Monday, January 31, 2011

I Have Turned To The DarkSide!



I am pleased to announce my partnership with DarkSide Publishing.  A few weeks ago, DarkSide approached me with a proposal to join their cooperative of artists. At the time, I wasn't sure about my intentions to go indie.  After my last post, Megg Jensen and Karly Kirkpatrick were quick to convince me of the merits of collective editing, publishing, and promotion in the indie world.  For more details about DarkSide Publishing, please visit http://darksidepublishing.blogspot.com/
The Soulkeepers will debut in 2011 under the DarkSide label, joining Karly Kirkpatrick's Into The Shadows, and her forthcoming Bloody Little Secrets, as well as, Anathema by Megg Jensen.  More news to come on The Soulkeepers but, for now, suffice it to say that I am excited about this joint venture and optimistic about the future of The Soulkeepers.   

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Self-Publishing: What's your opinion?

A few years ago I wrote the first version of "The Soulkeepers".  It was barely more than on outline, completely underdeveloped and at that time titled "A Different Paris".  I wrote it for fun and never intended for it to see the light of day.

A year later, I pulled that manuscript out and completely rewrote it.  This time I thought it had potential.  So, I had two strangers from a local romance writers group read it.  They connected with the story emotionally but had some advice on the writing and characterization.  I was a busy mom and a part time student, so I put the manuscript aside again.

Months later, I had a break from school and made the corrections to the manuscript.  A handful of readers, some friends and family read it and loved it.  This time, they said it was ready for "The Show".  So, I queried five agents.  I had no clue what I was doing and my query was horrible.  Not surprisingly, I received five rejections.

Then I joined SCBWI.  I went to classes on craft.  I read books on plot and character.  I finished school and rewrote the novel a third time.  This time I had it beta read by writers, professional authors and editors who I'd come to know through social networking.  After overwhelmingly positive feedback, I queried fifteen more agents.  My query was much better this time.  Three requested the manuscript.  All ultimately rejected me but were complimentary of the book.  I was close, very close.

Based on the feedback I received during this process, I'm halfway through a fourth and final revision.  I won't call this one a rewrite, just a nip and tuck.  This book is awesome.  It is amazing. And very soon it will be as perfect as I can make it.

At this point, I could go back to querying.  It's the traditional thing to do after all. But instead, I'm considering self-publishing.  Why?  Mainly because querying takes time and energy away from writing.  I have a second book (a romance) that is waiting to be edited and the idea for a third book I've had on the back burner.  Each time I query someone, I research their agent page, tailor my query for them specifically, and fret endlessly over every detail before I send it.  It takes hours, days, weeks, and there is no benefit to the time spent unless someone asks for the manuscript.  Even if I was able to get an agent in a reasonable amount of time, they would have to sell the manuscript and then I would have to wait for the publisher to publish it.  That's a whole lot of waiting.

I have simple goals.  I don't need to be the next Dan Brown, I just want to sell a few copies and share my story with the world.  So what do you think?  In your opinion, if this was your novel, what would you do?

Monday, January 17, 2011

My Flashiversary and a Blog Award

Last week, Cathy Webster at Life on the Muskoka River passed on the Creative Genius blog award to me.  If you haven't read her blog yet, stop by and for goodness sakes follow her.  She makes me laugh on a regular basis, a talent in short supply these days.

Anywho, it just so happened that I really needed a pick-me-up last week because the two novels I am editing have become my nemesis.  If you know me, you know that I love to write but hate to edit.  In fact, I rarely do much editing on my flash fiction but thankfully my stories are short enough they don't need much.  Two 90,000 word novels, however, need a ton of editing.  They are desperate and waiting, rustling their pages even now to get my attention, longing to be spruced up and shopped out.

But, editing for me is painful and it forces me to ignore the shiny new voices in my head who want their new stories told.  That's why I've cut back on the frequency of posting stories; I've been trying to force myself to finish what I've started.

By the way,  this month I celebrate my one year anniversary of participating in #Fridayflash.  For me, the #Fridayflash community has been nothing less than a miracle.  The support and friendships I've enjoyed among this talented group of writers carried me through a personally difficult 2010.  With high hopes for a better 2011, I am happy to continue my participation in this worthy community.  Thank you to all of you who stop by here on a regular basis.  You are the reason I keep writing.

Now, to pass this award on to a few newer writers who I think are the bomb and a bag of chips (because  watching the mushroom cloud is better with something to eat).

Rebecca Emin at Ramblings of a Rusty Writer

Denise at L' Aussie Writing

 and Steve Green at The Twisted Quill

Keep writing you creative geniuses!  As for me, I have two impatient manuscripts threatening me with paper cuts.  Back to editing.

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