Lucy Mitchell's Blog, page 22

Another Path To Getting Published #GuestPost Author Kim Findlay @missheyer74

I am delighted to bring you a guest post from romance author Kim Findlay. I am so glad my blog has enabled me to connect with Kim. She’s not only following her dream by writing romance books for Harlequin but she also spends her time writing and….sailing around the Caribbean. I am sure if things were different in the world Kim would have invited us all out onto her boat and whilst gazing out across turquoise waters, sipping cocktails, stretching out our tanned legs, she would have talked to us about the subject of her guest post.

Sadly we can’t all go visit Kim in the Carribean, but we can still enjoy her great guest post here on my blog.

Please give a warm welcome to Kim Findlay!

When we as writers think of being published, there are two obvious routes to follow.

One is to get an agent and be published traditionally. The problem with this option is that so much of the process is out of our hands: querying to find an agent who likes our work, waiting for a submission to be selected, publishing date, etc.

The other is to self-publish. For this you have to learn to format, do cover art and blurbs, and all your own marketing. Most of us writers tend to be introverts who have imposter syndrome on a regular basis, so promoting ourselves is really difficult. And if you’re like me, your technical skills are…limited.

As of the end of 2021, I will have eight books traditionally published, and I don’t have an agent. That’s a third option you might not have considered, so I’ll share my path, to date. Full disclosure: I am still seeking an agent, and considering self publishing some things I’ve written.

My biggest writing problem is having too many ideas and not enough time to write them all. I get part way through one book, and then along comes another shiny idea and I pursue that. But I knew someone who wrote for Harlequin, and she would post writing opportunities: not full manuscripts in the slush pile, but other types of openings.

The one that led to my two-book contract for Heartwarming titles published in 2018 was a blitz. To be honest, I’m not sure if they’re still doing those, but I think they had a couple in 2020. If you submit a synopsis and the first chapter, they promise a response within a set time frame, perhaps thirty days.

After submitting, I got an email indicating that the editor would like to see a full manuscript of this story. It was one I hadn’t completed, because, duh, I hadn’t completed any, but it got me to finish this one. I got an R&R back on it, but changed what was needed, and then, a few months later, an email saying, oh, we don’t have your phone number.

If you didn’t know, they never ask to call to tell you you’re a terrible writer and never bother them again.

That led to a two-book contract. Then, I had a bit of a dry spell, when they weren’t interested in more hockey books, and the rejection of another idea, but in September of 2019 I sent in a proposal that led to a three-book contract in January 2020. The first book in that Heartwarming series comes out February 1, 2021. (A Valentine’s Proposal – I’m learning to self-promote)

Thanks to the connection I had with my Heartwarming editor, I almost accidentally got a contract to write a Love Inspired Suspense story for a limited Cold Case series they were doing – that’s out in July 2021. That nugget of an idea came from a writing prompt on the Write for Harlequin website. And because of that I sent in a mostly completed LIS manuscript and they liked that enough to offer another contract. (Heavy revisions. I’m still confused that they offered a contract when I had to do so much to the book!)

I signed one other contract in 2020, for a kind of hybrid self/small traditional publisher. A successful indie author (1 million book sold, NYT bestseller) decided to publish books set in the world she’d created. I sent in a synopsis and got a contract, and I know it was the fact that I was published that made that work. Being published indicates that I know how to complete a project, meet deadlines, handle editing (without throwing a public hissy fit) and can write to a certain level.

No one path is right for everyone. But if you’re struggling with getting an agent, or overwhelmed by the idea of self publishing, this path I’m on might work for you. Harlequin isn’t the only publisher that accepts unagented submissions.

It’s important to read (and follow) the requirements, have someone read over your work to get outside eyeballs on it and behave like a professional. But at the end, you might find yourself with your opus magnus out in public, available for strangers to buy, and get paid for it too.

If you have any questions, I’m at KimFindlayAuthor on FB, @missheyer74 on Twitter, authorkimfindlay on Instagram, and my website is http://www.kimfindlay.ca. In case you wondered, some marketing is necessary, even with traditional publishing.

Creating a Book Cover That Doesn’t Suck: Five Tips For the Self-Published Author @AnneMitchell0 #writers

We are in for a treat today, readers. Author Anne Mitchell is here to talk about designing book covers. A subject close to all our book publishing hearts.

If you are thinking of self-publishing in the future or you are already out there with your books check out what Anne has to say below.

Please give a warm welcome to Anne.

Hello,

If you’re a self-published writer like me, you’re probably always trying to work out ways to keep your costs down. Which isn’t, let’s face it, all that easy.

It’s vital not to skimp on numerous important aspects of the self-publishing biz, the gurus tell us. Editing, proof-reading, advertising, marketing – all these need appropriate investment. However, the thing we really, REALLY shouldn’t be skimping on, they warn, is the cover. On no account should you try to do it yourself. It will inevitably suck, and even if your novel is brilliant, no one will ever find out because they won’t get any further than the c**p exterior.

But what if you simply don’t have that several hundred pounds or dollars it costs to outsource your cover to a decent designer? What if it’s DIY or nothing? I’ve been creating my own covers since I self-published my first book, Happy Hour, in 2012, and my first DIY covers truly did suck. But I’ve learned quite a few things over the years about creating a decent-looking cover, and I’d like to share some of them with you. 

Research, research, research. By this I mean look really carefully at covers of bestselling books in the same genre as yours. Your aim is to make your book resemble, as much as possible, the traditionally published books in its genre. Consider colours, fonts, whether photos or illustrations are used, whether there are common tropes such as a lone figure walking away from the camera (a staple of crime and thrillers). Compare ‘good’ covers (those that draw you in, giving you a good sense of the kind of book it is), with bad (too busy, confusing, ugly, not clearly conveying the genre). What are the good covers doing that the bad covers aren’t – and vice versa?

Forget illustrations. Unless you happen to be a professional artist or are related to one, I would forget about illustrations. Yes, vector illustrations are available fairly cheaply from sites like Shutterstock (more on that below), but it’s difficult for anyone who isn’t a graphic artist to put together a professional-looking cover using them. This throws up a particular problem in my own genre, contemporary romance, where 99% of the UK covers are artist-made illustrations. However, I noticed that this is far less true in the US market, where contemporary romance covers are more often created with photographs. So, since most of my readers hail from the US anyway, I decided I’d go with it and make my covers using photo stock. Which brings me to…

Choose your stock photograph(s) carefully. I use Shutterstock, where you can currently buy a pack of five images for £29 – excellent value, I’d say. There are thousands of images to choose from, but relatively few of them will be suitable for a cover. The photo you choose must satisfy several criteria: it must be striking in some way, it should convey the mood, tone and importantly the genre of your novel, it mustn’t be too busy or confusing, and there must be somewhere for your title to go. Fulfilling all these criteria whittles down the number of suitable images quite a bit. Shutterstock allows you to create ‘collections’, where you can save possible images without buying them. I have two collections, one from which I’ll choose the cover of my next book (it’s about a wedding venue, so weddings), and a general one to which I save images which I think could work as covers, but for which I don’t currently have a particular book in mind.

Choose your fonts carefully. Different genres tend to use fonts specific to them. Crime and thrillers, for example, tend towards strong colours and striking, sans-serif fonts, often in capitals. Whereas the covers of the contemporary fiction novels I’m aiming to emulate with my own covers often feature ‘traditional’ lower-case serif fonts in softer colours (‘serif’ by the way, means the little extra bits at the tops and bottoms of the strokes of the letters). Notice how the individual words in the titles aren’t all the same size, or necessarily the same colour. Play around with the size, colour and placement of your chosen font until you find something that looks right, then get at least two other opinions on it. One other thing I’ve noticed with a lot of self-published books, by the way: the title is too small. It should be at least large enough to read easily, of course, but it should also fill most of the space available that isn’t taken up with important features of the image. And whatever you do, don’t use a whacky or unusual font. It needs to be clear, readable and in line with other books in the same genre.

Keep trying. You probably won’t learn how to create good-looking covers in a day, a week or a month. And if your IT skills are negligible, as mine are, you’ll need to persuade/bribe someone to help you who’s reasonably familiar with Adobe Photoshop or similar. But I believe that with some work and some visual nous, most self-published authors could create decent-looking covers at a fraction of the cost of outsourcing them. So, are my own covers perfect? Definitely not. Would I outsource them to a designer if the day came when I could justify the cost? Probably. And it’s important to emphasise that I’m talking about ebook covers here. If and when I decide to get into paperbacks, I’ll have to get a designer involved. But in the meantime I enjoy putting my covers together; in fact – ahem – sometimes I enjoy it more than the actual writing. If you too decide to go ahead and have a go at creating your own cover, the best of luck to you. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Lucy for inviting me onto her wonderful blog to share a little of what I’ve learnt.

WHITE WEDDING BLUES

White Wedding Blues is my latest novel, published last month. 

Following the death of her father, Grace Allerton returns to Allerton Park, her vast, but crumbling family home. With no money left for repairs Grace decides to market Allerton as a wedding venue, facing strong opposition from her mother at every turn.

Then her ex, Charlie, makes a sudden reappearance in her life, along with Izzy, an old schoolfriend, who turns up to “help”. Throw in Ted Barker, a property developer who has Allerton earmarked for a retirement complex, and Grace’s head is in a spin.

Thank goodness for Sam, her loyal childhood friend. Grace doesn’t know what she’d do without him and hopes she’ll never have to find out. Sam will always be there for her …won’t he?

Will Grace be able to save Allerton Park, and will she ever find her own Mr. Right?

White Wedding Blues is available on Amazon here: http://getbook.at/WhiteWeddingBlues

Networking For Writers #BookReview #Writers @Lizzie_Chantree

As a writer and author this book caught my attention so when the book blog tour came up I couldn’t type ‘yes please’ fast enough.

This book is fabulous. Reading it can be likened to sitting down with a good writer friend, in my head over a creative lunch. *I miss these so much.* Whilst nibbling lovely food your good writer friend listens to all your issues with struggling to sell books and coming up with marketing ideas. We all know selling books is not easy. As if by magic your friend says with a sly wink; “it doesn’t have to be that hard. Let me show you.”

You then spend the next few hours gasping and staring in wonder at what your good writer friend tells you. Suddenly your creative world doesn’t feel so bleak.

If you are struggling with thinking up new ways to sell books…check out this fabulous book by Lizzie Chantree.

Here’s the blurb.

Are you swamped with book marketing and looking for a way to find new sales? Learn simple and effective networking techniques, to grow your readership and connect with other authors and book lovers, today!

Whether you are a new or experienced writer, self-published or traditionally published, this book will show you how to grow your readership and author network, through some of the most powerful of all marketing tools – word of mouth and recommendation.

This book will show you:
How networking can help you sell more books
Why author branding is important.
How networking hours work.
Specific Facebook groups for writers
How to utilise social media to grow your readership.
How not to waste valuable writing time.
How to make our marketing more effective.
Throughout Networking for Writers, we will explore running or attending book signings, hosting seminars, finding a writing buddy or mentor, author networking groups, social media planning and so much more.

Here’s my review:

I loved how Lizzie talked about all the good things which can come from writer networking. Until I read this book I didn’t really give thought to the value networking holds for a writer. It’s not only about sales but it’s about building your ‘bestseller support system.’ I couldn’t agree more with Lizzie’s quote.

One of the standouts is the way Lizzie talks about social media. She takes them all individually and gives you practical and easy tips. Sometimes we all need a book crammed full of social media hints and tips for authors. Well, this book covers them all – from Twitter lists to Pinterest Boards.

I loved the way Lizzie has written this book. Its just like a good writer friend would talk to you, in a warm and engaging way. She makes it sound so easy and you end up asking yourself – why am I not doing this?

The best bit is that Lizzie has put into practice all that she talks about in this book.

A fabulous read and I am going to follow Lizzie’s advice to see where networking takes me.

Purchase Link – viewbook.at/NetworkingForWriters

Author Bio –
International bestselling author and award-winning inventor, Lizzie Chantree, started her own business at the age of 18 and became one of Fair Play London and The Patent Office’s British Female Inventors of the Year in 2000. She discovered her love of writing fiction when her children were little and now works as a business mentor and runs a popular networking hour on social media, where creatives can support to each other. She writes books full of friendship and laughter, that are about women with unusual and adventurous businesses, who are far stronger than they realise. She lives with her family on the coast in Essex. Visit her website at http://www.lizziechantree.com or follow her on Twitter @Lizzie_Chantree https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Chantree .

Social Media Links –
Website: http://www.lizziechantree.com
Author page: https://www.viewAuthor.at/LizzieChantree
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Chantree
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LizzieChantree/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7391757.Lizzie_Chantree

5 Reasons Why You Should Focus on Location When Writing Fiction – Guest Post by @dgtlwriter #amwriting

Putting out a call for guest bloggers a few weeks ago was one of my best decisions so far of 2021. I have had a fabulous response and today is the first guest blog post of the new year.

Please give a warm welcome to romance novelist Emme Jordan who has come to take over my blog for the day.

The first 40 thousand words of my first novel involved a Chicago location. I live in Devon (useful for a fiction writer) and I’ve visited the wonderful city of Chicago many times. But the location wasn’t working for my romance storyline; I had as many bridges between chapters as the Chicago River has for pedestrians, except I had no idea of how to avoid being drenched.

So I made myself a cup of tea and had a think; my male protagonist (Cain) was supposed to be in the USA, his long-distance love (Lucy) lived in London. I possibly dunked a hob nob or two into my tea to aid the thinking.

What if Cain was British and from Cornwall, but worked in America? Lucy could still teach at her university in London. They could still spend time apart, with brief moments together. How is a relationship built when you’re 6000 miles from each other?

I rewrote the 40 thousand words – with the aid of the rest of the biscuit tin – removing Chicago altogether (and thanking Microsoft for Find/Replace). I’d heard of writer’s ruthlessly killing off their darlings during edits, but I was beginning to learn how important location is in a story. Here’s why, and what you should consider:

To connect with readers

Imagine your favourite book (Wuthering Heights) or film (Dirty Dancing) and put the characters in the opposite location. Cathy and Heathcliff pottering about the cobbles of London’s East End or Baby and Johnny in an LA club – the characters would probably act differently, the storyline would very likely change. Whether writers create their own locations (Hogwarts) or use familiar landmarks (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) to tell their stories, the visual images should connect with the reader, offering insights into character’s actions alongside your memorable backdrop.

For the ultimate escape

When I pick up a book I want to disappear for a few hours, whether to a location I’m unfamiliar with, or one I know very well. The story, rightly, is more important than location, otherwise I’d read one of my travel guides. As yet, the only book I think I’ve chosen to read because of location was Kiley Dunbar’s Christmas at Frozen Falls, because it’s set in the beautiful Finnish Lapland, which I went to a few years ago with Mini Reader and Kiley’s description is just gorgeous and spot on. Which leads us to the next point:

Do your research thoroughly

You don’t have to have visited a place to write about it. You may really, really want to visit one day, which is your reason for using that location in your writing. You may have even visited a very long time ago and have nostalgic memories of a place.

Wherever your location is, you should research and fact-check online. My second novel has so many locations in (neither character is a travel writer) that I had to reach for the biscuit tin again to decide if I needed to scale down the itinerary. But each destination has a purpose within the story and to remove one would necessitate another rewrite (which I’d have been happy to do, even if my waistline wasn’t). I’ve been to lots of the locations – Newquay (nurturing place for the artist), Nashville (music city), Hong Kong (transit city, unexpected behaviours), Thailand (stunning beaches) – but I still spent a lot of time researching, especially food, language, manners, time zones (for activities and meals during phone calls 12 hours apart). I once watched a 30 minute video from a keen traveller who had recorded the journey from Hong Kong airport to the city, which had been just what I needed so that I knew which side of the bus my passenger needed to be on to see the South China Sea up close. Whatever you need to know is out there, just check that your sources are reliable.

Add real and sensory information to your story

If I’m reading a description of a walk from a house to the sea, I want to be the friendly ghost walking behind the characters, hearing the same waves, seeing the different same shades of blue, smelling the same salt. I don’t want to trip over anything that halts the storyline, or distracts from their conversation, because the writer forgot to mention that it’s night time, the sun has set and the temperature has dropped. Taking time to add the right realistic and sensory information to your characters’ surrounds is like adding just the right amount of Cornish sea salt to your chips – too much and you’ll create the wrong impression with your readers. Just right and the scenes will resonate with readers long after the last page.

How much location?

As with your characters and their personalities, research and make notes on your location, even if it’s unnamed. You’ll know whether you’re dealing with a forest, a Nepalese mountain, a seaside village, or a city centre. Your story could include long, detailed journeys across the world (by train, plane or boat) or be told behind the closed doors of a deserted mansion (whether in the middle of nowhere or at the end of the road is up to you as a writer). You’ll know when you have just the right of information about your location, and when it’s over-riding the story…and when you’re planning your next trip instead of plotting your next scene.

Where are your favourite stories located?

About me – Emma Jordan

My travel romance series, Love is Everything, is available at your nearest Amazon.

Follow the sweet long-distance love of Lucy and Cain in Everything, Except You, then catch up with Lucy’s feisty sister Elle and Cain’s drummer, Jam in Everything and Nothing. There’s also a little winter read (which can be enjoyed in the summer, too) celebrating all four characters, and bringing in a couple more – Everything This Christmas.

My next novel in the series, Everything For Her, is due out in Summer 2021.

Love (really is everything)
Emma
@dgtlwriter

Emma Jordan, after travelling the world for most of her 20s and 30s,now lives in Devon, raising a mini reader and disappearing into as many romance reads as she can, via ebook and paperback. Is on social media a lot, and loves to say hello to readers. And non-readers.

Why You Should View Your Writing Failures As Storms #AmWriting #MondayBlogs

Storms can take many forms; there are the storms outside which loosen your house tiles, play havoc with your flower pots, fling your recycling bins down the street, flood parts of your home and drench everything in sight. There are the storms in your day to day life which disrupt relationships, friendships, careers and life dreams and there are storms in your finances which shake the foundations of your bank balance. I am not going to mention the pandemic storm we are all living through right now, just going to keep praying it passes soon.

There are also storms in your writing life; draft novels which still don’t work after the eighth draft, receiving too many stinging rejections, wanting to hide under the bed when your beta readers don’t like what you’ve done with your rewrite or when your bout of Writer’s Block takes such a hold of you quitting writing books seems like your only option.

I have done all sorts of things with writing failure; experienced it, avoided it, ignored it, buried it deep inside of me, tweeted about it, written blog posts about it, moaned about it, cried about it, drank too much wine whilst thinking about it, got down about it, laughed about it, had sleepless nights about it, written lengthy emails to writing friends about it and filled out hundreds of diary pages on it Recently I have started to see writing failure in a new way. I view it as a storm and guess what – it doesn’t sting anymore.

Here’s my thinking:

Storms are disruptive and chaotic, they bring havoc and turn lives upside down, however in nature they are in fact a blessing. They do all sorts of good things; create rainfall, clear the air, remove pollution, release energy, cool the earth and clear the way for new growth.

Storms in our writing life can also be seen as blessings.

They create new writing friendships. Some of my best creative friendships have started with a supportive blog comment or an encouraging tweet post a writing failure. The online writing community will give you a reassuring and warm virtual hug if you reach out and share your suffering.They clear the path for new characters and stories. I have created some great new characters, whilst trying to clear up the literary mess, after a writing failure. The universe feels bad for your story not working out and sends you a gift, in my case a wild and reckless main character who would bring me so much joy that I would end up forgetting all about my creative pain.Release energy inside of you which takes you in a new direction. Sometimes writing failures have pointed me in a new and interesting direction. I love this because my ‘I know best’ writing mindset would have prevented me from pursuing new directions.In the devastation they leave you with new knowledge. I have acquired new knowledge about writing with each failure. The universe knows I struggle to read writing craft books and take the advice of others, so it makes me learn new stuff through failure. Sigh The universe is so thoughtful. Hide treasure for you in the chaos. Whilst sifting through the wreckage of shelved stories I have discovered new story ideas, buried deep. Never delete or throw anything away when it comes to writing.Deepen your roots. I have learnt that you can’t buy perserverance and resilence on Amazon. It’s something you have to cultivate yourself. Overcoming writing failures will send your roots deeper into the creative earth so when the next storm comes you are stronger. The chance to to build again. We are so lucky as we get the chance to rewrite, modify and adjust our stories. Can you imagine if we were only allowed one attempt?A beautiful rainbow. You have to endure the storm to get this.

You only have to look at some great life quotes about storms to see where I am going with this idea:

‘When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what storms are all about.’ Haruki Murakami.

‘When all seems to be against you, remember a ship sometimes has to sail against the current, not with it.’ Matshona Dhilwayo.

‘Love your storms, they bring more than rain, they bring sunshine.’ Matshona Dhilwayo.

See your writing failures differently, writers. Your writing storm might not have come to cause you upset, it might have come to clear the path.

See you next week

#BookReview #2021reads Beneath Cornish Skies @KateRyder_Books

Firstly I am back after my festive blogging break and I would like to wish all of you a happy and healthy 2021. I have some amazing stuff lined up for my blog this year. Lots of fab books to be reviewed, loads of funny writing tales, some inspiring guest bloggers, and news of my next book

Thank You For All Your Support during 2020 ❤️📚

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone out there who has taken the time to read my blog posts in 2020. It means so much to me and you are all fabulous.

I also wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all those who have commented on my blog posts or taken the time to share them on social media. Seeing the shares always puts a smile on face.

The authors who have kindly let me review their books on my blog this year are also very grateful to you all.

Now I am going to take a few weeks off my blog to recharge my creative batteries

Hope you all have a nice Christmas. It’s going to be very different this year for many of us. Here in Wales we are going into lockdown at midnight so it will just be, my loved one and teenagers this year. I am going to miss my family in Leeds like crazy and will end up getting emotional on FaceTime after a few glasses of Christmas wine.

So much exciting stuff to talk about next year with you all.

Keep writing x

Thank You For All Your Support during 2020 ❤️

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone out there who has taken the time to read my blog posts in 2020. It means so much to me and you are all fabulous.

I also wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all those who have commented on my blog posts or taken the time to share them on social media. Seeing the shares always puts a smile on face.

The authors who have kindly let me review their books on my blog this year are also very grateful to you all.

Now I am going to take a few weeks off my blog to recharge my creative batteries

Thank You For All Your Support during 2020 ❤️

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone out there who has taken the time to read my blog posts in 2020. It means so much to me and you are all fabulous.

I also wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all those who have commented on my blog posts or taken the time to share them on social media. Seeing the shares always puts a smile on face.

The authors who have kindly let me review their books on my blog this year are also very grateful to you all.

Now I am going to take a few weeks off my blog to recharge my creative batteries

Thank You For All Your Support during 2020 ❤️

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone out there who has taken the time to read my blog posts in 2020. It means so much to me and you are all fabulous.

I also wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all those who have commented on my blog posts or taken the time to share them on social media. Seeing the shares always puts a smile on face.

The authors who have kindly let me review their books on my blog this year are also very grateful to you all.

Now I am going to take a few weeks off my blog to recharge my creative batteries