C. Margery Kempe's Blog: Lady Smut, page 210

Alt.Fiction

C. Margery Kempe here. This is where I am this weekend! Tuesday I'll be reading with Lucy Felthouse at the Leicester Library, 6pm.

[image error]

Market or Die by Jennifer Fusco

Jennifer, Welcome to Nights of Passion and congratulations on your new publication of "Market or Die: Sensible Brand Building Advice For Writers."  Thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed.  I know in your day job you work in the marketing field, so tell us what inspired you to put this book together for authors?

First of all, thanks for having me. I'm a big fan of Nights of Passion.   When I joined the Connecticut Chapter of RWA a year and a half ago, I noticed in our group we had many skilled authors who knew a great deal about writing and the craft but seemed confused when it came to marketing.  Marketing is a discipline. I knew, due to my work experience, I had a skill that could help authors I truly admired gain the attention they deserved.

With this economy and publishing being effected how important is marketing to the authors today?

In my view, it's essential.  If you look at the publishing industry from a business perspective you'll see an industry in a state of flux. With the rise of self publishing, it's important for all authors to understand the basics of marketing because with so many writers choosing self publishing if you don't market, and market correctly, there's a good chance you will get lost in the crowd.

I know you said the publishing process was more difficult that you had expected.  Would you share your experience with us?

That's a great question.  I never intended to self publish. EVER. I felt with my work schedule I wouldn't be able to meet the demands of self publishing. It was hard for me. I'm not very patient which made formatting the book an issue for me.  But, when Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, who attended one of my marketing for writers' workshops, said I should write this down and sell it now, I didn't hesitate.  I valued Sarah's opinion and industry knowledge. She knew I was speaking at the RWA National conference on June 30 and told me to publish it quick.  Self publishing was the only medium that could move as fast as I needed it to. So, from that moment, I decided to self publish and didn't look back.

What recommendations or suggestions would you have for an author interested in going the route of self-publishing?

Make sure that the demands of self publishing fits within your lifestyle.  Self publishing fits for me in writing non-fiction because I'm confident of the subject matter, I can write it fast and publish it fast. Marketing is an industry that constantly changes, most marketing books are outdated the second they hit the shelf. So, from that perspective, my goal in keeping fellow writers up to date with current marketing trends, brand expertise and sound advice works great with self-publishing.

Being a full time marketing professional, wife, mother, writer and Vice-President of CTRWA we are all interested to know how you balance it all.

Well, I'm not the poster child for balance. Not by a long shot. I think if I'm successful at all it's because I work hard, I prioritize and I have a lot of help.  I rely a lot on technology. My smartphone is my BFF. It keeps me organized and I'm always "on". I'd love to say I'm in 100% control of everything, but I'm not. I have a great husband who supports my writing venture. He knows how much I enjoy working, producing and seeing things through. He fills in when I can't be around. Plus, my 4-year old son helps me keep life in perspective, especially when he tells me he loves me.

When did you first realize you had a passion for writing?

I'm not sure I have a passion for writing as much as I have a passion for the end result. Finishing a scene of my fiction or putting the final edits on a marketing book fills me with a sense of accomplishment that I rarely get outside of writing. Maybe it's about the control, the ability

to do it my way. It has to be perfect or I won't do it, which is why I've written my fiction novel seven times (and I'm gearing up for rewrite #8).

What inspires you?

To know that something I did or said helped someone else.  I had a great review of my marketing book by a fellow author.  She called my book a lifesaver. That meant a lot.

What is your favorite novel and why?

I have so many that it is hard to choose.  In romance, my favorite novel is Angel's Fall by Nora Roberts.  Everything that Ms. Roberts does so well, character, setting, suspense, romance, she does it in this book.

Thank you again Jennifer.  If any of the readers are interested in getting this great new marketing tool for authors, please see http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_browse-b_mrr_2?rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Amarket+or+die%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A618073011&bbn=283155&keywords=market+or+die&ie=UTF8&qid=1307408967&rnid=618072011.

CONTEST

Jennifer has kindly offered to do a marketing critque of a lucky winner's website.  If you would like to enter the contest to win this and have a real marketing guru give you valuable advice, please tell us why in your comment.  Thanks for entering this give away and good luck.  Deadline to enter is midnight EST on June 26.

Jennifer's  Bio:

About the Author

Jennifer

Fusco is the Creative & Brand Marketing Manager for the General Electric

Company, North America. A two-time award winner of the Advertising Excellence

Award for 2010, Jennifer also launched many successful national ad campaigns.

She is passionate about brand and believes it is a key to professional success.

Her article entitled "How to Use the Power of Your Brand" was published in

August 2010 by Insights, an industry  trade ma gazine. Jennifer holds a B.A. in English from North Carolina State  University.

In her writing life, Jennifer is a member of the Romance Writers' Association,  RWA's PRO network, Vice President of the Connecticut Romance Writers Association, and a writer of paranormal romance. She has completed two manuscripts.

Jennifer lives in Connecticut with her husband and in her spare time you can find her cuddled up with a book or fielding baseballs with Jacob, her four-year old son, a future player for the New York Yankees.

Filed under: contest, Jennifer Fusco, Marketing, Promotion, romance, RWA, Writing Topics

The Archeologist of Dreams

I think everyone has had dreams when they were a kid of being something really unusual.   When I was a kid, I had two dreams.  One was being an actress, which I only partly pursued when I grew up.  The other was being a writer.  I started writing when I was eight and haven't stopped.

A friend of mine had a very different childhood.  Her parents were archeologists and took her with them on their expeditions.  Very cool.  She grew up to be a scientist and a romance author.

I absolutely love listening to her childhood adventures exploring Mayan ruins in the jungle.  Deep inside of me, you see, I've been hiding an archeologist.  Since my life hasn't given me the opportunity to research in the field, I study through books, magazines, and websites.  While her family's passion was the Mayans, mine is the Egyptians.

I still aspire to go to Egypt, not now while there's unrest, but after things calm down and scientists can study the past again.  I especially want to go to Alexandria.  I want to see whatever is left of the ancient library, and also visit the new library built in 2002.  Until then I will continue to study everything I can find out about Ancient Egypt.  I guess I've turned into an archeologist of dreams.  How to study when you cannot touch.  I'll have to explore that.

–Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

Filed under: Susan Hanniford Crowley, Writer's Life

Helping Other Writers, Part 1

Even though I've only just started in my career in paranormal romance, already I feel the need to give back.  So today, I going to give pointers that I hope you'll find as helpful as I have.

Save and Keep Going

One of the most frustrating things that can happen to an author is to lose your work.  There are lots of ways of backing up.  Here's what I do.

1. Flashdrive

2. Portable Hard Drive—the prices have come down a lot, look for a sale

3. Online Storage—I've tried a couple but really love Dropbox.  It especially love their synching files.  I work on my novel on my laptop and save to Dropbox icon.  It automatically saves it to my Dropbox storage online and also to my Dropbox icon (folder) on my desktop.  No matter where I am, Dropbox makes it possible to work on the most recent version of my novel.  YAY!  Security and synching—I love it.

Promoting Your Work

This Saturday, we are having romance author and marketing professional Jennifer Fusco on this blog.  You will want to drop by and enter her contest.  The prize is an analysis of your website by Jennifer.  This woman is really on top of her game.  I've attended a workshop of hers and found her advice really helpful and practical.  Jennifer will be talking about her new book Market or Die: Sensible Brand Building Advice for Writers (Volume 1)

Paperback:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1463561695/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00540GUPA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1475AYE40HS9NS82V66W

Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/Market-Die-Sensible-Building-ebook/dp/B00540GUPA

Signing off for now to get back to writing.  I'll be back before you know it.

–Susan

Filed under: Helping Other Writers, romance, romance novels, Susan Hanniford Crowley, Writer's Life, Writing Topics

What's it Going to Take?

I watched a movie this weekend called It's Kind of a Funny Story.

Pretty good movie overall about a teenager, Craig,  who checks himself into a mental health institution for some R & R. Really he's dealing with a lot of stress in his

life, specifically with pressures from his dad, which in turn have made him

believe he is suicidal.  Is he really suicidal? I don't know. I'll leave that up to each of you to judge if you watch it.

Either way, as usual it got me thinking. Thinking about how one person's pressures may be meaningless to another. Or how each of us deals with pressures and stress differently. As writers, I'd say there's quite a bit of stress with rejections, learning our craft, writing queries, writing synopses, learning to pitch, studying the industry, shall I keep going?

It seems that the longer I stay within this industry and the more I write, the more I realize that it's a very difficult task to write a good book. In a way, the fact that

we realize this after time or the fact that we learn the craft step by step, is a good thing; otherwise, could you imagine how much more daunting the task of writing a book would be? There would be no books to read!

This past week I signed my first contract for a short that I had written. One of the first few phrases out of my critique partner's mouth was, "I told you it would happen." As I sat there looking at the contract I couldn't help but wonder why I hadn't had that much confidence in myself. Or why we writers in general are so hard on ourselves.

Throughout the movie I mentioned earlier, Craig transitions, learning more about himself and his capabilities. All it took was a week in a mental health institution to do so. What's it going to take for you?

 

 

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life, Writing Topics

Interview with Tonya Nagle, Publisher, Tease Publishing LLC

Welcome to Nights of Passion!

TN: Thank you for having me here.

How long has Tease been around?

TN: Since 2007. We started the company due to another company closing its doors and a few of us had no place to take previously published work.

So does that mean everyone at Tease is someone you know or have worked with?

TN: No, but we do try to make personal contact with or meet face to face all of the authors, artists, and editors when possible. There is something about putting faces to names or hearing an actual voice over the line  that helps with establishing relationships. A lot of people would say that the company is a business, it should stay detached and impersonal, but I don't work that way and neither to Stacee and Tabbitha. Becasue the company belongs to us we can choose to remain small and personal. It has drawbacks and benefits, just like any business. We are not the publisher for every author, and every author is not the storyteller for us.

Are you currently open for submissions?

TN: Yes, our EIC, Gail would love to look at query letters proposin some new books. submissions@teasepublishingllc.com

What do you think about the industry right now?

TN: Publishing is evolving. WIth so many "do it yourself and Print on demand" options out there authors are able to decide if they want to go to a small press, medium, or traditional publisher, or just simply do it on their own. Again, every author, every book, and decision will have pros and cons. The main thing is for small presses such as Tease to be aware of these changes and to be available to those authors who still wish to submit to us.

As for the industry changes in regards to print books, my personal view is that print is a dying market for small press unless it is set up for POD and the authors are able to buy their books and take them to events. Really, we have looked at the sales numbers and return ratio over the years and print almost caused our house to close due to the volume of returns. We have since stopped all print titles from being distibuted and instead we format them and load them internally to a POD source where authors can follow the link, buy their books, and carry them in to book signings. The majority of sales come from events and from personal interaction anyhow. On the shelf in a bookstore, if it can get in a bookstore, a ttile has to compete with well known authors. In addition, if a title is over 6 months old, stores do not want to carry it. Most small press authors can work old titles like new titles at events and such because they are reaching new readers, so the book is "new to them". In a bookstore, not happening. The staff knows and they don't want to shelve it.

If you set up POD and the authors order the print books themselves, what portion does Tease get from those sales?

TN: We have the luxury of not dealing with returns. That is worth more than money to Tabbitha (she does all of our Human resources, payroll stuff) and myself (since I have to be the one to deal with the physical books that are returned). Not to mention the fact that using some outlets we were not making a "mint" on print sales. It is the lowest paying source of income for authors. It is more for their own personal satisfaction and for their readers who prefer the book, than for economics. Economically speaking, print is a drain of money for us as a small press and we decided to use alternate means to stop that leak. The dollar we might have made off of the sale of a book is not worth the hassle or cost to our peace of mind.

What do you see for the fuure of Tease?

TN: I see a continuation of what we are doing. We are a small press, e-book publisher with some alternative printing options available. As a company Tease is known for romance. We have recently decided to create an imprint T-squared to handle the rest of the fiction and non-fiction catagories we had hoped Tease would get in the beginning. You can keep an eye out it by checking www.tsquaredpublishing.com over the next couple of months to find guidelines.

I would like to thank you for being here with us today, if anyone has questions may they contact you?

TN: Sure, teasepub@yahoo.com

Thanks for having me.

Filed under: romance

Weekly Paranormal-Scope

I have inherited the Paranormal-Scope from Mason. I'm not qualified in any way to read neither stars nor planets. But I am linked into the paranormal in the world.

The week ahead for:

Aries

When you let go, the unicorn is more likely to come to you.

Taurus

Few creatures have the sensitivity and patience of Nessie the Loc Ness Monster. These qualities will work to your advantage.

Gemini

Ghosts float by and things are not as they appear. Be analytical and take things slow.

Cancer

The purest water comes right from the source. Consider the source when a ghoul speaks.

Leo

Pushing a Yeti gets you nowhere. It's time to take a break.

Virgo

It's party time with the fae, but before you dance to fairy music, make sure your work is caught up.

Libra

The vampires will call you to play. You deserve a break.

Scorpio

Put special attention on sleeping. Just as zombies are fussy with their diet, so should you be.

Sagittarius

Keep friends and secrets close. Events and people are in shift.

Capricorn

Like a wormhole, everything is in flux.

Aquarius

Cloud dwelling will serve you half of the time. Develop a strategy for staying grounded.

Pisces

Focus on the radiant energy of the sun. It will keep vampires at bay.

Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

Filed under: romance, Susan Hanniford Crowley, Weekly Paranormal-Scope

Beatrice & Benedick

What we really need isn't a summer blockbuster, but a summer fling.

The Wyndham's lively 80s-themed production of Shakespeare's most popular comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, as directed by Josie Rourke offers a sunnily irresistible brightness. Despite its self-deprecating title, this frothy comedy has at its heart a painful tragedy: the ease with which men in power can destroy the lives of women on a whim. It doesn't help that the lover in question, Claudio, is a drama queen of the first order. He falls madly in love and when his boss Don Pedro works to persuade the girl to wed his friend, immediately assumes the prince wants her for himself and bitterly pouts until assured the wooing was done entirely in Claudio's name.

No surprise then that he's easily beguiled into believing Hero has betrayed him with another man, but it is Claudio's vengeful nature that makes him choose to spurn her at the altar in a grossly public scene that makes manifest the slender thread by which a woman's reputation hangs. Initially, even Hero's father sides with the Duke and Claudio against his daughter. That her death would follow immediately upon such a rank humiliation seems quite believable to all.

Benedick, however, takes this decisively gendered moment to declare his loyalty to the other side of the line–for Beatrice of course, but for women in general. In many ways, Beatrice and Benedick offer the prototype of the modern cliché of the lovers who hate each other until they fall into each others arms. As embodied by Catherine Tate and David Tennant, however, the sparking romance never feels contrived, but the natural outcome of two people getting bumped out of their habitual ruts into a romantic collision with the collusion of their friends.

For Doctor Who fans, it's the culmination of the relationship of Donna and the Doctor (though she was never interested in that, no matter what swooning fans wanted to believe), but what this production makes clear (for those who didn't get it before) is just how much more both Tate and Tennant can do. While Tennant had trod the boards with great success before, the leap for Tate seemed less certain, but this is not Tate doing a character, but playing a role. She embodies Beatrice with a visible confidence though somewhat dowdied by her denim in the initial scenes of the play. Suddenly appearing in a form-fitting blue dress for the scheduled wedding, Tate's womanly grace becomes apparent and both she and Tennant soften their often harsh tones as the lovers declare themselves in the midst of others' sorrow.

Audiences may be pulled in by the star power of Tate and Tennant, but Rourke's brassy production provides a real satisfying treat.

[Reprinted from BitchBuzz]

Filed under: C. Margery Kempe, Characters, fantasy romance, historical romance, Kit Marlowe, Recommended Books, Romantic Places, What are you watching?, What inspires you?, Writing Topics

Pay Attention To The Road Signs

I recently sat in on a workshop by Annette Blair entitled, "What I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Writing."  She had many great things to say, but one thing really got me thinking.  She spoke briefly about paying attention to the "signs" you will see along the path of your writing journey.  I sat there in amazement because I thought I was the only one who believed in "signs."  She said she herself hadn't initially given it much thought, but then she began to take notice of how many signs had come to her.

I thought back to when I first began writing and recalled the signs that began to appear.  My first novel, According To Legend, is about a woman who receives an enchanted dream catcher which through her dreams draws her back in time to the Indian tribe and into the arms of the handsome warrior chief.  You may think this a coincidence, but when I started to write this novel, I began to see dream catchers at every turn.  I saw them in television commercials, in movies, on display in unexpected places … they were everywhere.  Strangely enough, during this time I purchased a DVD and much to my surprise it came with a free key chain that had a dream catcher charm hanging on it.  If all these dream catchers weren't enough of a sign, I then started to find arrow heads.  I had always looked for them whenever I went hiking and living in Connecticut most of my life one would imagine I would have found at least one before this, but I never had.  For some reason they had eluded me … that is until I started to write that particular novel.  Since I have completed "Legend" quite a few have crossed my path.

I was amazed at these signs but it didn't stop there.  I recently began work on another novel which involves a skeleton key and had not even given a thought to any signs.  Then, the other day I was sitting out on my front steps when my neighbor came home.  She's getting married in a few months and rushed over excitedly to tell me she had just found her wedding gown and wanted to show me a picture.  The gown was lovely and I couldn't help but share her excitement, but you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I looked up to notice she was wearing a unique piece of jewelry … a necklace sporting a silver skeleton key.  I said nothing, but sat there in total amazement that the universe had brought me another sign to let me know I am truly on the right path.

So, as you travel down the road on your writing journey, I encourage you to look around and pay attention to the many signs the universe will place directly in your path.  They are not coincidences but are there to encourage you, to lift your spirits and remind you that you are exactly where you are supposed to be, doing exactly that which you were intended to do.  You are a word smith, a writer, a spinner of great tales and I encourage you not to stumble along your path, but rather to follow the signs along your writer's road on your journey to publication.

Gerri Brousseau

Filed under: Gerri Brousseau, romance, romance novels, Writer's Life, Writing Topics

A Writing Sirloin Tip: Making This World Fit

My background is in science fiction and fantasy, so I'm obsessive over the details.  While some authors design worlds from the ground up.  I prefer to take a world I know well and investigate the details so I can wrap them and entwine them into my characters' lives.

In writing for the Vampires in Manhattan series, I use familiar places.  It pleases me to have them in a museum standing beside humans, and the humans not notice.  Though I've heard that some readers of this blog have been looking for Vampire David Hilliard in Times Square.  All I can say is that David's on to you.  He took Laura to Cape Cod and they've been making love at night in the dunes, or so they have emailed.  Yeah, vampires email.  Funny.

To make a contemporary world fit a supernatural, you look at what your character can do.  You find the ordinary places like the planetarium show at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, and put an active-by-night supernatural there.  I'm actually using that in my next book.  You use the moments when their world and our world might blend.

My characters prefer to do things when others aren't around to see it.  Night is the time of illusion for humans.  We are tired.  The dark interferes with our seeing things clearly.  Creatures can hide easily in the long stretches of shadow avoiding street lights.  The later it gets the more dreamlike everything at night appears.  That's why most modern dates are at night.  This dreamlike quality spills over into a budding romance.  Supernaturals like to take advantage of how the human mind perceives things.  On a date, so do humans.

Now an exercise for your eyes.  Stare at that picture for a while.  Tell me.  What do you see reaching out of the water?

–Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

 

Filed under: A Writing Sirloin Tip, Characters, paranormal, paranormal romance, romance, Settings, Susan Hanniford Crowley, Writing Topics