Shoshanna Evers's Blog, page 18

Managing a Blog Tour

Hello Fellow Writers!

So I had my second Ellora's Cave book come out (Ginger Snap), and in anticipation of its release I planned a blog tour.
I planned poorly, and I didn't manage it very well. In fact, I'd say I did such a poor job of it that the goal of this post is to show you how you can avoid the mistakes I made.

Mistake 1. Not writing down where and when I was blogging. 

Basically I'd be in contact with an author or blogger, and if they suggested I guest blog, I sent them a blog to be posted at their convenience. Every author told me what date I'd be up, but I didn't write it down in one central calendar area, so I overbooked myself and had numerous blog posts on the same day, and didn't give each the promotion they deserved.

Mistake 2. Not checking the blogs to chat with commenters

Because I forgot I was up on a blog somewhere, I also forgot to read and comment, which is a major internet faux-pas.

Mistake 3. Not promoting the blogs I was on well enough.

The day the blog post came out, I should have been on Twitter and Facebook and all my yahoo loops inviting everyone to check it out. That's one of the reasons people have other authors guest blog - to bring new people to their site. And I failed miserably at that. Sample Tweet: "Ack! I forgot I was @PaigeTyler's blog! Here's the link!" Yup, I suck.


Mistake 4. Not spacing out the blog posts

This relates back to Mistake 1. I didn't keep track and I didn't space properly, so not one blog got my individual attention and promotion. Stupid stupid.

That's it, folks. I learned a lot from this experience, and I plan on getting it right when my next book, Hollywood Spank, comes out.

For anyone interested, here's some links of blogs I posted on:

Flirty Author Bitches: http://flirtyauthorbitches.com/2010/12/16/put-the-ginger-up-my-what/

Paige Tyler, Nice N Naughty; http://nicennaughtyauthors.blogspot.com/2010/12/ginger-snap-new-from-shoshanna-evers.html

Berengaria Brown: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/shoshanna-evers.html

Kate Hill: http://kate-hill.com/blog/?p=671

Cindy Jacks: http://cindyjacks.blogspot.com/2010/12/coverama-shoshanna-everss-covers.html?zx=511bf7f2a69ca5b

EroticaForAll: http://eroticaforall.co.uk/new-erotica-releases/new-release-ginger-snap-by-shoshanna-evers/

Lily Harlem: http://lilyharlem.weebly.com/other-awesome-authors.html

And of course, on my own website and blog, here: http://www.shoshannaevers.com/2010/12/ginger-snap-now-available.html

and here: http://www.thewriterschallenge.com/2010/12/release-day-ginger-snap-my-2nd-book.html

Release Day! Ginger Snap, my 2nd Book!

Hello Fellow Writers!

It's here! Ginger Snap, an erotic romance Christmas Quickie from Ellora's Cave is releasing *today*!

Woot! I'm so excited :) Here's the blurb:

When Holly sits on Tom's lap to tell him what she wants for Christmas, she knows she's naughty enough to get a lump of coal—but she never expected to get a hand of ginger root. Peeled ginger in her bottom burns like crazy without causing any actual harm—so the punishment can go on as long as naughty Holly deserves.

Ginger-figging has been used since Victorian times to keep girls from clenching against a proper caning because, as Holly finds out, clenching around ginger has her begging for mercy—and more turned-on than she's ever been. From now on Holly should be on her best behavior…but with this sort of punishment, it's more fun to be bad.

And here's an adult's only excerpt: http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419931079.htm

I hope you enjoy Ginger Snap. Email me and let me know what you think!

How my Blurb got Changed - for the better!

Hello Fellow Writers!

So since I have a new book coming out on Wednesday ( Ginger Snap, which will be coming out on December 15th from Ellora's Cave) I went to the buy link, you know, just to...look at it, lol. Just because I love being able to say I have another book coming out, and I love seeing my name on a book cover, even if it is a pen name. Yeah, I'm silly like that. Anyway, I noticed that the blurb I had previously submitted had been changed to a much better blurb!

Blurbs are notoriously difficult to write, and I'm all for anyone who can take what I've written and make it better. And they did!

Then I realized - this might help other writers create better blurbs. So, in the interest of knowledge, I'm sharing my before and after blurbs. 

Here's my original:

When Holly sits on Tom's lap to tell him what she wants for Christmas she knows she's naughty enough to get a lump of coal—but she never expected to get a hand of ginger root. Peeled ginger up her bottom burns like crazy without causing any actual harm—so the punishment can go on as long as naughty Holly deserves.

Ginger-figging has been used since Victorian times to keep girls from clenching against a proper caning because—as Holly finds out, clenching with ginger up her bottom has her begging for mercy—and more turned-on than she's ever been. From now on Holly has to be on her best behavior—because she knows if she's bad, she'll be ginger-figged!

 And here's what they changed it to:

When Holly sits on Tom's lap to tell him what she wants for Christmas, she knows she's naughty enough to get a lump of coal—but she never expected to get a hand of ginger root. Peeled ginger in her bottom burns like crazy without causing any actual harm—so the punishment can go on as long as naughty Holly deserves.

Ginger-figging has been used since Victorian times to keep girls from clenching against a proper caning because, as Holly finds out, clenching around ginger has her begging for mercy—and more turned-on than she's ever been. From now on Holly should be on her best behavior…but with this sort of punishment, it's more fun to be bad.

I really like the new one a lot. They changed "clenching with ginger up her bottom" (and actually, I had used the word a**) to " clenching around ginger", which is way more classy, if you can use the word classy and ginger-figging in the same sentence, lol.

And then they key - they changed the last sentence from "From now on Holly has to be on her best behavior—because she knows if she's bad, she'll be ginger-figged!" to "From now on Holly should be on her best behavior…but with this sort of punishment, it's more fun to be bad."

Getting rid of the exclamation point really helped make it seem less cheesy (which is good, because I don't think the actual book is particularly cheesy), and it also shows that for Holly, the punishment is 100% consensual.

So there ya have it. Do you like writing blurbs, or do you prefer someone else to write them for you?

How to Make a Zombie Sexy - Author Paige Tyler

Hello Fellow Writers!

Today I'd like to introduce author Paige Tyler, who I first met in October at Romanticon. She has a new book out today called Dead Sexy, which is actually a zombie romance. Hmmm. You know I have to read that, just to see how she pulled it off!

Shoshanna: Hi Paige! Welcome to The Writer's Challenge. So, how long have you been writing?Paige: I started writing in middle school, so back then I did it purely for pleasure.  It wasn't until my creative writing teacher in high school suggested I think about making it a career that I started to think about getting published.  Although I wrote every day and came up with story after story, I still didn't pursue it seriously.  One of the problems was trying to figure out how to get anyone to look at my stories.  I tried cold submissions and even sending my stuff to literary agencies, but those avenues never worked for me and I started to get a little disheartened.  Luckily, that was about the time epubs were becoming popular, so I when I ran across a website asking for submissions, I decided to give it a shot. The publisher loved my stuff, and I've been writing every since.  And while writing is my job now, I've never lost that love for it, so it's still a pleasure!
Shoshanna: Did you ever get rejection letters?Paige: Ugh, yes!  Well, not from epubs, but from print pubs and agents.  They're disheartening, to say the least, but the stories that got rejected were picked up by other pubs, so it was all good. Just because one pub doesn't like something, that doesn't mean another won't.  So, my new motto is do your best and forget the rest!  Shoshanna: And it's not like epubs don't reject 95%, maybe more, of what they get. So it sounds like maybe your books were good but not mainstream enough for a print pub to take on. That's one of the beautiful things about e-publishers - good stories get told. So, when did you make your first sale? How'd that feel?Paige: I made my first sale over five years ago to an ePub called Blushing Books and it felt fantastic!  My dream of becoming a romance writer came true and I totally did the happy dance!  Actually, I still do it whenever a book gets contracted!  LOL!
Shoshanna: Yeah, me too! Okay, and now you've written a zombie love story. How did you manage to make your zombie Hero sexy?Paige: First, to set the stage, I need to share a little something with you about myself.  Well, about my hubby and me, actually.  We love zombie movies, from the George Romero gems to Shaun of the Dead and everything in between, including "Walking Dead," the new series on AMC.  You just can't go wrong with  a movie full of walking dead people, can you?  Well, if you've ever seen a zombie movie (or even if you haven't), then you know the creatures aren't the heroes of the film.  I mean, how can they be, right?  They're all dead and decayed and downright unattractive, not to mention pretty damn scary.  Which was why you can imagine my surprise when my hubby suggested I write an erotic romance about a zombie hero.  I was like, you're kidding, right?  What woman in her right mind would fall in love with a dead guy?  No way could that possibly work, or so I thought.
Turns out, my hubby wasn't kidding.  In fact, he started working up ideas for the story. "The hero didn't have to be a zombie all the time," he told me. "Think outside the box - take a little literary license!"Okay, I thought. I suppose I could be open minded. My hubby told me that in his out-of-the-box world, the hunky hero got cursed by an evil Voodoo priestess and only turns into a zombie sometimes.
"I'm listening," I said.
"And when he does go zombie, he doesn't have to be like the kind in the movies," my hubby added. "Well, he has to look like one, you know all dead and stuff, but he doesn't have to be a mindless creature or attack humans or eat anything gross."
So, brains are completely out, thanks goodness!
"Think Jensen Ackles or Jared Padelecki, with a really, really, really dark tan - (yes, my hubby knows I've got a thing for the Supernatural hunks!) - well, maybe more gray and black than tan, but you get the idea."

I thought about that for a minute.  "So, the hero's dead, but he's still sexy, is that what you're saying?"
"Exactly," he said, giving me a grin as my eyes lit up with understanding.
By that point, my hubby had pretty much sold me on the idea.  Of course, I knew if I ran with it, I was going to have to sell it to a publisher, and I knew that could be tough since the hero is a zombie. But I ran with it anyway and ended up with a full-length novel.  And it came out pretty damn good, if I do say so myself!  I still had to find a publisher for it, though.
About this same time, It just so happens that several of my other books were in the process of being picked up by Ellora's Cave and I thought what the heck?  Why not pitch it to my editor there and see what she thinks?  So I did, and she told me to send it to her.  She was interested to see how I handled the whole zombie-thing.  Well, long story, short, she liked it.  A lot!  My zombie romance with it's dead-sexy hero had a home!  I was thrilled and my hubby walked around for a week with a smug, "I-told-you-so" look on his face.
I've been getting the word out there about DEAD SEXY ever since I signed the contract for it and I'm thrilled with the interest from readers who can't wait to get their hands on it!  I can't wait for them to read it, too!

Now that I've revealed the story behind the story, I'd love for you to stop by by website and read the blurb and excerpt, as well as take a look at the trailer, just to your appetite for more!

Read the BlurbWatch the TrailerRead an ExcerptBuy it at Ellora's Cave

Shoshanna: I can't wait to read it! One last question: Do you have a literary agent, do you want one?Paige: I don't have an agent.  There was a time that I did want an agent, though.  Bad!  But after a couple years of trying, unsuccessfully, I've changed my mind about it.  I got tired of hearing the same thing, that they want something "different," and though they "loved" whatever book I sent them, it was too "different."  Or that they "loved the book," but weren't "in love" with it.  Books, that ePubs and readers absolutely love, by the way!  The rejections did nothing but bring me down and make me doubt myself.  Writing, something that I love with a passion, wasn't fun anymore.  It wasn't worth it, so I said, forget it.  I realized that I was doing it more for validation that for any other reason.  I'm happy as an epubbed author and am lucky to not only be with some of the most amazing publishers, including Ellora's Cave, but to have the most amazing readers, as well!
Website: http://www.paigetylertheauthor.comBlog: http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com
I'm also on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter!

Shoshanna: Thanks for stopping by, Paige!

Woot! Agony/Ecstasy Authors Revealed. Yup, that's me ;)

Hello Fellow Writers!

I'm so excited to be on this list of authors for the upcoming Berkley Heat anthology Agony/Ecstasy :) Check it out here, on Dear Author: Agony/Ecstasy Collection Authors Revealed. Ooh, I'm being revealed.

The line up of stories looks very hot. I can't wait to hold the book in my hands and read it :) And congrats to the other authors too! I'm checking out everyone's websites today!

Yours truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Let's Fix That Blurb For Ya

Hello Fellow Writers!
Let's talk blurbs. When you read the back cover copy of a book, that's pretty much a blurb. It's meant to give you the basics of the story - the hook, the premise, while enticing the reader to want to buy the book.

We also need that blurb before the book ever gets published - because that's essentially what we're using in our query letters to editors and agents. The most important part of the query is where you write your paragraph or two about your book, hoping the editor or agent will think "Now this, I gotta check out."

An aspiring writer by the name of Steve LeBlanc asked me to critique his blurb, because he wanted to make it better. He even gave me permission to post his blurb - and my constructive criticism - on The Writer's Challenge, in the hopes that it would help others facing the task of writing the dreaded blurb.

Now, I'm not an expert. But I have written queries that contained blurbs for books which then got published, and I've written blurbs on the buy links for my books and a couple of other published author friends' pages. As an example of a blurb that sold a story, here is my blurb for Ginger Snap, which will be coming out on December 15th from Ellora's Cave (shameless plug? Or an example of a blurb? You decide.):

When Holly sits on Tom's lap to tell him what she wants for Christmas she knows she's naughty enough to get a lump of coal—but she never expected to get a hand of ginger root. Peeled ginger up her bottom burns like crazy without causing any actual harm—so the punishment can go on as long as naughty Holly deserves.

Ginger-figging has been used since Victorian times to keep girls from clenching against a proper caning because—as Holly finds out, clenching with ginger up her bottom has her begging for mercy—and more turned-on than she's ever been. From now on Holly has to be on her best behavior—because she knows if she's bad, she'll be ginger-figged!

Yeah, that's definitely not a book for the underage crowd. But we learn who the main characters are, and the basic premise. After reading this blurb, we know we're in for a fun Christmas story about ginger-figging. The tone is light. We can be pretty sure that a story like this isn't going to be a tear-jerker. But it'll be hot! :) And no, it's not Shakespeare.

Okay, so that's a blurb that I think works. Like I said, I'm not the final authority on this. This is just my opinion.

Now. Here is Steve's blurb that he wrote, unedited, for his novel Jennifer's Reflection.

Jennifer Travis is pissed off a lot, but contains well it behind her punk rock appearance, Zen-like approach to life and brining peace to others. She's the main bartender in a gay woman's bar, where lots of good times happen, and the occasional fight breaks out. She wants a serious romance now that she's in her thirties, but fully supports the casual dalliances of her friends.
She has rich interactions with best friend and co-bartender, Mari and her engineer step brother, Eric. Discussions of holistic healing, excellence in parenting and social media sprinkle the discussions.
The novel is warm, smart, funny and fast paced, as we watch the characters reveal secrets and move though issues that have haunted them all their lives. Real issues are dealt with in a PG way. Romantic scenes are suggestive, but never explicit. And language never becomes foul. Enter the world of a group of women friends who are deeply devoted to each other and mostly at home with their sexual preferences.

 So how can we make this blurb better?
1. The basics - fix typos.
2. Get to the heart of the matter. Find the main theme and stick to it.
3. Don't tell us what your book is like. Just because you think it's "warm, smart, funny and fast paced" doesn't make it so. It could be - I've never read this book. But that's really something that should be said by a reviewer and put on the front cover as a quote, not written in your own blurb!
4. There seems to be judgments in this blurb when it talks about how it's PG. That's really not appropriate for a blurb. Again, it almost sounds like he's writing a review of his own book, which is *not* what we want.

Now I'm going to give it a shot. Blurbs are hard to write, and I've agonized for hours before over the perfect wording for a blurb. Alas, my time is limited now. But I'll try my best in the next few minutes to rewrite this bad boy the way I think would work.

Jennifer Travis spends her nights bartending in a lesbian bar, breaking up the occasional fight with her Zen-like approach to life. Too bad the Zen thing and her punk-rock-chic look are just a cover for her true self, which is suddenly yearning to rear its pissed-off head. And now that's she's in her thirties, she's ready for a serious romance. Not that she minds how her girlfriends have casual affairs all around her. She loves how her friends are all deeply devoted to each other and at home with their sexual preferences--most of the time. It's just not for her...or is it?

Unfortunately I have no idea what Steve's book is about, so I hade to make a guess and run with it. I'd recommend he go back and figure out the main theme and emphasize that. I chose the theme of exploring sexuality here, for example.

What do you guys think? How do you go about blurb writing?

Last Day of NaNoWriMo 2010

Hello Fellow Writers!
Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo. I finished the first draft of Protecting Emily, and while I didn't get to 80K like I hoped, I did get to 72.6K before the story wrapped itself up naturally. I'm going to go back and reread it and probably find some places where I need to expand.

This month has been fun, but crazy. It is definitely hard to write 50K in a month, but last year was a cake-walk compared to this year. That extra 22K I wrote was hard on me - and my poor hubby, who was bemoaning the fact that he missed me by the last week of the month. Oh, and there were those first 5 five days where I wrote 15K and then tossed it all out to start over.

Next year I will only write 50k. Maybe 60K.

I started re-reading through my first draft, and I'm enjoying it! How's your first draft feeling? Did you win NaNoWriMo? How was your experience?

Got my Cover Art for Hollywood Spank!

I don't usually (um, ever) post twice in one day, but I had to share!
Thanks to Syneca, cover artist extraordinaire at Ellora's Cave, for my hot new cover for Hollywood Spank! Hollywood Spank is my third Ellora's Cave book, release date TBD.

Winning NaNoWriMo

Hello Fellow Writers!

I thought this cat pic was too funny, and strangely apropos since my printer is going to need a new ink cartridge for me to print out the 200 pages of fiction I've written in the past 23 days. Oh, NaNoWriMo, how I love you. Motivation and a tight deadline do wonders for me.

I had a great time last night doing a chat with Ellora's Cave readers. I've never done a chat before. It was fun! I felt like I was at a party, almost, albeit a party where I couldn't see anyone.

With one week left in the month, I'm only at 57K words, and I want to be at 80k. My mother-in-law is in town so hopefully she can babysit the tot so I can write!

Looking to write fast so you can win?
Here're my tips for winning NaNoWriMo:
1. Don't fix typos, just keep going. You can fix them later.
2. If you forgot your Hero's eye color, make up a new one. Fix it later!
3. Pretend if you don't keep your fingers typing they will fall off. Now write! Quick, they're going to fall off!
4. Write everyday. Even if you have no time to write, force yourself to put in just fifteen minutes. Every word you add to your count is one less word you have to add later.
5. Add a sex scene. Add another.
6. Have fun. NaNoWriMo is only 10% torture, 90% fun. Remember that when you start slipping into torture mode.


How's your NaNoWriMo novel coming along? Will you win?

Berengaria Brown: "Keep reading, keep writing, keep polishing"

Hello Fellow Writers!

NaNoWriMo is moving along swimmingly. I don't really "has writerz blox", I just love funny kittehs. I'm at 42K, which, if I was aiming for the traditional 50K goal, would be way head of the game - but since I'm aiming for 80K, I'm pretty much on track. I'm in the middle of the book now, trying to avoid the dreaded "sagging middle". The important thing that I keep reminding myself is that the characters have to have both internal and external conflicts that affect their relationship.

Today I'd like to welcome multi-published author Berengaria Brown to The Writer's Challenge. Her new book "Eternity" is available now from Siren Publishing.

Shoshanna: How long have you been writing? When did you sell your first book?
Berengaria: "Intensity", my first book, was published in April 2010. I had been writing seriously about a year at that time. I had several books published, at several different houses in quick succession, because while I was waiting to hear back about each book, I kept writing, and I sent each book to the house I felt it was best suited to.

Shoshanna: What's your favorite writing tip?
Berengaria: Never give up. Keep reading, keep writing, keep polishing. But also, read the submission guidelines of the house you are interested in very carefully, and make sure you follow them as best you can.

Shoshanna: Have you ever gotten a bad review? What do you do - how do you feel in a situation like that?
Berengaria: Not a bad review but several mediocre ones. Several times reviewers have said that they didn't want a short story to end. Sadly, by definition, a short story is short. I am always grateful though, that inundated as they are with books to read, they have taken the time to read my book.


Shoshanna: You have a new release out now, right?
Berengaria: Yes! "Eternity" is a stand-alone story set in the same world as "Intensity" and "Complexity" with some of the same characters reappearing.

Shoshanna: The cover's so hot, I can't show it on here! Click here if you're an adult and want to see a *very* spicy cover for Eternity.

To read an adults only excerpt and buy Eternity, click here.
Check out Berengaria Brown's blog here.
Visit her website here.