The Intergrity of the East German Judge

Jennifer L. Hart for Writers Gone Wild

I love watching the Olympics. Probably because I don't have an athletic bone in my body. I love them all, but especially pairs figure skating. To me, it's romance on ice, poetry in motion, even when someone falls on her ass. I used to have to annoy the hell out of my father to get him to put the figure skating on. He had a problem with the judged events because, in his opinion, the scores were always politically based. He used to complain about the East German judges because they notoriously ranked the American's low. And I know he wasn't alone in this assessment.

Okay, so politics and favoritism aside, I can really relate to the East German judges. Not when it comes to figure skating, but definitely in the arena of novels. That's my territory, I know it inside and out, upside down and with my eyes closed. And I know the good from the bad. I have very definite opinions about books, and I can usually tell by the end of the first page if it's worth continuing or not. I'd guess that I don't continue about 40 percent of the time, with another 10 percent dedicated to regretting the fact that I continued against my better judgment. That's half of all things I read that I don't care for. I read in almost every genre of fiction. Romance of course, but also fantasy, science fiction, mysteries, women's fiction and erotica. Only a miniscule percentage of what I do finish makes it to my keeper shelf.

In my field, I am the East German judge. I want to be wowed, not fed redundant filler. I get angry when I feel as though my time has been wasted and though I generally keep my opinions to myself, every so often I have to have my say. I can't be bribed with anything other than a stellar book and watch out if you get me as a judge in a contest because my scores reflect exactly what I think. I am not kind, but neither am I cruel. I am brutally honest and I can be far more help to you in a contest than all the platitudes and nicy nices in the world. If I hate your heroine, you will know it. If your plot isn't up to snuff, or your content is offensive, you will know it. And if I love it, I will gush all over those comment forms like a schoolgirl with her first crush. In essence, you won't have to guess what's going on in my mind.

I don't plan to do things any different. I want the best and refuse to settle. My opinion is just that, one person's take. You can either make use of it or blow it off. And if you can't take the honest truth, then you have no business in publishing.

Contest season is coming up. RITAs, Golden Heart, ect. Is your work up to snuff? The very best it can be? Because the East German judge is waiting to be impressed. And believe me, you will know it if she isn't.

Promoting your way to the top!

How much promo is enough? What works and what doesn’t? Do you have to spend money to make money? All very good questions and I don’t think anyone has the magic answers. I know that the more time I spend online, the higher my royalties are. Most of the time I’m just chatting or Facebooking or clowning around on the yahoo loops and the in the chat rooms.




It’s really hard to measure the success of any one type of promo, mostly because the royalties come in from different resellers, at different times. Some pay quarterly, a month after the fact, some pay monthly (isn’t’ that nice?!) Some have a 90-day lag before they cough up my cash 



The subject comes up because recently a new author was bemoaning the fact that she has no idea what to do, or how to do it and I remember feeling overwhelmed when I was first published. I didn’t want to put out a lot of money because I had no idea what kind of return I would get. I needed a website and a blog, and again, I didn’t know how to go about getting either of them. It can be really scary. We all want to be authors but not many of us wanted to be marketing experts. And yet, as with any type of business you need one to be a success at the other.



I think the most important thing to do is relax. Get a decent website, and make sure to keep it up-to-date. Set up a blog, or just guest blog for other people. How much time do you want to put into it? Do you enjoy blogging? I do cover ads on various sites, especially when I know I’m going to be too busy to promo personally for a while. They are usually very affordable and if I randomly put them here and there, they just might find some new readers for me.



I participate in multi author parties and blog tours and scavenger hunts. If it tickles my fancy, I tend to try it. There are lots of free promotional opportunities out there. Check out the review and romance sites to find some that appeal to you. That is the key, of course. Do what you enjoy and make sure you don’t burn yourself out.



And, above all, take the time to write the next book! That can be your best promotional tool ever.



Anne Kane

www.AnneKane.com

To Review or Not To Review...

I'm about to bring up a controversial topic.  I'm not talking about porn, or gay marriage, or the sad state of U.S. political affairs.  No, I'm talking about bad reviews.

Gasp!

If you follow me on Facebook, you'll hear me talk about lessons from my Papa.  He was an amazing man who loved his family, good food, cold beer, Irish whiskey and flirting with every pretty girl he met.  He admired people who worked hard and acted honorably.  And he was wiser than Confucius. If you ever wonder how I got the way I am, thank (or blame) him.  <3

Pretty darn close to the top of his list, right after locks only keep the honest people out, is this: 

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

Not the most profound lesson he taught me, I'll admit.  In fact, it's downright cliché.  But it's stuck with me my whole life, and now I pound it into my kids' heads.  Especially lately.  I've learned the snarky gene in my family gets activated at age 12, but that's another story.

I'm bringing this up because someone asked me about my high average rating on Goodreads recently.  I don't leave bad reviews.  Ever.  If I can't in all honesty and good conscience give a book/movie/product at least three stars, I just don't review it.  Funny coming from a woman who used to run an $80 million/year business and fired people all the time, I know.  But even then, I was a 'praise in public, ream in private' type of boss.

When it comes to reviews, I pretty stoutly believe that if I like something, I'll share it and tell people why, but I have no desire to detract people from trying something they might love just because it wasn't my cup of tea.  This holds especially true for me when talking about books.  I just can't bring myself to publicly criticize a book that someone poured their heart and soul into writing, although I have been known to send a private message if it's an author I know and something was really bugging me.

So my question to you, fair readers, is this:  Does it make my reviews less legitimate if I only tell you about the stuff I love, and not the stuff I didn't?  Even if my glowing reviews are 100% honest and true?

Plots are for Corpses (Pantser Survival Tips)

I can't plot. Trust me, I've tried. Ad infinitum.

Despite investing a ridiculous chunk of change in plotting methods guaranteed to cure me of my evil pantser ways, I've only learned one thing. They don't work and a sucker is truly is born every minute. Granted, that's two things learned, but point is, no matter how hard I try to pin down my muse, she wriggles free and does as she jolly well pleases. So does that excuse me from throwing structure to the wind?

Um....no, not if I expect to type "the end" in this millenium. My insistence on letting my characters lead the way does have a vile side efect. It dramatically increases my risk of developing sagging middle syndrome. No, not around my waist. Rather around a third of the way into my manuscripts. And you know what? I'm sick of stalling.

For the sake of getting my stuck in the mud stories moving foward again, I thought I'd revisit some pantser survival tips that have helped me tighten my stories in the past. Maybe you'll find something useful. Or maybe you can share with me a plotting method you've found that won't make my muse break out in hives!

Pantser Survival tip #1: If you know it, write the ending first & let characters drive you toward it.

Pantser Plotting tip #2: Write the scene burning bright in your mind. Print, put in a binder and look it over often. Is a plot being born?

Panster plotting tip #3: What's the worst thing that could happen to your character right now? Make it happen. With gusto. :)

Pantser plotting tip #4: Happy characters don't dance for the muse. Throw every form of misery at them & make 'em sweat. Preferabley on page 1. :)

Pantser plotting tip #5: Stuck? Double break, pick an obstacle: organic, inorganic, elemental, suprnatural or internal. Proceed w/ story.

Pantser plotting tip #6: (Thanks to author friend, Tracy Madison)Start w/ your hook, 2 plot turning points, ending. Split the story's action b/t 20 2K chapters for an 80K book. So, up to 20K sets up beginning, 20K marks first turning point, 40K turning second point, 60K final turning point/complication and on to resolution near 80K.

Pantser plotting tip #7: No plot? No problemo! Just ask, what does your character want right now? Now. Time to throw up a roadblock. Happy characters are static ones.

Panters Plotting tip #8: Let go and let Muse. It will all shake out in the revision. (Love this method, but involves mucho rewriting. Not good for looming deadlines!)

Pantser plotting tip #9: Read your latest work before going to sleep. Ask your subconsious work on it as you sleep. Strangely effective.

Pantser plotting tip #10. Open a new email. Summarize your story like you're emailing a friend to tell her about great movie you saw. At the point of your story's block, write, "and then ___" (Fill in blank.)___ You can play w/ multiple scanarios here if you like.

And finally, the one Pantser plotting tip I rely on most often: dark chocolate and Rosa Regale in copious amounts. If this fails to ply your muse, move on to another story for a week. Then come back and re-read. New pespective can work miracles on even the most stubborn story. Hmmm....sounds like time to heed my own advice. At least on the chocolate and Rosa Regale. :)

Freaks in the City

Freaks in the City  by Maree Anderson  (for Writers Gone Wild)

Hi y'all,

I’ve been neglecting my blog and my social media for the past few weeks because I've been *gasp* writing SHINY NEW WORDS! By that, I mean I haven't been rewriting old manuscripts. And I don't know 'bout you, but my muse doesn't count rewriting old works as "writing", no matter how much of the manuscript I end up cutting and rewriting from scratch. So she gets right cranky and makes my life a living hell if I don't work on a totally new story for a few months... which doubtless means I'm in for it in a big way over the next few months as I tackle rewrites of an old fantasy trilogy. Sigh.....

Anyhoo, I'm thrilled to say I've finished the first draft of the sequel to Freaks of Greenfield High. And after begging for some assistance with the title on Facebook -- thank you everyone who waded in and threw title suggestions at me! -- I've decided on FREAKS IN THE CITY, which perfectly captures the “flavor” of this story. Yay!

(Gotta admit, I've never struggled so much with a title before. Usually I have the title fixed in my mind before I even begin writing but this one? It was a very cagey beastie indeed.)

I hope to have Freaks in the City ready to publish in the next month or so… just as soon as I can figure out what to bribe DH with so he'll set aside his own work to create me another fab cover, and convert my document to epub and mobi files for me. Bribery suggestions welcomed! ;-)

I’ll post the cover on my website as soon as it’s done, but in the meantime, here’s the stock photo I’ve purchased that I’m hoping DH will be able to use for Jay:

It's the same model used for the cover of Freaks of Greenfield High, except for the different hair color, which just happens to perfectly fit the final scene of Book 1, and perfectly portrays Jay as she is now in Freaks in the City. Gotta love it when you find the perfect stock photo. *g*

And I have some more news about the TV option for Freaks of Greenfield High.

My contact at Cream Drama, Inc., revealed  they’ve hired Damian Kindler to consult on the story treatment before they pitch the project. Damian is the writer and creator of the Sci-Fi series Sanctuary, and he worked on a number of episodes of Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. He's shortly to begin work on a TV adaptation of Universal Soldier. How cool is that???

BTW, if you'd like a sneak peek of Freaks in the City, I’m posting manuscript snippets over on my Freaks of Greenfield High Facebook page.

Cheers!

Maree
(Who also needs to squeeze in some sessions on the treadmill so she doesn't look like a total blob at the upcoming RWNZ conference next month. Aaargh!)

New Release Checklist

Jennifer L. Hart for Writers Gone Wild

If you read my last post, you'll know that I was busy self-publishing Daisy Dominatrix. I'm happy to report this tale of chick literotica is now available for Kindle, Nook and PDF download at ARe.

Once you get past all the self-editing, cover design, formatting for individual ebook retailers, having a self-pubbed new release is no different than having one with an ebook publisher or a mainstream publisher. Once the book is available for purchase, the name of the game is promotion.

Frankly, I suck at promotion. I hate sales pitches and feel like an idiot when I try to sell myself. The way I see it, readers will either like what I wrote or they won't so what's the point of creating this spiel that I don't believe in?

So, in order to effectively promote my new release without crossing that line to nutjob author peddling snakeoil, I've created a checklist of things I can do to get the word out.

1) Twitter announcements with hashtags #nook and #kindle--Behold the power of the retweet. If you've got some awesome followers, which I'm happy to report I do, there is no faster way to spread the word. Word of caution: don't overdo this. A few tweets with links a week is enough and continue to be a person who interacts, not just a peddler of your own wares.

2) Facebook posts and invitation for release day--Sharing is caring and sharing an excerpt or two along with links on both personal and professional pages should reach the target audience.

3) Goodreads listing--Since I'm a librarian on Goodreads, I can add a book at my whim, as long as it's listed with an ISBN or ASIN at a major retailer. Also, I've benefited from Goodreads giveaways in the past, but you have to have print versions of your book to go that route.

4) Reviews--Hitting up a few trusted reviewers to read and review my books is a must. Note the word trusted, because I'm a little paranoid about piracy and don't just upload the ebook version of my new releases to random review sites anymore. Asking friends to read and review on some of the bookseller sites is also a must.

5) Blogging--Though I don't do blog tours for every new release I always have The Laundry List and my regular post here at WGW. Sometimes I will schedule a few other stops to help get the word out

6) Newsletter announcement--the one I often forget. Newsletter is a one stop shopping where I'll include excerpts, cover images, buy links and other tidbits.

7) Paid promotion--This one is tricky. Not all paid for advertising is created equal. Many times I don't bother with this until after my book had "earned out" publishing speak for made back the money it cost to produce. With self-publishing production costs include editing, cover images and/or cover design, and formatting. With Who Needs A Hero? my production costs was ten bucks, I earned out by the end of the day. B Cubed and Bred took longer.

So that's it, my plan of attack for getting the word out about my books. Sure, I could probably do more but I'm not in this for the selling, I'm in it for the next story. Because I firmly believe that the A#1 best kind of promotion is writing an awesome book that makes readers crave more.

RETURN OF AN OLD FRIEND

I live in a high rise condo with a great view of downtown San Antonio. About year and a half ago, when I noticed construction equipment across from my building, I got a little worried. Had the local public transportation authority sold part of their park and ride lot? Would a tall structure go up and ruin my view?

Turns out I didn’t need to get my knickers in a knot. What was being built was a solar-powered bicycle dock for a shared bicycle program. For a small annual fee, participants get a card that allows access to a bike for 30 minutes at a time, from 23 docks located all over downtown.

Though I hadn’t ridden a bicycle in over a decade, my curiosity was piqued and I signed up for the program. And for the first time in my adult life, I discovered bicycling not just as a form of exercise, but as a mode of transportation.

Coverage of places I need or want to go is excellent. To the north, there are docks at the Pearl Brewery – which isn’t actually a brewery any more, but rather a shopping center, home to several excellent restaurants and an indie bookstore - at the Museum of Art, and at the Central Library. In downtown proper, there are docks at several of the main tourist attractions, including two within a block of the Alamo. And to the south, there are docks at the Blue Star Arts Complex and a number of bars and restaurants that are popular with downtown residents.

Fortunately, downtown San Antonio is very flat, so travelling by bike doesn’t put too much of a stress on my not so young, not so fit body. And since there’s no need to spend time looking for a parking space, door-to-door time can actually be less than when travelling by car.

So, in many cases, my old childhood friend the bike is now cheaper and faster, as well a greener, than the auto that took its place in my life. What’s not to love?

New Release week!

Wow, I can't believe it's July already! I have a new ebook out this month. Foxy is a multi-author series from Changeling Press and my story, Tied and True, is the seventh book in the series.  It will be available July 20th which is less than a week away !! **happy dancing**

Series: Foxy

Title: Tied and True

Genres: Paranormal. BDSM, Erotic Romance

Themes: Shapershifters, Menage, BBW

Release Date: July 20, 2012

Author: Anne Kane

http://www.AnneKane.com



Publisher URL Changeling Press - Erotic Fiction


BLURB:



Two is company, but three is downright cozy.



Last Chance – it sounded like exactly what Tori needed so she jumped on a boat and sailed off to Alaska to start a new life. What she found there was more than she’d ever imagined; not one man but two who could make her beg for mercy one minute and scream for more with the next breath. It looks like her chance is going to pay off, until her sadistic ex shows up and demands she return to Seattle with him. Tori is ready to run away, but Bill and Jake aren’t about to give her up without a fight!

To read the first chapter  go HERE

Lillie Unplugged

We have a tradition here at the Spencer household.  Once a week we mosey on down to our neighborhood Starbucks.  The kids get hot chocolates or strawberry frappacinos.  I get my venti non-fat, no water chai latte.  Yes, I speak three languages - English, Swahili and Starbucks.  The kids read or play games and I load up my laptop to write, read or catch up on emails.

But then other day, I forgot my laptop and my phone was dead.  I started to panic.  Now what?!  The kids, being much more organized than me, came prepared and didn't want to skip it, so we went.

I stared longingly at the GameStop window next door advertising used iPads for sale.  I was that desperate.

Instead, I sat back and listened to the Jazz music and people watched, and it was wonderful!  I swear I think my heartbeat actually slowed down.  It felt good.  I mean, really good.  By disconnecting, I was able to reconnect.  I quit obsessing about Amazon rankings and email alerts. I paid more attention to the world around me, had a fantastic conversation with my children and just relaxed. 

I got some great ideas, too!  At least two people crossed my path that set my creative juices flowing.  I grabbed a #2 pencil and an abandoned composition notebook in my son's backpack and started writing.  If I do say so myself, it's some of the best stuff I've written in a while.

My daughter leaned over and saw the astericks and the notes in the margin and asked me what that was.  I told it her it was editing - old school.

And it felt good.

Have You Ever Felt Invisible?

Have You Ever Felt Invisible?  by Maree Anderson  (for Writers Gone Wild)

Cross-posted from mareeanderson.com ... because I'm on holiday and resting my brain *g* Hope you'll forgive me!

***

Have you ever felt invisible? Like, you may as well not be in the room because people talk over you, ignore what you’ve just said entirely or murmur some platitude and carry on their own conversations as if you and your opinions are not worthy of notice?

I have. Still do, in fact. Which is possibly why when I spotted Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray mentioned on a review blog, the book caught my eye.

Now I have to admit that I’m not a big reader of women’s fiction. I find that too often the endings leave me cold. I want to feel good when I read the ending, not mildly horrified and depressed by how hopeless the characters seem to be (as happened with one book I read recently). I want happy ever after, dammit! Or at least Happy For Now. Or at the very very least, a possibility of happiness in the future. So as I kinda presumed this book was classified as women’s fiction and might end up being not be my cup of tea, it sat around for a couple of weeks while I devoured some sure-thing romances before I picked it up.

Happily, I was delighted with this book in every way.

Calling Invisible Women struck a deep chord in me, and I found it the perfect combination of just a little heartbreaking and amusing and real. I was totally invested in Clover, the main character, who puts on her clothes and continues on as usual while wondering how long it’ll take her family to notice there’s literally no body visible in the clothes. Hours? Days? Weeks? (I’m not telling, because that would spoil the story.) And the Invisible Women coffee group at the fancy hotel, where all the women strip off so they truly are invisible… except for the Kleenex they leave on their laps (so no one sits on them accidentally) and use to wave around when they want permission to speak? Very amusing indeed.

For me, the ending was immensely satisfying, too–no mild feeling of horror at how miserable and lacking hope the characters have ended up after all their struggles in this book. It was heartwarming and full of hope and just lovely, and without giving anything away, the last line brought a tear to my eye and a smile to my face. Endings don’t get much better than that.

Just one thing: this one might be one for the girls only. I tried explaining the concept to DH but he just couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to “get it”, even though there was a (to me!) perfectly reasonable explanation for the women in this story becoming invisible.

Here’s the inside cover blurb:

A mom in her early fifties, Clover knows she no longer turns heads the way she used to, and she’d only really missed when dinner isn’t on the table on time. Then Clover wakes up one morning to discover she’s invisible–truly invisible. She panics, but when her husband and son sit down to dinner, nothing is amiss. Even though she’s been with her husband, Arthur, since college, her condition goes unnoticed. Her friend Gilda immediately observes that Clover is invisible,  which relieves Clover immensely–she’s not losing her mind after all!–but she’s crushed by the realization that neither her husband nor her children ever truly look at her. She was invisible even before she knew she was invisible.

Clover discovers that there are other women like her, women of a certain age who seem to have disappeared. As she uses her invisibility to get to know her family and her town better, Clover leads the way in helping invisible women become recognized and appreciated no matter what their role. Smart and hilarious, with indomitable female characters, Calling Invisible Women will appeal to anyone who has ever felt invisible.

***

I'll be back to my usual Writers Gone Wild ramblings next fortnight!
:-)
Maree

Daisy Dominatrix

It's good to have a plan. Control freaks and detail oriented persons, like myself, thrive on having a plan. And a back-up plan. And a back-up plan for our back-up plans.

Self-publishing is my back-up plan. Not for everything. Some stories don't ever get where I want them to be, but others, well, they're special. And not stop eating the paste special. No, more like its outside the lines for  mainstream publishing and no one is going to roll the dice and pay me a big sum of money for this one because they aren't confident they are going to make the investment back. There are those publishers who'll invest time, but not money and I've gone that route before, but then I'm subjected to altering the manuscript to fit the vision of someone else.

Control freak me doesn't like that idea. It's my vision and if I'm not being compensated adequately for it, well, why should I change it on a maybe that I don't agree with? I've done it before and the result wasn't pretty.

I love self-publishing. It's turned me into a bestseller, on a book that underwent submission more times than I can remember. I can shoulder the responsibility that any mistakes are mine and mine alone, because at the end of the day, it's my name on the cover and my reputation on the line. It allows me to be in control. I say who, I say when and I say how much. (Name that quote ;-)

And it makes me some serious cash.

So, in that vein, I'd like you to meet my upcoming release.

Daisy Dominatrix: By Jennifer L. Hart
Coming Soon to Kindle, Nook and ARe

Until Batman strode into Madame Minerva’s Dungeon, Daisy Ellis thought she had everything she wanted. Duran Price isn’t really the Dark Knight, but both the Mild Mannered CPA and the Dominatrix who keeps her true identity hidden behind a Catwoman mask desire more than his submission. Fitting a relationship into a double life is a full-time job and with a super villainess riding shotgun, the power is up for grabs.

 Excerpt: The man stood by the large plate glass window overlooking the parking lot, his back to the wall and his long dark hair caught up in an elastic band halfway down his back. A big man, I estimated at least six four with broad shoulders tapering down to a whipcord lean torso and long legs. He wore a flannel shirt tucked into jeans and battered work boots. “Duran Price?”

            He turned toward me and my heart nearly exploded as our gazes locked.

            Holy hell, it was Batman!

            No, he looked nothing like Michael Keaton or Christian Bale but something about him screamed Dark Knight. Locking my knees so I didn’t fall flat on my face I studied his hawk-like nose, golden eyes, and full sensual lips. Catwoman reared up inside me and it took every ounce of my self-control not to go over to him and rub up against him.

            Down kitty.

            “You’re Ms. Ellis?”

            Oh God Almighty, his voice was an orgasm waiting to happen. A deep rich tone that struck a chord in me that was anything but professional.

            I stared at him like an idiot, paralyzed from the neck up, though my body practically liquefied in his presence. Damn it, I wasn’t even breathing and my lungs felt as though they’d been filled with wet concrete. For once Catwoman was no help, since she was too busy grooming herself to make idle chit chat. Left with no other recourse, I petitioned the universe, a little help here…?

            Denise shoulder-checked me hard, forcing me to break eye contact. “Daisy, what the hell is wrong with you?”

            “Sorry.” I tugged on the hem of my shabby gray sweater, avoiding his penetrating stare as I stammered out an apology. “Sorry, I was just—” lusting “—thinking. Won’t you please come back to my office so we can get started?”

            Whacka chicka, wacka chica baywn baywn. Cue the porno soundtrack. Criminy, I was such a dork. In my defense, I had never seen such an utterly delicious man in my entire life so I’d been totally unprepared for my reaction to him. Both gay Dave and Greg the sub had picked me up, they were into me, which fed Catwoman’s ego. To paraphrase Aunt Roberta, I’d never actually set my cap on a man before.

            And I couldn’t set it on this one either. He was a client, here to set up an account so I could manage his books, not to be my love slave. As I shlumped into my desk chair and revived my snoozing computer I forced my libido onto the back burner as I clicked open a new client file. Think professional.

            “So, Mr. Price—”

            “You can call me Duran,” that deep voice encouraged. Satan himself couldn’t come up with a more tempting bass.

            I swallowed and risked a glance his way. “Kay then, Duran. I’m Daisy, by the way.”

            Yeesh, when did Catwoman morph into Pollyanna golly-gee-wilikers?

            He smiled, a small twitch of his sensual lips. “Daisy. That’s pretty. It suits you.”

            The room’s sub-arctic temperature suddenly turned sweltering. “Thanks.”

            I got lost in his eyes again. Golden eagle’s eyes that made me forget my own name, other than the fact he thought it suited me. Catwoman preened and I curled my hand into a fist, sinking my nails into my palm. The small bite of pain brought me out of my lusty stupor. Business, focus on the business.