M.B. Mulhall's Blog, page 27

The Perks of Writing Partners and Groups

Some might think that writing is a lonely solo kind of career. That authors lock themselves in a room for days on end or escape to a log cabin in the middle of nowhere to write.  Well, those things probably do happen. One needs focus to finish writing a novel, but once that rough draft is done it's time to re-enter the land of the living.  This is the point where a good writing partner or writing group come in handy.

So maybe you're asking "Why would I even need a writing partner or a group? I am (S)He-(Wo)Man, queen/king of writing! I need no help!" While that may be true (hey, I don't know the level of your writing skills) I say a partner and/or a group can only help.

A good writing partner should be able to help you through the initial rough draft writing if you've explained your ideas and the plot to them in detail. Of course you can always turn to them for general questions on point of view, questions on locations, foods, weapons, fighting styles, grammar,  etc. If your partner has the time, you may want to send them a chapter at a time to get their thoughts on what's going on (I would hold off on asking for editing type read throughs until the rough draft is complete). That back and forth between you and your writing partner can be really beneficial if you find yourself stuck, unsure of where the story should go.

When it comes time to beta read, a writing partner is one of the best people to turn to. They know you. They know your writing style. More than likely, you've discussed aspects of the story and characters with them as you were writing the rough draft. Also, you should be able to trust them to be honest with you and let you know if something doesn't work.  They're less likely to come back with cruel comments about your writing.

A writing group is a bit of a different kind of monster.  When you belong to a writing group, you're mixed in with a bunch of different kind of writers. They don't necessarily need to write the same genre as you, but I think it can be helpful. Groups tend to meet on a monthly basis and people get together, talk about their current projects and more than likely do a reading of a scene or a chapter.  This is helpful for several reasons.

1) Instant feedback. You're not sitting at home refreshing your email waiting for a beta reader to get back to you with notes.

2) More than one opinion at a time. Not everyone's going to love your work. It just might not be their kind of story, but that's important for you to hear as well. It'll help prep you for possible bad reviews later. Also, all those different opinions may help you to see something someone else may have missed or didn't think much of.

3) Practice selling yourself. No. No. I'm not talking about standing on the corner hawking a $25 dollar…well, you know, but selling your work. Convincing people your book is interesting and that they should want to buy it. As someone who gets tongue tied talking about their novels (see the last blog post!) I find this part of belonging to a group is a huge help to me.

4) Public speaking.  I know a lot of people have issues with speaking before a group. To read a chapter of your work in a public place where the people of your group, and anyone else standing around, can hear you can be an incredibly daunting task but it can be a great confidence boost and prepare you should you ever have the chance to do a book signing/reading.

5) A look into the competition.  If you have writers of the same genre in your group, it can be helpful to see what they're writing about and their style. Certain markets are flooded with similar types of books. Right now we know the YA market has a large amount of vampire and werewolf books. Perhaps you might think to work on that old manuscript about humans who turn into unicorns instead of the vampire book to have something different out there.

These are just a few of the highlights to having a good writing partner or group to share your work with. No man is an island, folks.  Don't be scared to share your stories. Just remember, if they help you, they will probably want help in return. It's a good system. Make it work for everyone.

Tongue Tied

Once you tell people you've written a book, the first question that's going to pop out of there mouth is almost always "What's it about?". Seems a logical question, no? You'd think, since I wrote the book, edited it a million times, wrote a query/backcover blurb, etc. that it would be an easy question for me as the author to answer, right?

Umm…wrong. For some reason, whenever I'm asked that question, I get all tongue tied. My mind goes blank and I start to stutter. Why can't I  explain what it's about? I just don't know.  I think, on one hand, I feel like I'm bragging if I start rambling on about my story. On the other hand, I'm concerned about the looks I'll get when I tell people I wrote a story about a girl who cheated death twice and the Angel of Death who saved her life. I can only imagine what people must look like when I tell them I wrote a story about a love triangle between two hot guys and a girl who wears clown makeup.

I don't do well with face to face stuff as I am not a fan of being the center of attention.  It makes me blush! It's one of the reasons I love all this online web-related promotion. I don't have to see people jeer me! Yeah I have to read it, but at least if it makes me cry, no one is around to see.

I'm sure a lot of it just has to do with confidence, something I know I lack a lot of. It also seems to be a writer type deal to have a lot of insecurities about our work. As I've said before, art is subjective and not everyone is going to like what we do. I can accept that, but I don't have to take it head on and face to face. I'd rather just tell them to look it up! I'm sure, given time, it'll become easier but for now expect a blank look followed by a rambling explanation that is all over the place.

Adventures in Promoland: The Blog Tour

The next stop on the journey through Promoland is at the wondrous place called the Blog Tour. A blog tour is a fantastic way to reach a larger audience. To reach several difference audiences.

Here's how it works: You find someone to host your tour. There are companies who will handle it, like Amazon, Goodreads and/or Barnes and Nobles. That will help those browsing the sites  be more interested in your book and the more reviews you get, the higher your ranking goes. It's a win!

A blog tour is a great tool to help you reach an audience you may not already have, to build your fan base, to make new friends with other writers and bloggers. Yes you may have to put out some money, but the amount totally depends on you, which is kind of a great thing.

 

Perfect Pitch?

I don't know about that, but I'm posting it for a contest over at Brenda Drake's blog.  We're to post a two sentence pitch (no more than 35 words) and the first one hundred and fifty words to our (completed) YA or MG novel.  Others in the contest will (hopefully) be stopping by to give an opinion, advice or whatever, so here goes!

Pitch:

TEARS OF A CLOWN, by MB Mulhall. Darcy can survive the taunting, the swirlies, even the pies in the face, but being the meat in a hot guy sandwich? That's one thing the girl with the clown makeup knows nothing about.

 

First 150 words:

 

Chapter 1

 

The sudden sound of a car horn blaring made her hand jump, drawing a dark black line across her otherwise pristine white cheek. Darcy let loose with a loud explicit string of words. She threw down the eyeliner she was using to trace her ample lips and stormed over to the window. In one swift movement, she threw it open.

"Thanks a lot bitch! I would have been down in two minutes tops, but now, thanks to your heavy handed impatience, I have to fix my makeup!" she yelled at her prissy blonde doll-like step-sister. Mandy hit the horn again in reply. Darcy flipped her the bird before slamming the old window shut.

Stalking back to her dresser, she assessed herself in the mirror. No time to take the makeup off and re do it. She'd have to improvise and try a new design. A heavy sigh escaped her.

Adventures in Promoland: Giveaways

Since Near Death has come out, I've had to go pretty full fledged promo director to get the word out. There are plenty of options out there and I figured I'd share some  with you guys so you can look into them and see what would work for you.

Today's discussion will be about giveaways.  Goodreads is a great option to check out.  If you have a book due out soon or released sometime within the past six months, you are eligible to hold a giveaway through the Goodreads website. The catch being that you must have a print version of your book and you must be the one to mail it out. Not so big a deal, right?

By listing a giveaway through the site it allows you to offer signed copies, which is a nice extra perk for the winner. You can send swag with them if you have it as well. You are the one to set the amount of time the giveaway runs for. While you don't want it to run too long, to give it a week or so allows more people to notice and enter. Those people are getting to read your summary and many will add it to their To-Read shelves so if they don't win one of the copies, they may still look to buy it. In the two days my giveaway has been running so far, over 240 people have entered and 70 new people have added it to their To-Read lists. Not too shabby. Obviously I don't know how many people will follow through and pick it up after the contest, but I've got to think some of them will be interested enough to do so!

Another giveaway option is to offer book bloggers and reviewers copies of your book to give away to their audience when they post their review or interview about you. I think this is especially a great way to get the word out because people will be reading the blogger's review and will already "know" someone who has (hopefully) enjoyed the book.  The perk with this avenue is that you're not limited to printed copies. While a printed book is a bit nicer a prize, you can offer more copies when it comes to digital. You can also combine it with a Kindlegraph so you can personalize a signing for the winners.

Remember, giveaways do not have to be limited to books! Lots of readers love swag. With so many internet printing companies out there, it can be pretty affordable to have things made to represent your book from posters of the cover, to buttons to bookmarks. When bookmarks are one hundred for three bucks, think about how many you can mail out or even pass out to people, possibly even giving them to librarians and teachers if your books are for kids or teens. They can use them as rewards for their students and prompt the interest in your book for your age group.

Offering free copies of your book and swag is a great way to spread the word about your writing without spending a ton of money. I'm sure there are other options out there to be researched as well such a blog hops (which I don't know too much about personally). Look around and see what works for you.  While you're at it, why not enter my own giveaway because hey, FREE BOOK!

The books that sparked an addiction

Over at the wonderful web home of Emlyn Chand,  a writing challenge is going on for the year that involves re-reading some of the books you loved as a child or a teen. You know, those books  you read over and over that sparked your interest for more: longer books, series, choose your own adventures, those "adult" books you sneaked out of the library,etc.

It got me thinking about some of my favorite books that I read as a child. Books that turned me into an addict. A book addict.  Three books in particular come to mind.

First being The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois. It's a story of a man who takes off in a hot air balloon which  gets a hole and ends up landing on a an island. The island is inhabited by a few families who are mining for diamonds. Sounds like he hits it rich, but the island is actually the volcanic island of Krakatoa, which is about to blow up. They have to scramble and figure out a way off  before they are all killed.

I loved the mix of fact and fiction in the book. When I found out Krakatoa was a real place, it spurred me to read even more to find out more about what happened there.

Another all time favorite of mine is Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. God I loved this book. I must have taken it out of the library a million times. I did book reports on it and always recommended it to my friends to read. For those who don't know, or have only seen the movie rather than read the book, it's a story of a mother mouse who needs to move her family for the season, but her son is far to sick to move.  She gets advice from the owl (A mouse, going to an owl for help?! It was scary as a kid! I thought she'd get eaten!) to seek the rats under the rose bush for help.  When she does, she finds the rats are advanced, being able to read and write and make complex machines and outfit themselves with electricity.  They agree to help her because her husband, who has since passed away, helped them escape the NIMH laboratories years before.

I remember the book as being exciting and suspenseful. I don't think I'd ever like another story that involved rats and mice, but these ones are smart, lovable and kind. Except, ya know…for that one bad guy.

Lastly, there's Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I forget exactly how old I was, but my mother gifted me with a beautiful hard cover copy of the book, with an inscription in the front cover.  I was totally taken in by the story of the sisters (Oh Jo…why didn't you get with Laurie?!). I won't go into detail about the story, since between the popularity of the book and the movie(s) most people will know the it already. I was so into the story that I ended up reading Little Men and either  Jo's Boys  or  Eight Cousins (it's been so long I've forgotten which).

As an adult, it kind of surprises me that I enjoyed these books so much because period pieces don't catch my attention as much anymore. I'm not sure what it was about it that pulled me in, but I was caught hook, line and sinker. I think reading these led me to read Gone With the Wind in the 6th grade.

Now to get back to my "problem", you might think, as far as addictions go, being a reader isn't a bad one, and I suppose it's not awful, but it does have its down sides.  Firstly, books can be pricey! Especially if you love the heavy slick looking hard covered beauties. *Sigh* Sooo pretty. Besides the money spent on the books themselves, you *must* have a place to display your lovely treasures! I dream of having a room with at least three walls of built in bookshelves. *Swoooooon* Along with all those books comes the issue of moving them. My poor poor friends. They hate when I come to them and ask if they can help me move. They know that means boxes and boxes of heavy books, but I can't just leave my babies behind! Then there's the issue of stories just not being long enough. Twelve books in the series? You always want one or two more. Over a thousand pages? If only there were five hundred more! Damn addicting good stories you don't want to end! It's especially bad when the series is just starting and you have to wait for the next book. Hurry and write people! I need my fix!  The addiction often leaves my head in the clouds, dreaming about possible plot lines and friendships with the characters. It's led me to a somewhat sedentary life as well.

You know though, it's all worth it. The longing for more. The shakes (from holding those thick heavy hard covers). The hours on end frantically flipping through pages to see what happens. Paper cuts. Eye strain. Numb ass. I wouldn't trade any of it for a life of television only. I don't need twelve step programs, I just need more books.

Which would you prefer…

Yesterday I read a little blog post from a great YA author, Melissa Luznicky Garrett, about whether you would prefer your writing to be "smart" or popular.   She posed the question : As a author, would you rather write a popular book that appeals to many and makes you rich and famous, if all that came with the jokes and criticism about bad writing (think Twilight)

or

Would you prefer to write something that is praised for being intelligent and thought provoking but only a few people will ever read it?

Honestly, it didn't take me long to make my own decision. Money aside (because really, who doesn't want/need money right?) I would take the popularity and criticism over the lack of an audience.

With a degree in Comparative Literature and Languages, I've done my fair share of reading those books that are praised but not read by many. I even enjoyed many of them, but as an author, I feel it's more my job to entertain the masses. To give them an escape. That's not to say I want my writing to be "bad". I'd like a happy medium please. I want people to enjoy my stories and if they learn something or have an epiphany? Awesome, but I don't really write for that reason. I write what I feel compelled to write. I write to entertain.

Do I think Stephanie Meyer is a fantastic writer? Not especially, but I still enjoyed her books and the movies. The writing may not be spectacular, but she was able to tap into people's fantasies and allow them an escape. That takes a special kind of talent in itself, don't you think? I certainly wouldn't mind having that talent myself.

Now I just need to work on that whole handling criticism  thing.

How about you fine folks? Which would you prefer?

Serialized Writing

What is serialized writing? Basically, it's when you write a novel that you deliver in pieces. There are several ways to go about "delivering" it. You could post it by chapter to a blog or even a mailing list of blog followers/friends.  You could publish mini e-books of a chapter/episode each. Some people will charge for these, others will "sell" them for free. It can be a great way to introduce people to your writing style.  If you were talented enough, or knew someone willing to help, you could even turn your writing into a webcomic. Also, don't forget to look to submit to magazines as well, both print and e-zines.

Sound fun, no? I think so, BUT I think there are some things you need to do in order to be successful at serialized writing.

1) You have to have the story outlined. Well outlined. If you don't know where you're going, you may not get a chapter done and then you're leaving your audience waiting and they may not remember to come back and check if you've got new work up.

2) If you want to do real serialization, each chapter should be a story in itself with a  beginning, middle and end.  Yet they must all build to the bigger picture. Think about serialized television. My favorite example: Doctor Who.  I've been watching the newer Who series (starting at the 2005 reboot) and I love love love how one can really come in to any episode and enjoy it without ever seeing any Who before (so long as it's not the 2nd half of a two parter). As if that's not good enough, the episodes reference prior incidents juuuuust enough to catch a viewers attention. Just enough to spark the curiosity that would make someone want to go back and see what happened. Then the show goes forward and even with losing and changing main characters, they don't just forget those lost people because in real life, who would forget someone they had been with for years. That's good writing.

3) If you can't work a it to make each "chapter" into a episode (beginning, middle, end) then make sure your chapters end on cliff hanger. You need something to leave your readers wanting more.

Serializing can be a fun way for a writer to work up a fan base.  It will take some work though. It's not something you can just jump into. Develop a schedule. Stick to it as much as you can. The more regular you are with it, the more likely you'll be to have people coming back to read. Have a couple of chapters ready before you start so that you're not racing the night before to write something that will end up being put up chock full of typos and mistakes. Promote yourself. Encourage fans to comment about what they think will happen. If you fancy yourself able, turn your writing into a choose your own adventure at times. Have readers vote on what they want to happen.  Make it even more interesting by adding art work: character sketches, photos, landscapes, etc.

Give it a try! In the end, you can put everything into one big book and offer that up to fans and new prospects alike.

/I feel compelled to say that my personal experience with serialized writing has been limited. My novel Tears of a Clown was a serialization of sorts.  If you have more info or feel the need to correct me on something I've said that is incorrect, please feel free!

Kindlegraph

I can't say I've ever been to a book signing, but I've always wanted to go. Authors are like my rockstars so to have them sign one of their book for me is the equivalent of some rocker throwing their sweaty bandanna at me from the stage. Cool yet much less damp and gross.

So when e-books started gaining popularity I did have the thought "oh…now there will never be a point for me to go to a book signing because most of the stuff I buy is in e-book form so what will they sign, my kindle cover?".Yeah, that wasn't happening. Then I stumbled up on a little program called Kindlegraph.

It's a fun little application where you can go and request a personalized digital inscription from an author for a specific book.  The request gets sent and the author will type up a little message and then they can literally sign it (although let me tell you, it takes a lot to make that signature look neat!) or they can "adopt" a signature which just turns your name into a script font.  I prefer the real thing, even if it is sloppy, you know someone really took the time to do it rather than a bot or whatever.

I haven't had enough time to browse through all the authors signed up to participate, but from what I did see, it seems to be a lot of indie authors, which is pretty cool in my opinion. I feel like it's one more thing the indie author can use and offer their fans that perhaps some of the traditionally published authors cannot. Also, many indie authors don't have the opportunity nor the funds for book tours, so this gives fans a chance at a sort of meet and greet with the author without having to travel to a major city or whatnot where the author is speaking.  I could see this being used in conjunction with a live webcast. A book tour where no one has to leave their computers! It's the future baby, yeah!

Now, just so you know, you do NOT need to own a Kindle, or any e-reader for that matter, in order to request a Kindlegraph or receive one. The Kindlegraph is really a PDF file with the book over image, the message and the signature. You can have it sent directly to your Kindle (although I don't recommend this and I'll tell you why in a minute) or to your email address. So it really is open to everyone.

Kindlegraphs are free BUT there is the possibility that you could get a charge. The charge comes in on the delivery directly to your Kindle. Whispernet, which is the network that does Kindle delivering, charges a fee to have "personal" documents delivered to your Kindle. I want to say it's 99 cents per document. While it's not a hefty fee, why should you pay when you can get it for free?  The way around the charge is to set up your Kindle address as your personal email address. Then you have the option to either keep a file on your computer with all the documents or attach your Kindle via USB and drop and drag the document to your Kindle.  I'm not sure how other e-readers work, but I would guess you could do something similar.

I think indie authors should definitely take advantage of Kindlegraph as it can be another great marketing tool and can add to the uniqueness of the indie experience. Readers, you can use it to get to know some great up and coming authors and have something from them before they blow up and may seem untouchable (as popular/famous people can often seem).

So authors, go ahead and sign your books up. Readers, go check it out.  If you search, you may just find this mild mannered blogger/indie author there as well!

What's going on…

Now that Near Death is out, I'm sure many of you have seen me promoting it (Please tell me if you feel like I'm spamming that stuff. That is totally not what I want). Maybe you're one of those awesome folks who have bought and read it and decided "Hey! She's not half bad! I'd like to read something else of hers!"  Perhaps your thoughts exists with less exclamation points, but hey, a girl can dream, no?

I hope those are your thoughts because there are several other projects in the works. Two of them I hope to have published in 2012, one being the sequel to Near Death called Staying Alive.  The rough draft is not yet done, but I'm hoping to finish up in the next few months.

My top priority at the moment is a funny little (okay, at 70k+ words it's not so little) spoof of a story about a girl stuck in a love triangle called Tears of a Clown.  Love triangle sounds pretty typical of young adult novels, no? Welp, the story started as a complete joke. I had been talking with friends about that "Dusk" series where the boring plain Jane whiny  main character attracts the attention of two very hot guys, one undead the other an animal. Being the plain Jane girl all my life, I know how very unlikely something like that is. I get it, it's a story meant to appeal to us "plain" folk and give us fantasies that this might really happen to us some day *sparkle*!  As I was talking to these friends I joked "I should write a story about the most unlikely girl coming to a new school and having the hot guys fall all over her and I bet people would love it."  They agreed and I got to thinking. What should this girl be like?  Just being plain or fat or super tall or rail thin wouldn't do it. She needed something above and beyond. She needed to be a clown. A literal clown. The idea had merit, but even though I expected it to be a spoof, I knew I couldn't write a whole story as a joke. There had to be more than that. I decided to make it a "little" more realistic by making the main character into a Juggalo.  For those not in the know, a Juggalo is a fan of the musical group, The Insane Clown Posse.  The fans will actually wear clown like make up to the concerts and gatherings. I just decided my chick would wear it almost all the time. Thus, my clown character was born.

Sounds silly, right? It is. It's ridiculously stupid and chock full of pie gags, prat falls and circus jokes, along with tons of internet and other geeky references about Monty Python, the musician Peaches, Rule 34, etc.  While some of the jokes will go over some heads, enough people have read it and laughed their way through for me to know I'm not playing to a totally oblivious crowd.

I feel like there are not enough books out there to make us laugh, and I think Tears of a Clown will have people laughing and groaning and shaking their heads. In a good way.  As I said before, I couldn't make the whole story a joke so there are redeeming qualities such as reminding people not to judge a book by its cover, beauty is only skin deep, learn to love yourself, etc. It's got good lessons people! I promise.

As I get closer to publication, I will post a couple of chapters for people to check out and set it up on Goodreads. Hopefully people will be interested, even if it's not completely in the same vein as my other work. It's still got romance, hot guys, some steamy sexy time scenes and best of all, it's got the jokes, because let's face it, we can all use a good laugh these days.