Heather McCubbin's Blog, page 35

IWSG: Pen Names...yes or no?

I have often wondered, when Stephenie Meyer's series took off and fans were screaming at her every time she made an appearance, did she wish she used a pen name? This was before Facebook, Twitter or Instagram became really popular but now with Social Media out there, I think it's harder to remain anonymous.

I've pondered numerous times should I use my real name for my books or a pen name? You already have a 'fan' base (your friends and family) if you use your real name or at least begin a blog or Author page with it. But, if you switch to a pen name, is it harder to get people to follow you? If you change your mind after you've begun your blog or Author page, is it difficult to rebuild that base?

Just something I was wondering while bored at work the other day. I have a ton of different pen names I would love to use, but wonder what my friends and family would think about it. What are your thoughts?

Music and Writing

So, for this latest story I am writing, the one with four books in it, I have been playing one song over and over. In the car (thank goodness for Bluetooth capabilities) on my laptop, iPod etc. it embodies the entire series and I thank Vega4 for their song "Life is Beautiful" in the album YOU AND OTHERS. Is there a song that can sum up your book or story?

IWSG: I wrote the "happily ever after"ending and I cried...

I began a story over eight years ago--born from a Harry Potter Draco/Ginny fan fiction gone severely out of canon (no, not 50 Shades of Grey style)-- on the advice of a friend. As I wrote, revised, took breaks, obsessed, raised my kids, moved to a different part of the US, it evolved from a standalone novel of a teen discovering love, friendship, and dealing with the crap that high school dishes out into a three (maybe four) book series that takes place over a ten year period.

This book, "Lane Changes", was one I sent to numerous publishers. I had a few bites, but it wasn't edgy enough for them. I wasn't looking to be edgy; I just had to tell Lane's story so I kept writing. The second book came pouring out and her life took a u-turn. Then, a small publisher (who published Transcendence) became interested in it and said a three book series would work better. I got to work on that and today, I typed the very last scene. Of course, it ended happily, I found THE PERFECT song to write to and I cried. I'm not sure if I was emotional because the last almost-nine years Lane's story was being told and now I had to let her go? I am still trying to figure it out.

"Lane Changes" is at the small publisher's now. It's being edited. Book 2 was just sent to them so they could see where I was going with the story.  I just emailed her and said a very rough copy of Book 3 was finished, and is over 104K words...it may have to be split.

So, what I'm trying to ask is have you become so immersed in your story or characters that you became so emotional for whatever reason? Have you ever not wanted to stop writing about your characters? It's going to be very hard to switch gears and work on the new slightly-fantasy-like story "Sticks & Stones" I'm writing with a friend. I may have to take a long break, regroup, then come back to that one so I can make Nicole in "Sticks & Stoned" her own person, quite different from Lane.

Thanks for listening!

IWSG--a week late, however, I do have a funny video in here!

Hello everyone and thanks so much for your comments from my December post. I love them (it's like getting snail mail that isn't a bill) and it helps to hear about others going over the same speed bumps!

I knew it was time to post last week but could not, for the life of me, think of what to write about. Then, I heard about someone from my hometown (where we moved from three years ago) who is a finalist in the Superbowl Dorito ad. I watched the video and thought, this is writing. He had to figure out a script, what words would portray everything he needed in such a short amount of time.
I watched all the other finalist videos and, maybe I am biased, but I think his is the best. You can see it here (and feel free to vote): "What Could Go Wrong?"

I have a new book I am working on (I mentioned it before: "Sticks & Stones") and for some reason, in my head it's a movie. I can see every scene much quicker, and clearer than when I write it. However, I have never written a script, I have no idea how and to be honest I don't really want to figure out how to do it. But then there is that small part of you that thinks, "Maybe this would be worth figuring out how to write as a script?" So, I think once I get the story vomited out into my laptop, I will do some research on writing a script. Although, it sounds like it'd be more difficult to do that than to just write a story.  Has anyone every tried writing a script or done so in the past?

IWSG--How Long Have You Gone?

I began a job over five weeks ago. It's only part time, at a new grocery store (Wegmans, if anyone is in the mid-Atlantic area, they may know it) and in the Customer Service Department. I work between 20-30 hours a week and honestly, I haven't worked that much since before child #2 was born over 15 years ago. I have not written in almost two months. How long have you gone between writing one word, then another? I have a story I am writing with a friend, "Sticks & Stones", and my goal was to have a rough draft by August when I was going to visit her. However, I got maybe 60% of it done and that is where I ended.

Looking for a job took up a lot of time, then training, then opening this brand new store and now working. I love my job, I love the people, I love writing but between work, my kids, housework, making meals etc. something had to give.

When do you find time to work writing into your schedule? How long did it take you, if you recently began working again, to get back to doing the things you love?

Just seeking advice. This isn't a huge blog post. I just didn't want another month to go by where I forgot to post!

IWSG -- Future of Publishing

(A few days late!)

By now, many of you may have tried sending out the query to publishers/agents and have heard back a "no, thanks" or nothing at all.  Some of you may be ready to do this but don't want the rejection that you know will happen from at least one publisher.

One question to ask yourself is, is the future of publishing really with the big named publishers like Scholastic or Harlequin?

Take a look at "50 Shades of Grey". It may not be the best written book, but it sure had subject matter that people wanted to read about and it was published by a firm many of us have never heard of: The Writer’s Coffee Shop, the Australia-based e-book and print-on-demand establishment.1 

John Grisham's "A Time To Kill" only had a printing of 5,000 and they didn't sell out. So, he bought 1,000 himself and, "Only briefly thwarted, he decided to make similar stops all over the state. Places such as Starkville, Coffeeville and Calhoun City. Friends of the library would make punch and cookies; Grisham would answer questions. About three months and 30 libraries later, he finally sold all of his copies."2

Fast forward to 2014 and do a quick search on the internet for "publishers" and thousands of small, self-starting publishers will pop up. Some may be shady, asking you to pay for certain things up front, which you should NEVER do when trying to publish your book. Others may publish books that can only be bought in e-book format or print-on-demand. You have to look deep inside yourself and figure out how far and how much stress are you willing to go through in order to get your story out there into the hands of people you don't know?

I know when my short story for the anthology "Transcendent: Tales of the Paranormal"
was picked up by Robot Playground, I was excited! It didn't matter to me that they were a start up and this was their first major venture into publishing. The process was exciting and not very stressful. They did all the marketing, told us what things we should be doing and when, and even asked our advice on the cover (which many big publishers will not ask you about).  Now, I'm thinking of publishing with them again in the next year or so. The owner is currently in classes on marketing and will be hiring a staff in the near future. This is a business she is proud of and trying to get off the ground. I would love to be a part of this.

There are so many options out there for your story, so please do not give up. The future of publishing may be e-books, self publishing to Amazon.com and other sites. Those of us who have amazing stories to tell, but will never (or were never) picked up by Scholastic or will not have the overnight success of Stephenie Meyer or JK Rowling can still get our stories told. That's what we want, right? To touch one other person with our words? You can do that, you just have to carefully research the publishers that are out there, the correct way to put your book on Amazon yourself or you can do it 'the old fashioned' way...you can send out those query letters to Harper Collins or the agent who helped publish your favorite series. 

However, know that the chances of your story being the next "Twilight" or "The Lightning Thief" is slim. There is so much competition out there, you may have to pick the path less traveled if you are ready to publish. But don't relax on the editing, the beta readers and proofreading! This has to be done with any book even if a big name didn't pick it up. Put your best work out there and keep writing. Plug your work at your local library, bookstore, on line, with family and friends, with your online blogging friends, give a signed copy of your book as gifts or prizes. Eventually, you'll get the fan base that will give you the energy and love to keep writing.

Good luck!











1) Peterson, Valerie, "Fifty Shades of Book Publishing Success." About.com. September 25, 2014. http://publishing.about.com/od/Books/... 

2) Moore, Dennis. June 22, 2009. "John Grisham Marks 20th Anniversary of A Time To Kill". USA Today. September 25, 2014. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/b...

 

Writing, Writing...Just Keep Writing

Why? Because it is good for you. Really. Please read this interesting article here: http://m.mic.com/articles/98348/science-shows-writers-have-a-serious-advantage-over-the-rest-of-us
If you have had a bad day, are pissed at someone or just feel blah....write. Let me know if you feel better. I know I always do!

IWSG: ...and that's how Wacky Wednesday began...

I am a bit behind. It's all my fault. I never thought that someone would leave comments in my "About Me Section". Imagine my surprise when I saw I was nominated for the "Very Inspiriting Blogger Award" more than a month ago by Sabrina at: Books and Bark. I thank her for this and am happy that we connected. Her blog is fun to read and even more fun to look at! I think I may want to hire her to do mine :-) I will tag other bloggers who have inspired me at the end of this blog! 15 is a large number so I may just put up a few.**


Also, today is the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that is:
I was trying to think of something to write about, something that I'm insecure about with writing. I covered a few in previous Wednesday IWSG posts. But now, I want to flip this and let's write about something we are proud of...and it doesn't have to be about you. It can be something amazing your child did, a teacher did for you, something a coworker said.

What good things have happened to you in the last month? What has made you happy? I'll start:

1) the kids started school which means we'll be back to more of a schedule. It also means long marching band practices but I love watching their competitions so I'm okay with that (and my son knows it all pays off in the end.)
2) I was offered a job by a major book chain. I will know more when they schedule the orientation. I never thought, though, I would have to decline...see #3:
3) The next day I received a phone call about a job I applied for as a personal assistant to a writer. I am meeting with them soon to see if we 'mesh'. A dream job, it sounds like! Fingers crossed...
4) I discovered "Game of Thrones" and thank Netflix for having them all on DVD.
5) I made French Bread from scratch and it is good. All because my youngest asked me to make the Basil Olive Oil I made (with basil from our garden) because it was "awesome". I'll take that compliment from a 12 year old!

Now take these positive thoughts, happenings and vibes and put them into your writing energy. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer, wherever you are!

**Bloggers who have inspired me are the same ones from a previous post "Wonderful Team Member Readership Award" which you can read here: Inspiring Bloggers (Elizabeth Mueller, Jody Hedlund, Donna K. Weaver).

I would also like to add Rita Webb at "A Fantasy Fiction" blog  here. I don't know how she writes everything she does with a family and job, but she makes it happen. She is constantly engaged with her audience via Facebook or her blog and her craft gets better and better. Hop on over and check out her blog when you get a chance!

Review of "Stronger" by Lani Woodland

I had the pleasure of beta reading this for Lani Woodland months ago and when I finished, I immediately called her and asked if she was sending this into an agent or publisher. It was engaging, action packed, unique and I could not put it down. Instead, she chose to put it on Amazon herself and let readers into the 268 page world of Lexie and Bryant much sooner than an agent could. If you aren't a big Sci Fi reader, it doesn't matter. I'm not either but this was a great read and I'm hoping that there will be more of Lexie's story!

You can download a copy here: STRONGER by Lani Woodland

REVIEW:

I am not a person who usually reads Sci Fi, but from the first few pages, I was sucked into this world that Woodland created. The story line is unique and engaging, but has just enough of "Earth" left that you are able to connect with the characters and location without trying to figure out what world is where. From the first few pages, you get a glimpse into Lexie's life and are rooting for her to find a way out of her fragile existence. The story moves fast with many twists, turns, smiles and even tears; I found I had a hard time putting it down, and at the end I was left with wanting more of Lexie, Bryant and their friends.

Self-Publishing News

We all have seen how self-publishing has exploded like a shaken can of soda when opened. I never even heard of this growing up and was first made aware of it when I heard how John Grisham got his first novel out and into the hands of readers.

And now, they are in a league of their own. There are numerous groups/people/sites that offer to publish your book or print it for you. This is great if you are distributing it yourself or getting it online to Amazon or other sites.

But getting it into the stores is much harder. Looks like this may change. Here's a link to an article in "Digital Book World" that talks about how getting your self-published book into the store will be easier!

Digital Book World Article

For those of you who have written a full length novel before...have you queried agents/publishers or are you going straight to self-publishing? Another option: are you looking for a smaller publisher to help get your book out there?