Jade C. Jamison's Blog, page 26

Writer Advice: My Experience with Free Promotions

Jade provides tips for writers every week.

For a long time, I’d been conflicted about my feelings toward free promotions. It really does seem like a great way to attract new readers, because you’re offering them a risk-free way to give your writing a test-drive (er, test-read, in this case). I’d been indie publishing for a little while when Amazon offered what was then known as KOLL (Kindle Owners’ Lending Library). Writers had to agree to publish exclusively with Amazon for a period of at least 90 days (meaning their ebook couldn’t be bought anywhere else online during that time). In exchange, Kindle offered up to five days where a writer’s book would be offered for free (there are ways around this, however, where a writer can basically “force” Amazon to offer a book for free permanently—I did that years ago as well).

I didn’t stick with KOLL for long because, as I became more well-known, it became obvious to me that I was denying a segment of my readers the chance to read my new work for three months. I will admit that I have since tried it off and on (and my mind might always change again), but I am sour on the idea of free.

Because of declining book sales over the past two years, I decided to once more dabble in the Kindle exclusive universe a bit. Most indie authors will admit that a majority of their sales come from Amazon (I am no exception), but since Kindle unveiled its Kindle Unlimited program (basically a beefed-up version of KOLL), it’s not that way every day for me, and I know a lot of established authors who can and do say the same thing. Anyway, I’m digressing. I decided to pull my book Substitute Boyfriend from all other sites and try KU (I actually did it with a few books, trying different things, including advertising, another thing you can’t do on Amazon unless you’re exclusive—do you see the pattern here?). I’m anti-monopoly, so being exclusive bothers me anyway (and I even told my Amazon rep that), but…when your sales are dwindling and you feel helpless, desperation takes over. I dabbled—and that convinced me that being exclusive only benefitted one party in the action. But that wasn’t why I wrote this blog post. I wanted to tell you about free and your own books!

During its ninety-day KU run, I offered Substitute Boyfriend for free for a few days. On the first day, I sold (er, gave away) over 3000 copies, more than I had sold when the book was a new release. Now, mind you, this is a 99-cent novella. It’s not like I’m charging a mint here anyway.  The book had mostly good reviews (as I write this, the book has forty reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.5 stars). By the end of the free period (I can’t remember now if I did it for two or three days), I’d given away almost 6000 copies. Now…I’ve heard over and over and over again that you do it for exposure to new audiences, and I used to feel the same way. But guess what? I garnered maybe another four or five reviews (out of 6000 copies! Please let the reality and enormity of that number wash over you before continuing.  6000!). And I didn’t see the expected upsurge of new readers who liked my work after reading the book.

Oh, well, that’s because the book is a standalone novella, right?

Wrong. I tried the free tactic again a month later, this time with Tangled Web, one of my already bestselling books. Again, I regularly sell it for 99 cents but I don’t sell a lot of copies of it anymore, so why not? My thoughts again were what everyone else says (and it sounds logical!): Readers will take the free copy, read the book, and purchase the other books in the series. That would, if it worked that way, make it definitely worth it to give that book away for free.

But, unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. If you own a Kindle, flip through your library right now. How many books do you have on there that you haven’t read (whether you have borrowed them through Amazon Prime KU or just picked them up for free)? If your answer is a single digit, then you are in the minority.  But if you, like lots of us (myself included), scroll through lots of books you don’t even remember one-clicking, ask yourself this: how many of those books will you honestly ever read? You picked them up because they were free and thought, “Maybe someday,” but shiny new books distract you. There’s not a thing wrong with that…but it means that all those free books collect virtual dust and never get read.

Sound dismal? It is—to me, at any rate. My second experiment with Tangled Web garnered fewer free downloads, and I’m sure that’s because I’d already sold thousands of copies. I still gave away over a thousand…and, no, I didn’t experience a rush of readers picking up the rest of the books in the series.

Before I wrote Bullet, I made Nicki Sosebee #1, Got the Life, free on other sites, and eventually (through a looooong process) Amazon made it free as well (this is the way you can “force” free), but I had experienced the same lack of purchases on the other books in the series. My amnesia (and recommendations from other authors) led me to try again, but today I see no value in running a free promotion. Oh, sure, it’s cool to see your rank rise (but that’s for free, not paid, which means it’s not a bestseller, no matter how you slice it) and it’s exciting to think that your work might be read, but free has been disappointing for me. I’ve read other authors say it comes down to perceived value (that if it’s free, it’s worth nothing), but I don’t think that’s the case. I think it comes down to this: You, the reader, have been seated in front of a smorgasbord—huge!—and you only have so much room in your tummy. After a while, you’ve been sated and you have to wait for the next meal, also a giant buffet, and—even gorging—there’s only so much you can take in.

Some authors have experienced success with free, and that’s great. I am not among those ranks, and that is why I don’t recommend it as a technique for indie authors. I suppose if you’re completely new, it might be worth a shot, but if you’re halfway established, I don’t see a win anywhere in sight. Nada.

Got a writing question for me? Post below and I’ll be happy to answer it either here or in a future Saturday blog post!

Teaser #4, Nicki Sosebee #10: LIES

Lies is here on MONDAY, February 29, 2016, the first Nicki Sosebee book released in almost two years. Are you ready? I can’t wait for you to catch up with her! In the meantime, enjoy this final Flash Forward Friday teaser preview!

 

“You’ve been drinking lots of water today?”

“Yeah. I tend to drink a lot when I’m working at Napoli anyway.”

“Good girl. And food?”

“I had half a salad around five.”

“Excellent.” He put on his featured smirk. “Did you have to shave?”

She couldn’t resist. “Yeah, ‘cause I’m a hairy beast.”

“What the hell am I gonna find when I get started?”

Nicki grinned and asked, “Where should I set my purse?”

“Wherever you like.” He turned to the counter and pulled out a large sheet of thin paper and held it up in front of her. “I think this’ll work. I probably should have measured it out before, but I’m pretty good at eyeballing that kind of thing.” He raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath. “So…the table. You’re going to want to take your shirt off and get comfortable.”

Nicki bit the inside of her cheek. Uh, yikes…she hadn’t completely thought it through. But she couldn’t act stupid, like she hadn’t thought of it. “Oh, yeah, okay.”

“Need a minute to get comfortable?”

“Um, no, I’m okay.” But he turned around anyway, being a bit of a gentleman. He was busy putting on gloves and prepping a bunch of stuff—she had no idea what and she didn’t want to know. Instead, she took a deep breath and turned around. There was a big huge mirror behind him, lining the entire wall, so he’d be able to see her…and he was going to see her momentarily anyway. She just wanted a few seconds to work up to it.

She could hear him doing various different things, and she heard crinkling and clanking, and so she inhaled and then grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt, pulling it up and over her head in one fell swoop.

Thank heavens she was wearing a cute bra—a lacy white thing—but she often grabbed cute underwear when there was even the slightest chance that some hot guy might see it. It was an old habit that hadn’t died yet.

And, it just so turned out, a hot guy was going to see it, so it had worked out for the best. “Go ahead and lie down on the table there, Nicki. Be with you in a minute.” It reminded her a bit of a reclined hospital bed, but she couldn’t think about that, because that would make her anxiety worse.

She got in it and then tried to relax, finally closing her eyes. It helped her focus past her nerves. “Doing okay?” he asked. She could tell he was still facing the other way, and that also helped.

“Yeah.”

In a few minutes, he was right next to her, seated on a rolling stool, with all his stuff on a tray. He held the stencil up in front of her and said, “I hate to tell you this, but you’re gonna also have to take the bra off…unless you want me to tattoo it, too.” She looked down at her chest and realized he was right. What the fuck had she been thinking? He must have sensed that she was starting to freak out. “Don’t worry, Nicki. I promise you I’m a professional. I’ve tattooed just about every part of the body imaginable, and the parts I haven’t inked, I’ve pierced. I’ve seen it all.”

That didn’t make her feel better, but she knew she just had to get it over with…

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1SbdkOP

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1OZ3Yii

Throwback Thursday – Fake (Nicki Sosebee #9)

Fake was the first Nicki Sosebee book I wrote after Bullet blew up and went nuts, demanding my attention. I’d tried writing it in early 2013 after Bullet, but the words weren’t flowing. I knew, though, that my Nicki readers were desperate for the next installment, and so I got it done. There is one scene in the book (involving Nicki and both Sean and Jesse) that was a first for me…but I’ll let you read it and figure that one out. The book, whether readers knew it or not, set events in motion that will drive the story arc to the end of the series.

But enough of that! I’m still writing the Nicki series (three books to go after Lies), and here’s a little taste from book number nine.

The blurb:

Nicki has come to realize that she can’t fix everything wrong with the world, at least not by confronting the bad guys head on, so she intends to educate people by tackling one small problem at a time. Now, there’s a woman running for city council who’s growing a little too big for her britches and stirring up trouble in Winchester, dividing citizens into two clear sides—her side and the other—and Nicki plans to expose her for what she is. In the meantime, Nicki hurts Sean and risks losing him for good.

Excerpt:

Chapter One from Fake (Nicki Sosebee #9)

NICKI SOSEBEE SMILED and leaned back in the chair. It had already been a long though enjoyable evening, and the fun didn’t seem ready to end anytime soon. Nicki looked over at her boyfriend Sean, sitting at the same small table she was, but he was pinching his nose between his fingers, his elbow resting on the table. Nicki and Sean had been together for over three months, probably the longest steady relationship Nicki had had in nine years. And while some of his behavior had made her edgy of late, she was still grateful for him.

He shook his head and looked at her, a slight glimmer of pain clouding his deep blue eyes. He forced a smile, flashing his white teeth, and Nicki subconsciously took in the details of her boyfriend, the ones that got her hot without much thought—his trimmed soul patch, flared sideburns, purposely messy dark blonde hair that hung just over his eyebrows. “Fuck…I can’t watch this. I’m gonna get another drink. Can I get you anything?”

Nicki looked at her glass on the table. “Nah, I’m good.” She looked to her right where one of her besties, Jillian, sat at the small table next to theirs. “Want anything? Sean’s heading back up to the bar.”

Jillian shrugged and stretched, running her fingers through her black hair that now reached her chin in a flattering bob. “Yeah, I guess so. Another rum and Coke?”

Sean nodded. Before he stood, he took Nicki’s face in his hands and kissed her deeply. It caused all her muscles to tighten as she felt his promise of a night that would just get better and better. “Be right back, sexy.”

She stroked his cheek and felt tiny whiskers poking out. “Better hurry.”

He winked. “Don’t be surprised if I’m not back till this song is over.”

Nicki shook her head as Sean walked away. She looked over at Jillian and smiled. The table next to her friend was empty. The two women’s other BFF, Brandy, who’d been there with her husband Kevin, had left a few minutes earlier. Brandy had told them she was tired and needed to hit the hay. Nicki had enjoyed having them all together for a while.

In the meantime, the chair next to Jillian that separated her and her friend was empty because its inhabitant had just taken the stage. Jesse, Nicki’s old boyfriend and Sean’s best friend, was getting ready to sing a karaoke song for the fourth time that night.

This song wasn’t metal, though, unlike the other songs Jesse had sung, not even light metal, which was apparently where Jesse believed his vocal talents lay. Nicki recognized the tune but couldn’t quite place it. It was an eighties pop tune with kind of a dance beat. Jesse had had a lot more to drink since his last song, and Nicki knew that’s why Sean didn’t want to stick around. He’d thought Jesse was going to embarrass himself.

But watching him now, Nicki didn’t think he was embarrassing himself at all. She placed the tune—INXS’s “Need You Tonight.” Jesse was feeling the music and moving in a sexy way, reminding Nicki of just one or two of the reasons why she’d fallen for Jesse in the first place. He had a lean body that he’d been sculpting over the last few months, preparing for his job as a firefighter. He was almost catlike in his movements, and he felt the beat. Nicki was afraid maybe she was staring too hard as he approached the mike, and she glanced over at Jillian to see if her friend was giving her a dirty look. But no…Jilly was captivated too.

Nicki couldn’t help herself as Jesse started almost breathing the words into his mike. His voice was sexy as hell. His dark brown hair hung down over his brown eyes, shadowing them, but Nicki had always loved everything about the way Jesse looked…his tattoos, including the one she could see on the hand gripping the mike, the one with her name; his piercings—in his eyebrow, nose, and now lip, plus a couple in each ear and the secret ones on his nipples that Nicki’s fingers remembered.

As Jesse practically made love to the mike with his voice, Nicki felt her temperature rise, and as soon as she realized it, she felt guilty as hell. Sean was just a few feet away…Sean, the man she’d yearned for and loved for most of her adult life, and here she was, lusting after an old boyfriend who’d frankly just been a short blip on the radar of her love life.

Well, no, that wasn’t fair. Not by a long shot. Jesse had had a profound effect on Nicki, had made her realize there could be a life without Sean. And he was one of the sweetest men she’d ever known. So to call him a short blip was to downgrade his true status.

Still…she had no right thinking about him in any way other than as an ex. She sat up and cleared her throat, downing her glass. Maybe she should’ve asked Sean to get her another drink after all.

Jillian moved over and sat in Jesse’s empty chair, then leaned over so Nicki could hear her. “Holy hell. Is he dating anybody right now?”

Nicki felt her hackles rise. She could see why Jillian was intrigued, but she was still married, even if she was separated from her husband, not to mention Jesse was Nicki’s ex, and that would be uncool. Yeah, Nicki was jealous, but she also didn’t want Jillian hurting Jesse either. Jillian was currently residing in rebound and/ or just-want-sex-and-don’t-give-a-fuck territory. Nicki just said, “Bad idea.”

Jillian rested her chin on her hand, not looking at her friend. “Yeah, I know, but why couldn’t I be bad for just one night?” She finally broke her gaze from Jesse. “Didn’t you say he was really good in bed?”

Nicki was dumfounded. She had no idea what to say, and she was afraid her jealousy would trump anything else she could possibly tell her friend. Fortunately, Sean showed back up, placing a drink in front of Jillian and sitting next to Nicki, draping his arm over her shoulders. “This one doesn’t sound too bad,” he said, “but I still can’t fucking watch.”

Nicki wasn’t going to say a goddamn thing, and in her mind, she was pleading the fifth.

The song changed gears, moving into the second half, a song called “Mediate,” which Jesse handled just fine in spite of the alcohol raging through his system. The song was cool but not sexy, and Nicki was grateful for that.

Sean wound up watching the rest, and Nicki could tell it didn’t bother him as much as he’d thought it would. When Jesse stepped away from the mike, he got more applause than anyone else had the entire evening. Nicki glanced around. Lots of those cheers came from the female portion of the crowd. She wasn’t surprised. As Jesse approached their tables again, his grin was wide, and he picked up his bottle of beer.

Sean grinned and shook his head. “Man, you got balls.”

Jesse started laughing and sat on the other side of Jillian. “You should try it. It’s fun once you stop bein’ a pussy about it.”

Nicki let out a breath of air. Sean and Jesse were great guys but crude when they were together. Nicki was pretty sure she’d never heard Jesse call another guy a pussy the entire time they’d been dating. Or maybe she’d been so enamored of him she hadn’t noticed.

Of course, it didn’t even phase Sean. “Not gonna happen. I don’t need to get up on a stage to feel validated.”

Jesse raised his eyebrows, and he looked angry at first. Then he smiled and sat down, picking up his beer bottle again and drinking what was left. Jillian leaned over and Nicki had to strain to hear what she was saying…and that’s when she realized Jillian wasn’t talking to her or the group…only to Jesse.

Down, green-eyed monster. Down, damn you.

She managed to hear Jillian saying something, though…something about having too much to drink and could she maybe get a ride home with Jesse?

Oh, God, this was not good. Nicki had no right to feel jealous like this. No right at all. And she could blame it on not wanting Jillian to cheat on her husband, but she knew better. She knew that wasn’t it at all.

And no way could she say a single word.

So she did what any good girlfriend would do…she turned to her boyfriend and smiled. He looked at her, a small smile lighting up his eyes, and she brought her hand to his neck. He leaned over, expecting Nicki to say something, but she instead brought her lips to his. After immersing him in a kiss, she said, “I think I’ve had all the fun I can stand.”

Sean smiled. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Before they could even stand, though, Nicki heard Jesse. “I think we’re both outta here. Gonna give Jillian a ride home, so you guys don’t have to worry about it.”

Nicki wanted to hear it from her friend with her own ears. As she stood, she asked, “What about your car, Jilly?”

Jillian stood and shrugged. “I’ll just get it tomorrow.”

Jesse’s tone was matter-of-fact. “I’m giving her a ride…just to be safe.”

Nicki was growing angry with herself that she was letting any of it bother her…and she was also upset that part of her felt relief and happiness that Jesse didn’t seem interested in her friend.

Sean stood and grabbed Nicki around the waist, pressing against her from behind. “We were getting ready to leave too. I just wanted to make sure Mr. Rock Star here would be all right with that.”

Jesse gave him a look, then flipped him off. Sean laughed and held out his fist, still behind Nicki. Jesse bumped Sean’s fist with his own and then asked Jillian, “Ready?”

“Yeah.” As she started to follow Jesse toward the front door, she turned to Nicki and smiled, shrugging her shoulders and grinning from ear to ear, indicating her glee.

Nicki could feel something dark and nasty simmering in her gut. She didn’t like it. It wasn’t like her. So she focused again on the wonderful man whose arms were wrapped around her. She turned and placed her hands on his chest. “What the hell are we waiting for?”

“I was getting ready to ask you the same question.”

He kissed her and then picked up his drink and slammed the rest of it down, leaving just a few cubes of ice clinking in the glass. “Let’s get out of here.”

Fake

Amazon: http://amzn.to/MJ3Tq6

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1cosH3d

Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/ph9slh7

 

Don’t Carry My Bags!

Most men—including my husband—are sometimes baffled at my behavior. It’s nothing I’m going to apologize for (although I have been tempted once or twice to say “sorry”). I am fiercely independent—always have been, always will be. And, in this day and age, it’s something I’m not ashamed of. If men and women are truly equal, then neither men nor women should be offended by my behavior or stance.

Instead of trying to explain it, let me give you an example. I’m carrying something heavy. I’m not struggling. A man offers to carry it for me—not once but twice (in fact, the phrase “tripping over himself to assist me” comes to mind), and I say, “No, thank you.” I almost have to get rude about it the second time, and I feel bad about that, but I am not emasculating the guy. See, here’s the way I look at it: Would he have offered to carry that heavy thing for another man?

…think about it before you answer…

I’m thinking he would NOT. So his act, while “chivalrous,” is also unwanted and presumptuous. My husband is almost used to me by now after being with me a long time, but he will often say, “I was just trying to be a gentleman.” Okay, sure, but why not instead do the things I ask? If a guy sees me carrying something heavy (and I’m not struggling!), why does he feel the need to be a knight in shining armor?

Don’t get me wrong. I realize guys sometimes have a bad rap, especially nowadays, and I usually appreciate the gesture, but it’s coming from the wrong place. To assume I want or need help when I haven’t asked also assumes the following:

I am weak.
I am helpless.
I cannot do something without the aid of someone stronger, bigger, more capable.

Let me clarify—there are times when I do want and need help. We all do. But to make the assumption that I need help hearkens back to a time when women’s clothing covered every inch of their skin, save hand and face, and they were considered subservient to their husbands. They didn’t make the decisions in the household. They didn’t have the final say. They relied on their spouses to take care of them.

It’s 2016, folks.

Don’t hold the door for me unless you’ll continue to hold it for the guy behind me too. That’s all I’m sayin’. When I talk equal rights, I mean it. Yes, the draft should apply to women as well (know when I say this that I am EXTREMELY against the draft at all and also anti-war. I was angry as hell when my eighteen-year-old son had to sign up for the Selective Service), but “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” The glass ceiling needs to disappear. And if I do the same job as a man, my pay should reflect it. I could go on and on and on…

I realize this post is not the most eloquent or elegant, because I’m ranting a bit at the moment. I know that most men, when they offer their assistance, truly do it out of a sense of duty and honor. I’d rather they offer out of the kindness of their hearts, though, because then they’d also ask a man if he needed help carrying that heavy thing…not just little old “weak” me…

Book Club Questions for NO PLACE TO HIDE (Nicki Sosebee #3)

Some readers love being able to talk about books but sometimes don’t know where to start or how to share what they’re thinking with others. That’s why some publishers will list questions at the back of an author’s book, but I decided to share these kind of questions on my blog. My plan is to eventually have questions for all of my books, so stay tuned.

Today’s book is Nicki Sosebee #3, No Place to Hide.

Oh! As always…if you haven’t read the book yet, you might want to skip the questions, because they’re likely to be full of spoilers!

The blurb:

The hottest Nicki book yet!

The Winchester Tribune publishes an article warning the women of Winchester that there is a sexual predator on the loose in the streets of the town they once thought was safe. Danger doesn’t stop Nicki, though, and it’s not till it’s too late that she discovers the criminal in the place she least suspects. And there’s no one who can save her this time. Meanwhile, she decides that her new love interest Jesse might be worth more of her time…but he’s not making it easy.

The questions:

How has Nicki changed in this book? Has she grown?

Does Nicki’s relationship with Jesse feel authentic? How does that change the dynamic of her friendship with Sean?

In Got the Life (Nicki #1) and Dead (Nicki #2), Nicki got herself into some predicaments, but someone else saved her from an untimely demise. How did you feel about the dark moment in this book where Nicki couldn’t rely on a knight in shining armor? Which type of conflict resolution do you prefer?

What do you think will happen in the next book? Does Nicki and Jesse’s relationship seem solid? Will her friendship with Sean change?

With what you know about Sean and Jesse right now, which man do you think is the better “fit” for Nicki? Why? Has your opinion changed since the last book?

Do you think Nicki is a stronger person at the end of the book than she was at the beginning? Why?

Are there any passages or quotes that stand out to you?

If you could ask Jade one question about this book, what would it be?

If you use these questions for a book club reading, I’d love to know how it goes. If you come up with other questions, I’d love to hear them! Happy reading!

Looking for book club questions for a specific Jade book? You can use the search box at the top of the page to look through tags for the book you’re looking for or you can click the tag below that says (or search for) Book Club questions.

Dear Crabby: A Love Triangle?

Dear Crabby is a weekly column featuring the loveable but cantankerous Crabby, full of relationship advice for the lovesick. Let’s read what advice she has this week for our poor reader.

Dear Crabby:

Okay, so I think I’ve finally given up on the guy that I’ve wanted for so long. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. Every time we get close, he pulls away. Like recently… Wait. Maybe I better tell you the whole story. So, this guy…let’s call him Sean. He and I hooked up a long time ago and things just didn’t work out. We’ve remained friends all these years, but it hasn’t stopped me from yearning for him.  I might be in the friend zone, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking for a way to get in closer.

Anyway, over the years since we connected, I’ve kind of…let’s just say I’ve played the field, hoping he’d come to his senses. He never has, and I’ve kind of grown accustomed to the whole love-‘em-and-leave-‘em lifestyle. Recently, I hooked up with a really hot biker and Sean all of a sudden became overprotective of me—maybe even jealous, trying to scare me away from this love interest by telling me the guy’s part of a motorcycle gang (I have no idea if that’s true or not, and it doesn’t matter). I found his reaction strange, because at that time he had a pretty serious girlfriend. Anyway, this whole situation led to him kissing me—and then he wanted to act like it never happened.

Frustrating!

So I returned to my dallying ways but now…now there’s this guy who’s caught my eye—and he’s Sean’s best friend. I think he’s interested in me (he kissed me!)…and I think I’m interested in him. Should I go for it? Or should I just pass on by?  Help!

~ Wondering in Winchester

 

Dear Wondering:

You sound like the kind of woman who just can’t make up her mind. That’s where your problem lies. I suspect that you have no idea what you really want—and once you figure that out, you can answer your own dilemma. The guy you’ve been crushing on for years? Sounds like he doesn’t really want you, so maybe you should take a chance with new guy. But look inside yourself. The answer is there.

 

Dear Crabby will address reader letters every Monday.

Want to know what happened with Wondering? You can find out in Dead (Nicki Sosebee #2)!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/MeW2QZ

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1eYBdQB

Barnes & Nobel: http://bit.ly/NeOAGi

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1mDxLWo

iTunes: http://bit.ly/1vpywTy

Oh, but quick disclaimer!  I recommend you read Nicki #1 (Got the Life) first if you haven’t already.

Sunday Q&A: Writing Research

How much research do you do for your books?

When I was working on my first graduate degree, one of my first professors told me I was a “scholar and a researcher.” I can’t tell you how proud that made me, because I work hard when I write. Sure, there’s a huge difference between an academic paper and a work of fiction, but the work in putting them together is sometimes similar…at least, in my case.

I was recently asked by one of my blogger friends if I’d researched something I’d talked about in the book of mine she’d just read. My answer was “Absolutely!” I research a lot when I’m writing. Sometimes, my research is minimal (like looking up the way a company spells its name to make sure I’ve got it right in my book), but other times, I have to do a lot of digging, especially if I’m dealing with something I’m not as familiar with.

Let me be clear: research is important.

It might be more important to me than to other authors, because authenticity means a lot to me. If something feels fake, you’ve lost me (as a reader or a viewer). I have to be absorbed by the story, and it’s only possible if I can believe (or suspend my disbelief)—I must believe the scenario is likely—and that’s why I feel like research is necessary.

My husband and I watched a movie a few years back, one he’d been looking forward to for a long time. It was quickly ruined by its lack of credibility, at least in our case. Part of the story was set in Gunnison, Colorado—the place where he and I met and lived years and years ago. We were able to “let go of” the fact that the setting in the movie didn’t look like Gunnison. We understand that filming can’t always take place in the exact right location. But then, when the movie had Gunnison and Colorado Springs half an hour apart, they completely lost us. Maybe they appear to be that close on a map, but the two are a good three hours apart (if the weather cooperates), and you have the Continental Divide separating the two to boot! That lack of knowledge—which could have been corrected with a minimal amount of research (Google Maps, for heaven’s sake!)—ruined the story for me, and there was no getting me back.

Research can be done in a number of ways. Sometimes I ask readers questions (I did for Feverish and Savage and even Bullet—and I acknowledge those answers in the back of the book, because asking questions of people who know often gives better information than looking something up online), but a lot of times I do conduct research online.

I prefer to do what Stephen King advocates—that is, writing what I know—but that’s not always possible. When it’s not, I research. So, to answer the question, I research as much as I need to, and the amount of research varies from book to book.

Got a question for me? Post it in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer it either here or in a future post!

The Value of a Good Beta Reader

Jade provides tips for writers every week.

You might be asking, Why do I need a beta reader? Well, if you’re not a writer, you don’t. But if you’re a writer who wants to be published, you do! Good, solid, steady beta readers will give you feedback before you publish. Think of a beta reader as a wingman—they’ve got your back (er…your side? Okay, maybe that was a sucky analogy). Bottom line: a good beta reader will give you feedback to make your story better.

I’ve had a good many newbie indie authors and creative writing students over the years freak out about anyone getting hold of their manuscript prepublication, and I understand that fear. There’s a fear of piracy, mostly, and that is why you must choose people you trust. Don’t just give your unpublished story to anyone. After all, you’re then going to trust them with something even more important—your baby. Your word baby.

So what does a good beta reader do? It depends. I have several beta readers, and they all excel at something. One of them catches continuity errors (my most recent beta read had that type of error caught by not one but two beta readers—the character was wearing a pair of shorts at the beginning of the scene and jeans at the end. Wait. What?! She’s magic!). Another gives me what I call big picture feedback, telling me her overall impression and also letting me know if anything strange jumped out at her. Yet another is a fellow Grammar Nazi who catches booboos I don’t (yes, I’m human!). Still another pulls no punches and gives me a blow-by-blow of what she did and didn’t like. And they will all tell me if/when they catch something that didn’t feel or seem right, whether on the word level or story level. These beta readers, both separately and as a group, are an invaluable part of my writing process. They help me make my story better so that my paying readers get a story that’s the best it can be.

Do you have to take every little piece of feedback from a beta reader as gospel? No, absolutely not, but you should weigh what each has to say. Obviously, if a beta reader says, “You wrote two when you meant to” and you look at your manuscript and know that she’s right, then change it! But what if it has to do with the way a character behaves or reacts or which path the story took? Those kinds of feedback are sometimes harder to work with, but I’ll tell you how I handle them. When I receive comments from beta readers that kind of go against either how the character is in my mind or the story as I saw it, I read through the feedback and mull it over, kind of letting it set and stew. There might be merit to their comment (or it might be just one of those things where the reader didn’t like something—and that happens! Remember what I’ve said about reviews, that you’ll never be a 5-star to everyone? Sometimes that even includes your beta readers). If, after some time of weighing the feedback, it clashes with your vision, you can choose to not act on it. After all, the story is yours and you have final say! That said…what if a majority of your beta readers say the same thing and you are stubbornly sticking to your story? That’s when I listen and really take feedback to heart—if all or most of my beta readers are hollering the same thing at me, then maybe I’d better sit up and take notice. It’s definitely something I need to address—or be prepared to face the same comment from regular readers. If all or most of my beta readers say, “Nicki would never do that—it’s so out of character!” then I need to look at why they said that. Is the story or character not developed well enough or did I truly lose my way as a writer? And how do I fix it? If it’s a simple misunderstanding/ miscommunication or even something more significant, I can fix it before release date.

And that’s why you have beta readers—to help you polish and hone your story so it’s as close to a masterpiece as it can be. A good beta reader is worth her weight in gold!

Got a writing question for me? Post below and I’ll be happy to answer it either here or in a future Saturday blog post!

Teaser #3, Nicki Sosebee #10: LIES

Lies…so close! We’re just ten days away, and I can’t wait for you to read this story. Nicki is BACK! And…here’s a little taste of her and Sean. Enjoy!

 

“Just…trust me.”

Well, she’d always trusted him and there was no changing that now. She nodded as he relaxed but left his hand on her upper arms while searching her eyes for confirmation. She nodded and he dropped his hands. Before going outside, though, he turned to the CD player that was on the shelf against the wall and cranked the music even louder—loud enough that they wouldn’t be able to talk if they’d stayed inside.

Once they’d walked out of the garage, Sean took Nicki’s hand in his BAMF hand and led her off the sidewalk so that they stood on the street, just past a car parked on the side. Jesus, it was hot, but she was going to humor him. She was starting to feel paranoid, though. “What the hell’s going on, Sean?”

She saw his jaw clench—not a good sign. “I got some pretty nasty information from BUFF.”

“Who’s Buff?”

“Not who. What. You know Travis’s motorcycle club?”

Well, Nicki had kinda-sorta known Travis belonged to some group of bikers, but there’d never been any love loss between the two of them, so she didn’t know too terribly much about the guy. He was a friend of Sean, though, one of his biker friends, and apparently what he had to say had to do with him. “Not really.”

“BUFF stands for Bikers Feeding Families. They deliver big meals to needy families once a month.”

“Okay…” Nicki wasn’t sure what he was getting at or why he was acting weird over something that simple, but she knew Sean. Nothing freaked him out—nothing—so for him to be acting a little…strange…set her on edge like hardly anything ever did. Hell, she’d seen him chase two meth heads out of his apartment through snow and threaten to beat the one he caught within an inch of his life—all half naked. She’d seen him in scary, compromising positions, things that would send most people running for the hills. What the hell had him so goddamned jumpy?

“Anyway, some of these families they deliver to…they’re fucked up, Nicki.”

“I’m not surprised, Sean. Poverty is hard on people. I’ve seen it just in some of my reporting. Some of these people are beaten down hard and they have nothing to lose.”

“No, it’s not that.” A guy was walking on the sidewalk past Sean’s garage. Sean watched him but didn’t say a word, and as soon as the guy was a few doors down, Sean said, “Come on.” She followed him, also keeping her mouth shut, and watched from the sidewalk as he grabbed his keys out of his office and pull the bay doors shut, locking them. “Let’s take a walk.”

“Sean, what the hell?”

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Throwback Thursday – MADversary

Holy cow.  It seems like forever since I wrote MADversary, and it almost was (at least in this little writer brain of mine).  I was writing it about this time four years ago!  It was my second rock star romance book (and it was and always will be a standalone), but I’d wanted to write something light and fun.  Some of my most faithful readers discovered me because of this book, but a lot of my newer readers don’t even know it exists! 

The blurb:

Megan Walker doesn’t plan to attend her high school reunion, but her best friend Lisa begs her to come along. Megan doesn’t want to risk running into her old boyfriend Tyler Green, a man who has since become rich and famous as the frontman of a heavy metal band called Madversary. Lisa convinces her that Tyler would never show up for something like a reunion, so Megan gives in, only to regret it. Because when Tyler does show up, the spark reignites, and she doesn’t know that she can bear letting him go again.

Excerpt:

Chapter Two from MADversary

LISA’S BLUE EYES sparkled as a raucous laugh poured out of her mouth. She and Megan sat at a picnic table in the park across from the library. Lisa had brought her specialty—mandarin orange salad—for the women to eat at lunch. Lisa was on a perpetual diet and, therefore, the girl ate more lettuce than rabbits, and she had dozens of delicious salad recipes. Megan stabbed an orange with the plastic fork and nibbled on it, afraid to put it in her mouth in case Lisa started making her giggle too. She didn’t want to inhale an orange, only to have it get stuck in her throat. Imagine how the obit would read….

“Oh, my God, Megan. Would you stop worrying so much?” Lisa tossed back a lock of blonde hair behind her shoulder to keep it from dipping in her salad.

“I can’t help it. I just know something will go wrong on this date.”

“That’s a shitty attitude, girlfriend. Of course something will go wrong if you expect it to. You have to have a positive attitude.”

Megan screwed up the corner of her mouth. “Easier said than done.” She chanced the orange, wrapping her lips around the fork and pulling it into her mouth.

“All right. I gotta know. Have you given the high school reunion any more thought?”

Megan swallowed the orange. “Yes.”

“And…?”

“I haven’t changed my mind. I’m not going.”

“Oh, come on, Meg. I don’t want to go by myself!”

“Sorry, Leese, I just can’t find any good reasons to go.”

“Are you kidding me? Seriously? I can think of thousands!”

“Name one.”

Lisa used her fork to scoot pieces of lettuce glimmering with dressing and dotted with almond slivers around the paper bowl. She sighed. “Well, maybe it’s not a nice reason, but I’m dying to see what childbirth did to Summer and Monica.”

Megan swallowed the bite in her mouth. “That’s…unoriginal.” Summer and Monica had been co-captains of the cheerleading squad their senior year in high school. Both Megan and Lisa had thought the cheerleading girls would go on to do big things like most privileged daughters do, but instead both married their high school sweethearts. One girl’s said sweetheart was a year older and attending college in Boulder, while the other was a senior and did attend college…but in nearby Colorado Springs. The two of them “had” to get married so their bundle of joy could be considered legitimate. Summer and Matt Harper at last count had three children and he was now the manager of his father’s hardware store in downtown Winchester. Monica’s future husband had attended CU in Boulder, and she went to school there after graduation as well but never finished. Once her boyfriend John graduated, they married, but last Megan knew, they lived in the Denver Metro area. “You know, they probably look just like we do. I doubt they look any worse off.”

Lisa waved her fork back and forth, the tines pointing at Megan. “Oh, no. I saw Summer a few years ago, and she looked haggard.”

Megan shrugged. “So what are the other nine-hundred ninety-nine reasons?”

“Aren’t there guys you’re dying to see? I mean…I always imagine one of the computer nerds will come back all rich and sexy and remember I was nice to him.”

“Also unoriginal, Leese. You gotta stop watching stuff like Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. That’s all total fantasy.” Megan picked up her napkin and wiped her lips. “That’s why you’re dying to go. You think you’re going to impress the hell out of everyone while laughing your ass off at the misfortunes of others.”

Lisa grinned. “Well, there is that…. But I also just want to see people I’ve fallen out of touch with.”

“I don’t. I’ve stayed in touch with the people I’ve wanted to.”

“Me, Megan. That would be me. You haven’t stayed in touch with anyone else.”

“My point exactly.”

Lisa sighed and stabbed another piece of lettuce with her fork. Megan felt a little guilty, especially seeing Lisa’s bottom lip begin to push out in a slight pout. But she didn’t feel guilty enough to give in. Lisa looked up. “Okay, fine. Give me some good reasons not to go.”

Like she hadn’t already outlined a solid case. “Well, I don’t want to see what ten years have done to everyone. I don’t care if Summer has big hips and stretch marks and doesn’t wear makeup anymore. I don’t care if every last computer and gaming geek I remember comes to the reunion loaded with dough. I just don’t care, Leese. There’s nothing there for me. And…” Oh, shit. She’d said too much.

Lisa wasn’t stupid. She pounced on it like a cat. “And what?”

“Oh, nothing.” Suddenly, Megan was interested in her salad again and piled a forkful in her mouth.

Lisa’s eyes narrowed down to slivers and she dropped her voice. Megan became aware of the cool April breeze on her arms, and she wanted to pull her sweater back on. She felt like a bug under a microscope, and Lisa wasn’t going to let her squirm free. “I don’t think so.”

She let all the air out of her lungs in a long exhale. Better to just get it over with now. She forced her eyes up to look in Lisa’s. “What if…Tyler’s there?”

Lisa’s chin dropped as did her hands and the flimsy plastic fork from her fingers. “Oh, my God. I should have known.”

Megan shook her head. “Oh, no. Don’t make a federal case out of this.”

“But it makes so much sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. I have no idea why I would be so worried about seeing him again.”

“Yes, you do.”

Okay. Yes, she did. Tyler Green had been her boyfriend her senior year in high school for all of three months, the last three months of school. When school let out, he and his heavy metal band had wandered off first to Denver and then to L.A. to make it big while Megan had been responsible and gone to college in nearby Pueblo, Colorado. He and his friends had left just days after graduation and, throughout the summer, he and Megan had maintained a long-distance relationship over the phone, but by the time she was knee-deep in school, both of them admitted it wasn’t working. Their phone calls had become sporadic anyway and they weren’t even exchanging emails anymore by that time. But Megan knew the truth. She knew he must have been enjoying the rock star life. She knew women were probably falling all over him and offering themselves up to him for whatever pleasure he could ever ask for. How could she compare? And, besides that, she was lonely. She missed having him around, and a long-distance boyfriend was like no boyfriend at all. She still didn’t date until her second year in college, just couldn’t bring herself to do it. “I guess maybe I do. I…think it would be awkward, don’t you? I mean, I’ve seen his picture and stuff, but in person…might be pretty weird.”

“You didn’t end it on bad terms. What’s the big deal?”

The big deal was Megan had thought Tyler was the guy. He had really rocked her world the short time they’d been together. He was sweet and sensitive but cute. And even though she’d tried to avoid following his career, it had been unavoidable. At least, that’s what she told herself. But Megan knew that if Tyler had asked her to come with him that summer, she would have. She would’ve abandoned the notion of school along with the scholarship and work study job, would’ve easily said goodbye to friends and family to follow him. She was pretty sure he’d known that too but he hadn’t asked. That was all she’d needed to know. So, no, she didn’t want to chance running into him. There were too many what ifs she didn’t even want to consider. “It’s no big deal. I just don’t want to see him.”

Lisa slapped her hands on the picnic table. “That’s just messed up. You really cared about Tyler, and I can’t believe you want to miss the chance to reconnect with him. And, besides…I really doubt he’d show up anyway. I know I wouldn’t want to attend a high school reunion if I was famous. What a cluster.”

“So why do you even care?”

“Because, Meg…I want some support there. What if everyone’s a bunch of jerks or they are all rich and just want to rub everyone’s noses in it? What if no one remembers me? I need a friend there, Meg. Come on. Please?”

There were those damned blue puppy dog eyes Lisa managed to play up when she wanted people to feel sympathy for her, and even though Megan had long been aware of their powers, she still fell victim to them. Lisa was probably right. Of course, Tyler wouldn’t be there. His first band might not have made it and he’d faltered in the beginning, but the last five years, he’d been a solid rock god. Why would someone with that level of fame attend a high school reunion? There would be no good reason. “All right. Fine. But…” Megan needed to cover her bases. She couldn’t take a chance. “…if, for some strange reason, Tyler does show, then all bets are off.”

Lisa took a deep breath and scrutinized her friend. Slowly, she offered her hand across the table for a handshake. “It’s a deal.”

And that’s how Megan Walker got suckered into attending her ten-year high school reunion.

MADversary

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