To Market to Market

So what does one do when the market shifts and publishing zigs when you are zagging?  Being the literary whore that I am, I immediately try to figure out how my skill set can fit into the new fabric of the book world.

Notice I said skill set.  I didn't jump on the paranormal bandwagon, nor will I try to jump on the historical train.  Why?  Because I don't know history other than the Civil War and I'm not into world building.  Oh, and then there's the whole humor thing.  I can't write without some laughs and a dead body.

I just got word that Pocket is 'suspending' Finley after the next two releases because funny mysteries aren't selling well.  Will I miss it?  You bet.  But immediately my agent and editor put their heads together and decided I should go dark.  I've done it before so I'll do it again.  Only now, I'll have to go darker than ever before.  But I get to keep my sarcasm and my dead bodies, so I'm still in my comfort zone and using my skill set.

Want to know what's hot?  Invest $20.00 in yourself and join Publishersmarketplace.com.  You'll know what editors are buying now and what will show up on the shelves in the next 1-2 years.  It helps to know what the editorial world is clamoring for and it lets you know which direction to take for your future.

Word of warning - even a great manuscript won't survive an editorial twist.  If my agent had to go out with Finley today, it would never sell.  It would if I was Janet Evanovich or Joanne Fluke or Elaine Viets, but I'm not.  I simply don't command enough of the market to jump the hurdle of poor market share.  That isn't a complaint, it's a reality.

So it's off to the dark side for me . . .

Rhonda

When life interrupts . . .

Writing is truly a profession requiring self-discipline.  Normally I'm pretty adept at time management.  Unless real life interrupts.

This week my mother passed away and suddenly I was whisked into the world of making all sorts of decisions and arrangements - along with my sister.  I did have a moment of levity when I called the funeral home and the automated phone line's first option was 'If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 9-1-1.  Sorry, but for some reason that amused me.  What? Like people call before someone dies?

Of course one of my contacts was to my agent to make sure she monitored any communications from my editor so I didn't accidentally ignore something important.  While my agent is wonderful and was more than happy to come to my rescue, I still suffered Catholic guilt over asking her to cover my behind.

Got me thinking.  How prepared am I for life intrusions when it comes to meeting deadlines, answering email, etc.?  Confession.  I suck at email.  I check it once in the morning and then I ditch it for the rest of the day.  I figure anything urgent and I can be reached by telephone.  But that isn't very realistic.  Not now, anyway.  Everyone seems to do business via text or email.  I'm better at keeping up with texts, maybe because I have a teenager and she tends to text me rather than call.  But I kept wondering what I would do if I'd been battling a deadline this week?  And I really should have been save for the fact that I turned the book in early.

Now I see the importance of establishing a buffer zone for each book.  No more down to the wire because you never know when life ill toss you an unexpected curve ball.  And I know I'm not alone.  I know a lot of writers who wait until 11:59PM the day before the book is due to finish it.  Nothing pisses an agent or editor off more than an undelivered manuscript.  It screws everyone from your editor to marketing to the art department.  It's a house of cards so easily tumbled.

So I'm turning over my new leaf - at least in theory - hoping to remember the lessons learned this week.  So far I haven't dropped a ball but I really don't like juggling so I'd like to avoid it as much as possible.

Electronic uploads and organization

I don't know enough about the electronic self-publishing market.  Why? Because all my books come out in print and e and Harlequin is now adding my backlist to all the e-sites.  It's a little weird to have a book you wrote 15-20 years ago come back to life.  It's kinda like seeing all your old haircuts over the years.

Having said that, I have several friends who upload original material and I hear constantly how technically difficult it is to get the file in shape.  But I found a solution for that.  One of the programs I use for organization (I'm big on organizational software for writers) has a new function.  You can cut and paste your manuscript into the program and it automatically does all the formatting and whatever else.

The program is WriteWayPro and it costs around $50.00.  My friends who've gotten the rights back to their earlier works are spending some serious cash on paying people to reformat for upload.  Seems to me WriteWayPro would be a great tool.

And while I'm on the topic of organizational software, let me share a couple of my other favorites.  The ultimate is Power Structure.  No, it does not plot the book for you, it just keeps all your plot points straight and helps you keep track of threads, etc..  I've customized my copy for novel format and added things like a timeline and descriptions.  That really helps me a lot.  The timeline is so important when writing a cohesive story.  You have to give your character some type of internal clock for food and rest and all the other mundane things that make them seem real.  The descriptions are simply a time saver.  In the Finley Tanner mysteries, I write a continuing character so it is important that I describe the locations the same way in every book.  You can download a demo and play with it for 30 days.  If memory serves, it costs around $100.00.

My last but not least favorite tool is yWriter.  First, it's free, though you are asked to make a donation.  Again, this program helps you organize the elements in your book and the character development.  It's probably the easiest to use and a nice, compact little program.

You're probably wondering why I'm such a writer-software junkie.  The truth is, I don't want to write drafts.  I want to get it right the first time so I can move on to the next project.  But as any multi-pubbed author can tell you, you're working on your new project when your old project comes back for revisions/edits.  It's so much easier to do those revisions when I have my manuscript all mapped out.  If my editor wants me to take something out, I can check Power Structure to see if that change affects anything else in the book.  It also helps me focus.  Deadlines require focus.  If you've only got 4 months to write 100,000 words, then you need all the writing time you can eek out.  Well, if the idea is organized, the writing goes much faster.

I don't start writing until I've done my Power Structure and my WriteWayPro.  By the time I finish working in both those programs I have a completely clear vision of how the manuscript will progress.  I know how my characters will grow and change; I know the pacing; I know basically everything except what they're wearing and most of the dialogue (though I do have a pull-down with lines I know I want to use in the book).  I've buried all my clues and red herrings (or change that to fit your genre - in romance it would be conflicts, in Sci-Fi it would be working toward creating peace in your alternate reality, etc.).

There's another bonus, too.  I can print out my chapter by chapter plot points and when needed adjust - maybe I tried to squeeze too much into chapter three - I just move those plot points forward and keep going.

At the end of the day, you can do all of the above in a Word document.  I just happen to like all the cute bells and whistles.

The waiting game

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have the patience of an ADD toddler.  That's especially true when I'm waiting on revisions, or proposal acceptance or decline, or shopping at the grocery store.  Walmart is my version of Hell.

But here I sit at 2:37 AM wondering if my agent has sent the proposal (she's off at a conference); wondering whether my editor liked my last book; and knowing I have to go to Walmart today for a few things. 

You'd think after so many books I'd have this waiting game down to a science.  Well, you'd be wrong.  I angst over everything.  Except Walmart, of course.  I know I'm going to have to tough that one out.

So why all the waiting?  Well, when it comes to the manuscript I just delivered, I'm always afraid my editor will come back with "Very funny, no where's the real book?"  I know in my heart that I can be pleased with the final outcome but that doesn't mean my editor won't find the glaring errors I didn't catch. I already know one of the things she'll tag me on.  I do not use spell check - sorry the squiggly lines are a distraction.  So all through the manuscript the heroine is eating moo-shu.  Only I spelled it moo-shoo.  In my defense, that's how it's spelled in the take out menu of my local Chinese place that just happens to be run by Koreans. Obviously not a good research tool.  When I order take out, I do dumplings, so I never think about the other offerings.  Creature of habit.

I have an excellent editor (shout out to Abby Zidle) and she is really good at picking up threads I may have dropped along the way.  She also knows the character so she can point out when Finley isn't acting like Finley.But for you newbies out there, I deliver the manuscript, then my editor sends revisions (via track changes) and then there's the line edit and the galley proofs.  And cover conferences.  And marketing meetings. And a whole bunch of other stuff.Many, many steps before the book becomes a book.

I also have a great agent (Shout out to Donna Bagdasarian).  First and foremost, she keeps me from getting facial ticks during the waiting period.  She is very good about giving me updates.  Maybe my editor loves it but she has to take it to the publisher for an okay.  Or my editor is swamped with things to get done so the revisions will be late and tight.  It's nice to be kept in the loop.  And for all you newbies out there . . . agents are different.  Some read your work, then submit it.  Others read your work and make revision suggestions, then submit your work, and finally, some agents do a complete line edit. So when you're agent shopping, look for the kind of agent you want to work with.  Personally I like the hands on approach.  I'd rather fix a problem before the manuscript gets submitted than look like an ass in front of my editor.

Want the full scoop on how an idea turns into a book?  Join Donna, Abby and me at RWA in July.  We're doing a panel on from idea to edit, covering all of the 'who does what' aspects of publishing.

Last Man Standing

I'm thrilled to share the release of the very talented Cindy Gerard's latest book!  This is a must read for everyone with a pulse . . . Last Man Standing is excellent, exciting and entertaining.  Get yours now!


Special operative Joe Green has gone vigilante.  His mission, avenge his Black Ops.,Inc. brother's death during a bloody ambush years ago in Sierra Leone.  He refuses to drag the BOI team or his lover, Stephanie Tompkins, into the hunt for the man responsible, so when he finds himself beaten, starving, and alone after being falsely imprisoned for the murder of a Freetown priest, he knows he's as good as dead.
Joe meant to protect Stephanie when he walked out on their relationship, but he can't stop her now from executing his escape.  Breaking him out of prison is the easy part.  After Joe's explosive theory pans out and his cunning enemy emerges as the front runner for a high level presidential appointment, he and Stephanie must race to derail the traitor's conspiracy if they are to save their loved ones, the nation and each other.

What I learned from watching television.

I kow the networks are gearing up for Feb, sweeps but did they have to pre-empt Criminal minds last night?  It's one of the only DVD worthy shows I watch.  Love the gory stories and the characters are so individualized.  But what did I get instead?  A bonus episode of L&O SVU.  Sorry, but once they lost Chris Meloni, they lost  me.  I don't adjust to cast changes very well.  I even had a small hissy fit when they replaced Prentiss and JJ for a season on criminal Minds. I wanted my team back. Thankfully the producers realized their error and put things right.

I'm not much of a TV junkie.  Unless you count Chopped.  There's something about baskets of fish and licorice and kelp made into an appetizer that floats my boat.  I love the creativity of the contestants.  But again, they keep adding new judges.  I like the old guard best. 

I miss the original Law & Order.  I gave them 19 years of my life - longer if you count the number of times I've watched the reruns on TNT.  For some reason the cast changes on that show worked.  Maybe because it was never about the character's personal lives - well except for 1 season but then they got back on track.  See, I told you I didn't do change well.

But my all-time fave show that has gone the way of  the dodo bird was The West Wing.  I longed for Jed Bartlett to be my real president (George W was pres back then).  I thought Aaron Sorkin and Mike Wells did an amazing job with the dialogue and pacing on that show.  As a writer, it was a great show to watch, just to see the way the various plots collided into a cohesive story.  And of course Rob Lowe was easy on the eyes.  So was Bradley Whitford.  I loved the guests as well, they always added to the show but were never intrusive to the cohesiveness of main characters.  And it had humor.  I love humor, especially snarky, dark humor.

The only show I've found interesting this season is Person of Interest.  I love the concept and the twists and turns.  Very well written and again, a great tool for a writer to see the pacing of the turning points.  A lot can be learned by watching films and television.  I actually watch the time and there's a pattern that usually emerges.  At 15 minutes, at 30 minutes, at 45 minutes and at 55 minutes.  Person of Interest does this well.  It's not so different from structuring a novel.  All books have turning points and that is illustrated beautifully in Person of  Interest.  And in Chopped. And in Criminal Minds.  Just for fun, watch a show and time out the plot twists.

A writer can learn a lot about the craft from watching television and films. Pacing, characterization, setting as a character, turning points, resolution and what I call the soft sigh - that last few minutes when the show is about over and they leave you on a high or low moment letting you know life will go on.  Even Chopped does it with the final interview of the winner.  So the learning curve isn't reserved for one-hour dramas.  Reality television does the same thing.  Time the commercial breaks and you'll see how they ratchet up the tension.

So all you writers out there - watch a few shows and learn my friends.

Techno Hell and some good news

I spent this evening - all night actually - working on the migration of my group blog (BabesinBookland) over to wordpress.  Easy as 1-2-3 my ass.  I think I'm on step 123 and I still don't have it the way I want it.  Why is it that techno-geeks say something is easy when it might be for them but for people like me, it's a disaster.  I can barely attach something to an email and I'd kinda like to keep it that way.  I don't want to learn new skills.

On the plus side, I got all my cursing out of my system and it took my mind off how very much I wanted to throw iTunes in the iTrash.  I just don't have the right amount of patience to do the techno stuff.  And iTunes support kept sending me links to articles.  Now I can read for comprehension, but those articles are written in sandscript and my screen never looks like the screen shots in the instructions.

Thank God I adore my iPhone 4 or I'd go crazy.

The iPhone 4 reminds me of people who get a parrot and all they want to do is teach it to say F you.  I find myself talking dirty to Siri all the time.  There's even websites with nasty things you can ask Siri.  Most of the time she chides you for your language but she will schedule various intimate acts if you ask the question correctly.  I guess she is a woman.

And great news . . . Bargain Hunting is going to be released 10/1/12.  For those of you keeping score, that's 2 Finley Tanner novels out in 6 months.  Slightly Irregular comes out in April.  Finley is back!