clunky sentences are easy to fix. Because even if you have to polish up the words, you've found the essence of the story and dragged it onto your canvas.
I hope this makes sense. I really does happen, even when you're sick of the story, bored with your characters, and upset about something in your personal life.
Train yourself to sit and write a set amount every day (500 words, 1000 words, five pages, whatever), no matter how you feel (upset, tired, bored, angry, etc.) It doesn't matter whether the writing your sessions produce is good or not--any little amount will move you forward to the end.
Don't wait for The Fire to write--just write. It's when you are loosened up and letting it happen that The Fire will come. There's nothing quite like it.
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