Monday!

It’s only Monday and I’m feeling like this.  How about you?

Check back this week for a contest leading up to the e-release of my erotic romance novel ‘Some Kind of Hero’. 

How Cluttered is your Mind?

Your Mind is 57% Cluttered

Your mind is starting to get cluttered, and as a result, it’s a little harder for you to keep focused. Try to let go of your pettiest worries and concerns. The worrying is worse than the actual problems!

How Cluttered is Your Mind?

Some Kind of Hero - Excerpt 2

AVAILALBE APRIL 29, 2008

SAMHAIN PUBLISHING

 

“So do you have a last name, Miss Jordan?”

He watched the end of her lips lift into a small smile. “Minx,” she replied.

“Jordan Minx?” He shot her a curious look, causing her to laugh.

“I know what you’re thinking, there’s no way that can be my real name.”

“No.” He pursed his lips, trying hard not to smile. “I believe you.”

She leaned over and gave him a playful smack on the arm. “No you don’t.”

“Of course I do, and I’m guessing your mom’s name is Sable and your dad’s is Fox?” He knew it was wrong to tease her about something she’d had no control over, but damned if she wasn’t cute as hell, pouting at him with her lips pursed together in a disbelieving quirk.

She leaned in and raised a hand to smack him again, lost her balance and fell into him instead. In an instant, the mood around him changed from the playful banter they’d been sharing to something sultry. With their faces mere inches apart, their lips nearly brushing, Derek looked down at her and saw the intensity in her eyes. Lust, pure and simple, reared its ugly head and spurred him to take what he wanted. There would be consequences for his actions, of that he was sure. At that moment he didn’t care. He’d deal with the fallout later. Before he could move, she did, lifting her mouth to his.

Her smooth full lips pressed gently against his at first. He opened his mouth, licked along her bottom lip and tugged gently on it, begging her for entrance. She settled against him, parting her lips and deepening the kiss as their tongues darted and danced in a unique rhythm. One of her hands rested on his chest, over his heart, while the other held onto his biceps. The silence in the room helped to magnify their ragged breaths. He slid his hand down her side and cupped her ass, generating a small gasp from her.

She pulled back, her eyes heavy with desire. “We can’t do this.”

As much as it killed him to admit it, he knew she was right. He wasn’t the type to sleep around anyway, so to have sex with her after she’d been so generous in letting him sleep on her sofa, was out of the question. “I know.”

“I’m sorry, Derek. I don’t know what came over me.” Her cheeks reddened as she slipped from the sofa bed and stood, obviously embarrassed by her behavior.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” He attempted to play off her apology as if it were unnecessary, but deep down stirred something he hadn’t felt in a long time—desire. This beautiful, generous creature with the perfect last name had piqued his interest. Shaking her from his thoughts wouldn’t be easy by a long shot.

She picked up her water bottle and nodded to the hallway. “I’m going to head to bed. If you need anything, just knock.”

Her now-nervous and jittery demeanor only made her sexier and that was the last thing he needed right now. “Thank you, but I think I’m good.”

“Okay then. Well, good night.”

“Good night, Jordan.” He watched her disappear down the hallway and heard the soft click of her bedroom door. Derek folded the paper and set it on the end table, leaned up and turned off the lamp. The bed might be more comfortable than anything he’d slept on over the last year, but with his dick hard as steel and his balls now aching like someone had kicked him, there was no way he was going to get a good night’s sleep.

 

Back to Work

Yep, the time has finally come for me to return to work.  With my seasonal break over, I have to get up early in the morning and join the rest of the masses as they head off to their day jobs.  I’ll also have to wrangle two kids.  It’s a bittersweet moment.  On one hand, it means Summer is comming and it will be warm for awhile, on the other, it means all the free time I’ve had to write is coming to an end.  So much for living the fantasy of being a writer…LOL!

What color heart do you have?

Your Heart Is Pink

In relationships, you like to play innocent - even though you aren’t. Each time you fall in love, it’s like falling for the first time.Your flirting style: Coy Your lucky first date: Picnic in the park Your dream lover: Is both caring and dominant What you bring to relationships: Romance

What Color Heart Do You Have?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Critique Groups

Today I find myself in the mood to talk about critique groups.  For a writer, especially a newbie, a critique group can be the lifeline they need in order to hone their skills without plunking down money for expensive writing classes.  Yes, it does take longer and you will go through the school of hard knocks, but it’s well worth it. 

For the past few years I’ve been a member of an on-line community called The Critique Circle (http://www.critiquecircle.com).  I’ve met fellow authors who have become friends and who have gone on to become multi-published and I unfortunately I’ve met a few wannabe know it alls who can’t take even the slightest bit of criticism about their work without becoming offended.  Hey, publishing is a hard business.  If you don’t grow a think skin, you’ll never survive.

What I’ve learned most from being in this community is that even though you might not like what your peers are saying about your story, they’re probably right.  I’ve had stories rejected by publishers for the exact reasons that my fellow critters pointed out but I chose to ignore.  I’ve also had stories accepted by publishers because I listened to my peer group and made the necessary changes.  It’s a rough process and you have to give as much as you receive, which for a busy author and mom with a real life job, it can be somewhat time consuming.  However, the feedback more than makes up for the time put out.  If you’re an author trying to break into the business, run your story through a critique group first and see what you get out of it.  You might not like what they have to say, but if you listen, you might just become a better writer for it!

So I was talking to my Grandmother…

Sounds like it should be the set up for a bad joke, right?  Well, it’s not.  I was actually talking with my Grandmother for over an hour.  We live in different states, so its not like i get to talk to her every day.  Anyway, the subject of my writing came up and as I was explaining the process to her, I realized the general public knows very little about the ins and outs of the publishing business.  So let me see if I can offer up a little bit of info here.

1.  Author’s do NOT make a ton of money on a book despite what you may think.  If you’re e-published you might get anywhere from 35 to 45% of the retail sale, but since e-books sell for less money than print, that means the amount you make is less, well sort of.  Actually authors only make I believe it’s 2-10% on a print book depending on the publisher and contract they signed.  Which means if an e-book sells for 2.50 the author makes approximately 1.00.  However, if that same book sells in print for 10.00 then the author will get .20 to 1.00 per purchase.  So theoretically, you can actually make less with a book in print.  Of course print books have a larger market than e-books right now, so you could sell more copies and still end up making more money.  Are you rich?  No, but you might be famous if you’re lucky!

2. Authors do not design their own covers.  Nope, while at least with e-publishers some of us might have a say in what we like or don’t like about a cover, we are not allowed to design it and in the end, must ‘accept’ whatever version the publisher approves. 

3. We do not own the rights to our own work while it’s in print.  Nope, we signed those away to the publisher with the agreement that they will put our book in print.  For some authors the rights reverse upon termination of the contract which could be in as little as a year or for some publishers life plus 50 years which is the standard term of copyrights.

4.  If a publisher goes under and declares bankruptsy while you’re under contract, you should probably kiss your work goodbye, because the chances of getting the rights back to your book or any royalties owed are slim at best.  Nope, your story is now considered an ‘asset’ of the company and as such can be sold to the highest bidder.

5.  Authors do not make any type of royalties on books that are resold or books pirated on the internet.  So don’t buy from an unreputable site or store.  It’s bad enough that we slave away for months at a time trying to write a great story to entertain you, the least you can do is reward us by purchasing our book through legitimate sources and give us our paltry royalty.

6. Romance is a real genre that should not be scoffed at.  Regardless of what some might want you to believe, there is a huge demand for romance titles and this isn’t just the graphic sex books either.

So there you go.  I might not be a Thursday Thirteen, but it’s still information that I felt the need to share.  The image you have of an author is probably something similar to a Nora Roberts or Stephen King, when in reality, most authors are moms, wives and even your next door neighbor who on a daily basis live just like you do.  The only difference between you and them is what goes on behind their closed doors.

Progress Report - Seducing Sophie

And still going!

Not giving up on Borders yet!

With the backing of Pershing Square Capital Management, apparently Borders will try to emerge from their financial woes still intact.  If I am to understand my sources correctly, after some concerns over the somewhat large interest rate attached to the 42.5 million dollar loan, an agreement has been reached.  Even as the loan is finalized Pershing has apparently upped its offer to acquire Borders international subsidiaries.  What does this mean to you and me right now?  Nothing except that our favorite book seller and champion for the underdog for now has a new lease on life. 

With this new information fresh on my mind, I took doll baby to the local mall to get an Auntie Anne’s pretzel.  I love their pretzels and all the buttery fat that comes with them.  Mmmm….yum!  Oh, but I’m getting off topic here.  Anyway as I was sitting in the food court enjoying our warm doughy treat, I spotted a Border’s express mere feet away.  Once finished, we took a stroll into the store where doll baby immediately found about a dozen books she begged me to buy and I scanned the shelves of the romance section for my publisher’s titles.  I found three Samhain books among the hundreds of titles.  Not great, but not bad considering the economy and the fact that this store was in fact an express and on the small side.

After talking doll baby down to just one book (some interactive DVD Thomas the Tank Engine story thing) and finding a birthday gift for a friend, I went to pay where I ran into the store manager and had a little chat.  Turn’s out this Borders is all about supporting local authors and I’ve been told to come back the beginning of May to talk about setting up a book signing for my late May release.  BOOK SIGNING?  ME?  I never thought the day would come when somebody would actually take me seriously and consider me to be a real author.  Well let me tell you, that Border’s store will forever have my business and I for one will not give up on Borders yet!

 

 

It’s crap like this…

…that gives epublishing a bad name. 

If there’s one thing that the author’s loops I’m involved with are good for, it’s weeding out the good and bad that goes on in the industry.  Recently one of my fellow authors came across a post on Ebook Enthusiast.com.  And while many of the items listed are correct, the first three not only make ebookenthusiast.com look like idiots, because they’re wrong, but give’s the epublishing industry a perpetual black eye.   This is what they wrote.

eBook Publishing

More and more authors are turning to ePublishing as an alternative to traditional publishing. Here are some reasons why:

No Rejection: eBook publishers are much less choosy about which manuscripts they accept, and many accept all that are submitted. 

 

Wrong, wrong, wrong and um…WRONG!!!   Any respectable e-book publisher is not going to accept every submission they receive.  In fact, the acceptance rates for e-publishers are only 1 to 2 percent higher than those of the traditional NY publishing houses.

 

Time: It can take years of searching for a publisher who wants to take on your book, if you can find one at all. With self-publishing, you could wait months or even years before you have the printed copies of your book. With ePublishing, that time can be cut down to weeks or days.

 

Again, WRONG!  While the time from acceptance to actual e-print is less, many e-publishers also put their longer or more popular titles in traditional print and this process can take just as long as any of the NY publishers.  Not to mention, with the backlog many of the quality e-publishers now have, if you were accepted tomorrow, you still may not see e-print until a year from now or even longer. 

 

Price: Self-publishing can cost thousands of dollars, and authors must pay for each copy of their book that is printed. With eBooks, you usually pay one fee for the ePublishing service. eBooks never have to be printed.

 

WHAT!?!  This one had me nearly spitting my iced tea on the screen as I read it.  No legit e-publisher is going to make you PAY to have your work put in print.  Not once have I had to pay for anything, neither has any of the authors I know.  If ANY company calling themselves a real publisher asks you to pay RUN AWAY fast. 

  

Personal Interaction: Even if only through email, authors can communicate directly with the person that will be handling their manuscript. You can ask questions about any part of the process and get feedback on your book.
 

Technology: Lots of authors are excited about being part of the new technology of eBooks. Anybody who has an eBook now is getting in on the ground floor of an emerging technology, and will be part of all the upcoming advancements.
 

Future Options: Depending on the ePublisher, authors will still have the option to publish their work in paper, sell their eBooks at multiple eBook stores, and even continue to submit their manuscript to traditional publishers while it’s selling as an eBook. (This can also help authors establish a sales record to show to publishers.)

 

Finally, some statements I can agree with.  Yes, I love the personal interaction I have with my editors.  It’s been invaluable to making me a better writer and building a relationship with my publishers.  And yes, I am excited to be in on the ground floor of the e-book future.  It’s going to be a bright one and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.  And, while not all NY house will take a submission if it’s already published (e-version or otherwise) it does help to establish a sales record that can help an author break through that giant barrier NY publishers have erected.  

 

Do it yourself!: You can even do the work of “ebooking” your manuscript yourself. This might or might not save you money, depending on whether you need to buy any software for your purposes. ePublishers have more expertise in the process of creating eBooks, but you can take it on as a creative project and be proud of what you’ve accomplished in the end.

 

Okay, so much for being in agreement.  Even in the e-publishing world, if you’re not published through an established and reputable e-publisher, then you’re looked down upon.  Self-publishing is NOT the same as e-publishing.  I REPEAT, SELF PUBLISHING IS NOT THE SAME AS E-PUBLISHING.  Unless you’re doing it as a project for some college course or you simply want to see your book in print with no real desire to make money at it, then you would not want to do it yourself. 

 

People I beg of you, if you’re going to write things about the e-publishing industry, I ask that you make sure your facts are correct, because if they’re not, you’ll not only discredit an industry on the cutting edge, but make yourselves look like idiots in the process.

http://ebooksenthusiast.com/ebook-publishing/index.htm