*

Unsung hero in the piracy war.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Patricia McLinn is my new hero. (Or should I say heroine?)

She decided to hit the file pirate sites where it really hurts--in their ad sales revenue.


You have to read about how she got AT&T to sit up, take notice, and act responsibly to remove their advertising off a file sharing site allowing illegal file sharing.

They're not the only ones she's reached--read the comments to see her updates.

Sweet addiction.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
I found this and their dark chocolate version at Wallyworld in the peanut butter section. I LOOOOOVE this stuff. ilovepeanutbutter.com

"They tried to make me go to rehab, and I said no, no, no..."

*Asshat FTC blog disclaimer: I paid for this myself, but if they wanted to give me freebies, I'd damn sure take it!

Writing How-To: Special Snowflake Follow-Up.

Monday, January 25, 2010
Wow. I'm totally blown away (in a good way) to the response to my "You are Not a Special Snowflake" post.

I also had no idea (and I had many private responses besides the ones in the comments) how many people said they'd been afraid to say what I said.

And that, to me, begs the question...why?

As a writer, I want the honest truth, whether it's from a competent critique partner/beta reader, or from someone in the industry dishing out advice on wise career moves. I don't want anyone to ever sugar-coat stuff and tell me what they think I want to hear instead of the truth. Now, obviously, I prefer the truth to be couched constructively and politely, but still, don't piddle on my leg and tell me it's raining.

That's the kind of gal I am.

I'm also glad that so many people were encouraged by my post, because that was the whole point--to encourage you that it's not some impossible dream to make a living as a writer. Writing is like any other endeavor. You can't get one rejection and decide it's not the life for you if you want to grow successful at it. On the other hand, if you do let one rejection get you down, maybe it's not the right business for you.

We writers are crazy people, let's face it. (I'm talking fiction writers, although it applies to some non-fic writers too. *LOL*) I mean, we sit in a dark hole and listen to the voices in our heads tell us what to write. We think about fantasy people and put them in horrible situations and think of ways to kill and maim them. We write some pretty crazy sh*t sometimes. (In my case, some pretty pervy sh*t. *LOL*)

We attempt to take unsuspecting readers with us on that roller coaster ride that is our imagination, to give them a glimpse into what's going on inside our skulls. Face it, when you read, you're looking at the brain of a writer. Not necessarily the Wiz behind the curtain, but you're seeing all the other stuff.

Just like you can't take a single painting class, give up, and ever hope to be the next Da Vinci, you cannot write one thing and give up and expect to be the next Steinbeck or Hemingway. It won't happen.

Fiction authors didn't become fiction authors because the fast-food drive-through gig didn't pan out for them. They're the people willing to work the drive-through gig to supplement their maniacal scribblings. "Author" isn't a job description to them, it's a personality label. It's not what they do, it's who they are.

If you don't want to write for a living and just want it to be a hobby, that's fine too. There is nothing wrong with being a recreational writer. But if you have it in your head you will make a living at writing, then you have to give up some of those fallacies you might have held onto, snowflake, and realize you're stuck in the blizzard with the rest of us, each of us working our little snowflake butts off to end up on the ski slopes and to not get blown into a patch of black ice (or worse, yellow snow).*

If a writer tells me, "I want to make a living as an author," I'll ask them, "How many hours do you spend writing every day/week?" If they give me a blank look or tell me they fit it in when they can at Nanowrimo time, or they can't remember the last time they actually WROTE something, that tells me they are not serious about doing it.

Yes, real life gets in the way. Kids, family, Evil Day Jobs (EDJs), car pool--whatever. But writers with the drive to succeed work around that. Even if they're driving to work, while they're stuck in that commute their minds are usually working on that latest plot snag they hit and trying to solve it. They carry notebooks with them to jot things down. Even if they aren't writing they're still "writing." I've written whole books in my head during long drives. I get home and make notes and start writing. It's great.

A "real" writer doesn't make excuses, they make time. They take action. Even if all they can sneak in is a page a week, then they fit it in somehow. They are always making forward progress of some sort, whether it's reading a book about writing or following industry market blogs or editing their synopsis or crafting a query letter, they are still WORKING at writing.

I think some readers who decide they want to become writers--and I'm NOT saying all readers, of course--think what we do for a living is easy. "Heck, I can write THAT!" They think all we do is sit around all day in our Spongebob Squarepants PJs while drinking coffee and...

*cough*

Never mind. Okay, writing is not easy. Not just the writing (which is, actually, the easiest part of the process), but the editing, marketing, honing our craft, everything I talked about before.

So why (back to my original point) are some people afraid to tell the truth about this?

I am not Superwoman. (I'm not even Half-Assedwoman on some days.) I'm a wife and mom and I'm no different than most people. (Other than my crazy, warped writer brain.)

If I can do this, anyone who WANTS to be a writer (as an EDJ) can do this. Some will start farther back in the pack than others, depending on their writing skills. But if you want to tell stories and you enjoy telling stories, you can learn the mechanics and improve with lots and lots of hard work and practice. You can beat the e-pavement and submit and submit and submit some more. You can promote your ass off.

Hard work? Yes.

Rocket science? *snort* Thank the Goddess no, because I'd be screwed if it was.

So don't be afraid to tell aspiring authors the truth. Is what we do easy? NO. Is it doable? Absolutely. And writers should hear the truth so they don't unrealistically get their hopes up just to get them smashed.

This isn't a sprint--it's the longest-ass marathon you'll ever run. So pace yourself, keep going, and remember it doesn't matter if you finish first, as long as you don't give up.

---

* How's that for a metaphor from a native Floridian gal who's never seen real snow?

"Safe Harbor" up for book of the week!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

*Shameless begging for votes to follow.*

My Tymber Dalton book, "Safe Harbor," is up for book of the week over at Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews. Voting is open until Sunday night, and I would appreciate any and all votes:


Also, I have an interview up on Julia Barrett's blog about writing and writing advice at: http://juliarachelbarrett.com/worth-repeating-lesli-richardson/ Feel free to stop by and comment.

Thanks!

Publishing, Pirate Prattle, and Pay

Friday, January 22, 2010

There is this myth going around the pirate sites that they think published writers are rich, so if they steal files from them, it’s not hurting them, it’s only hurting “fat cat publishers.”

Well, here’s another myth about to go up in flames on the sacred cow barbecue.

The majority of writers, even writers whose books make “bestseller” lists, make less than poverty wages from their writing. If the first link doesn’t depress the hell out of you, keep reading.

http://brendahiatt.com/id2.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070310135839AAbSlno

http://kimberlypauley.com/2009/04/20/so-how-much-money-do-writers-make-anyway/

http://www.genreality.net/the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller

http://www.genreality.net/more-on-the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller

http://booksquare.com/just-how-much-do-those-romance-writers-make/

Okay, get your ass back in here off that ledge. I hate heights, and I’m not about to climb out there to pull you in. Take your freaking meds, sit down, shut up, and listen.

There’s a reason I’m telling you all of this. Very few fiction writers, I’m guessing MAYBE one out of every one thousand, IF that, make over $100k a year. I’m basing this on the glut of traditional publishing mid-list books, indie/e-houses, and self-publishing.

Of those very few, even fewer of them make Stephen King or Dan Brown money.

So all these file pirates who are stealing and downloading files from authors from little houses, guess what? Most of the people they’re stealing from are small authors who make less than ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR per book on their writing. They don’t get advances usually, either.

Are you understanding me?

Three of my books made LESS than one hundred dollars each in sales at one of my publishers. The sales at third party sites bumped that number up to slightly over a hundred dollars.

Are you saying losing a few HUNDRED (or more, usually more) copies to file pirates doesn’t hurt my sales when it's downloaded MORE than it's LEGALLY PURCHASED?

I’m one of the lucky ones that can make a living at writing, but I'm still far under the $100k a year number, and as you saw in my last post, I write my ass off. I have a few books that sell enough to make up for those numbers (except I lose sales to pirates there, too). But most writers DO NOT.

So before you think downloading a file from a free site doesn’t hurt anyone, think long and hard about who you’re stealing from, and if you’d like someone stealing from you.

Writing How-To: You Are Not a Special Snowflake.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I was having a private email discussion back and forth with another writer who, like me, has found better than average success writing for indie e-publishers. They told me something that so totally resonated with me that yes, I have to share it. They were once given the advice to use multiple pen names and not let on how much they write. Not as in how often their butt is in front of the computer, but how much sheer volume of words they turn out on a regular basis. The reason in a nutshell? It might wig some people out and potentially hurt other writers’ feelings.

I pride myself on being honest with my blog readers when I write about writing topics, but this is something I feel is overdue for discussion, even though I know other bloggers (notably one of my favs here and here) have discussed it before.

1) Don’t quit your day job. Chances are, you won’t make enough money writing to support yourself.

2) You can make a good living as a writer.

Yes, I know, those two comments are TOTALLY contradictory. But, they’re both true. Here’s the thing, the majority of writers, because of life, family, evil day jobs (EDJs), or (honestly) quality of writing, will fall in category number one. What bumps a writer from number one to number two has very little to do with luck or magic thinking or even talent in some cases. It has to do with a lot (a LOT) of hard fracking work.

So along with the bubble-bursting I’m about to do, I promise to give you advice to help you find your own way. Some of you are going to hate me for the things I’m about to discuss. That’s cool, whatever. But I’m not going to lie to you and say yeah, it’s sunshine and daisies and anyone at all can do what I and other writers like me do with no trouble at all.

It’s a lot. Of. Fracking. Work.

Let me say up front I am no Stephen King in terms of income. There is this HUGE fallacy that if someone is a “bestselling author” that they are these rich people. I’ve got news for you, Binky, just because a book shows up on the NYT Bestseller list (which none of mine have yet to date *LOL*) doesn’t mean that writer is rich. Seriously. Especially if they never break the top twenty.

The average mid-list writer doesn’t quit their day job, even if they get an advance, because they know that both their agent (if they have one) and the IRS will get a chunk of that windfall, if they even earn it all at once. It’s not uncommon for a publisher to hold back part of an advance until the book actually hits the shelves. And guess what? You don’t see royalties on a book until the advance has “earned out.” And in today’s market, it’s not at all uncommon for a book to not earn out for several years, if at all. The average writer makes less than poverty-level income from their writing.

1) You are not the next Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Lemony Snicket, Nora Roberts, Stephen King, Dan Brown, _________.

You. Are. Not. Quit deluding yourself and go take your meds. “Magically discovered” authors are the rare exception, not the norm. Most “successful” writers (who can claim writing as their sole EDJ to the IRS) got that way through a LOT of hard work over several years.

2) “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile. “ (Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club)

If you start out unpublished thinking you are the best, the most special, the ungodliest super-dooperiest writer out there and any agent or publisher would be fracking crazy not to sign you, you’ve lost the battle before you ever made it to the front lines. You are not better than everyone else. Chances are, you’re not as good as everyone else unless you’ve spent years working on learning the art and craft of writing.

It amazes me how many first-time writers think they are da shit when they wave a crappy manuscript around in the air and berate agents and publishers for not liking them when they never bothered to even print and edit the damn thing because they think they are just. That. Good. (Again, go take your meds.) Bucky, if you don’t know your to/too/two, and your its/it’s from your arse, and you need the apostrophe police to come arrest your sorry self, you need to sit down, shut up, and get to work learning those basics before you can make grand proclamations. Seriously. Dude.

And if you think your work is too good to edit? Phwoar! Think again. Even I--someone who knew I wanted to be a writer for over twenty-five years and spent that time working and honing my craft--know I NEED an editor to look over my work. If you’re a diva right out of the gate, duuude, you’re screwed.

3) "’It's only after you've lost everything,’ Tyler says, ‘that you're free to do anything.’" (Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club)

Okay, forget “holding out” for a “real” book deal. Seriously. Have you LOOKED at the state of traditional publishers lately? Yes, they take new writers, but revisit my first point again. Then revisit point two. I know some of you reading this ARE able to back up your belief in your ability as a writer with good, solid writing. Good on ya. But trust me, do you really want to spend five or ten years waiting for New York to come knocking, or would you rather write for a living and see your manuscripts published and actually read by people? Not to mention making you money.

Give up the notion of scoring that dream NY contract and instead focus on taking the indie world by storm. You can make money, build a solid readership, then when you try NY again, you can proudly wave your accomplishments in their face and if they still say no, you’ve still got the knowledge that you can and do make sales. It’s the big fish/little pond principle at work. What do you have to lose? You have NOTHING to lose by going indie. “I like the feel of a book in my hands.” Bullshit. I like the look of a royalty check in my bank account. If you’re blessed with an EDJ that pays your bills, maybe you can afford to wait around. I can’t. And with so many people in dire financial straits these days, many other wannabe writers can’t afford to wait around either. So work those indie publishers. Build a following. Learn the business.

4) You’re on your own.

Whether you’re signed at an indie publisher or a big NY house, you. Are. On. Your. Own. It sucks, and it’s not fair, but most publishers will not put advertising and co-op dollars into promoting writers who aren’t A-listers. Some larger indie houses are now taking out group ads for their writers (I’m blessed enough to be a writer for one of them), but for the most part, you’re on your own. You cannot turn in a manuscript and dust off your hands and forget about it. You have to network, hustle, promote, and build your author brand.

5) Writing for a living is not art, it’s business.

If you write because you enjoy it and you write and don’t care if you sell books, then stand aside for those of us who want to make a living at it. Post your “art” on the free reading sites or Lulu.com and quit clogging the slush piles. Seriously. I’m not saying anything others haven’t said before (and I’m sure I’ll get whacked for that one) but frankly, it’s the truth. If you don’t want to get paid, why in the Goddess’ name are you submitting and wasting editors’ and agents’ valuable time? You’re making it harder for us who DO want to make a living at it. You’re like the slow driver in the left-hand lane with their right turn signal on. Move. The. Frack. Over.

6) If you want to make money writing, you HAVE to treat it like any other business.

That means sacrificing family time and play time and Wii time and TV time to plop your ass in front of your computer and put words on the paper on a regular basis. You can’t take ten years to write a book. You need to, seriously, invest in a typing software and learn how to touch type and speed up your production. You need to learn how to self-edit on the fly and not take six months to revise a book once you’ve completed the first draft. You need to learn to write for the money. Which brings me to the next point…

7) If you want to make a living writing, you have to write where the money is.

I learned early on that there is decent money to be made writing erotica. Therefore, I follow the money. I don’t sacrifice the quality of my writing or the depth of my storytelling, I still stay true to myself in those regards. But I don’t write about unicorns if hot Alpha wolf shifters are what’s making money. If my publisher came to me and said, “Okay, possum shifters are the next big thing and we’re selling the hell out of them,” guess what my next book would be? You guessed it, possum shifters.

8) Don’t try to imitate the latest craze.

No, this doesn't contradict point 7. By the time your book gets out there, it’s been overdone by other writers with the same idea. Be original. If you want to write vampires, write them your way, not the same old hackneyed plot and angst everyone else uses.

9) Don’t take things personally.

Yes, it sucks big hairy donkey balls to hear “no” from an agent or publisher. I know it. It does, I’ve been there, done that. I put in my time and ran the gauntlet of agents and publishers. I’ve got a file full of rejection slips until I made that first sale. However, if you let it crush your soul, you’re ignoring point 6 – writing is a business.

Publishers aren’t going to publish you because they like you or think you’re a great person or have a winning smile or killer personality. They’ll publish you (or not) based on whether that wad of words you dumped into their in box is salable or not, or if it’s salvageable enough (time and effort invested versus cost/potential earnings) to accept. It’s that simple. But if every writer that heard no gave up or let it crush them stopped trying, NONE of us would be published. Seriously. Consider it a badge of honor that you survived the process and get over it.

10) Not everyone will like what you write.

It could be the best, most well-polished manuscript, interesting characters, intriguing plot, kick-assiest story ever published. I guarantee you, SOMEONE will hate it, even if just because they can’t stand you having success. See point 9 – don’t take things personally. It’s a business. Move on. My own mother loves me but won’t read 90% of what I write because erotica is not her thing, and that’s cool, seriously. My husband isn’t into m/m scenes and will skim through those. Again, that’s cool. Some people that love my erotica don’t like my non-erotica. Again, whatever. That’s fine. See point 9.

11) Don’t give up.

If you throw your hands in the air and cry about it, you deserve to fail. Seriously. If you have the drive to make it, the guts to fight through the masses, the mental drive to improve yourself as a writer and seize every opportunity to better yourself as a writer, you can make it. Is it easy? Hell no, it’s not. Don’t. Give. Up.

12) Write your ass off.

Between the time my first book was officially released on 08/08/08 and as of this writing, I’ve got nineteen releases out with several more contracted and pending. More WIPs in the wings awaiting me to finish and submit them. You do the math. That’s an average of a book or more a month. Not all of them were full-length novels, some were short stories and novellas, but still, that’s a lot of copy.

Doing Nanowrimo is great, but it’s not uncommon for me to turn out 10k words or more in a DAY when I’m in a writing cycle. The most I’ve done so far was 80k words in a week. Again, back to this IS my EDJ and I’m in front of my laptop on average 12 to 14 hours a day. Sometimes writing, sometimes editing, sometimes promo and web maintenance. Again, heed my advice about learning to touch type. And the more you write, the better you’ll get at it. I spent several years writing non-fiction for a living, some of that in a journalism environment. When an editor tells you they want a ten-inch column in three days, they won’t accept, “But I have writer’s block!” as an excuse.

I ALWAYS have multiple manuscripts going at once. If I get blocked, I immediately start working on a different one so I’m at least making forward momentum on something. Write something. ANYTHING. Don’t sit there and whine you don’t know what to write about. If you don’t know what to write about, seriously, you won’t become a successful professional writer. My problem (and other successful writers have this as well) isn’t coming up with ideas to write about, my problem is not enough time in the day to do it. People ask me how I keep the ideas straight. Well, it’s my job.

13) Not every book will make you money -- live with it.

Don't let it stop you from taking chances. I have books that have blown me away by how well they’ve done, and I have books that have made me less money than it cost me in paper and toner to run them on my home printer to do the edits before I submitted them. Seriously. It’s a numbers game. And it’s not that the books are “bad” books, but they’re not money books. And that’s okay. It could be any number of things—genre, heat level, lack of visibility—contributing to that. But I don’t dwell on it. I move on to the next project. And it balances out. This goes back to several of the previous points, including don’t give up, write your ass off, and treat it like a business. Move on to the next project, learn from your mistakes, and keep going.

14) Study the market.

You will not change the market. Period. You need to adjust your writing and marketing plan to fit the target audience. You will not sell a fluffy-bunny teddy bear story to hard-core BDSM erotica lovers. It won’t happen. If you want to write fluffy-bunny teddy bear stories, fine, but do your research and try to sell and market them in appropriate markets. The fluffy-bunny teddy bear story lovers likely won’t hang out in the BDSM discussion forums, either.

If you don’t believe me, go cruise the Amazon.com romance discussion forum and read how many people there complain about the amount and kind of sex in Lora Leigh’s stories and in other books technically considered erotica. (Not to pick on her, but that’s just one I recently read.) Um, hello, Lora Leigh’s stories are usually erotica.

Now, it’s not her fault the romance readers are complaining about erotica, but it illustrates the point that you need to clearly market and brand yourself as a writer. (Again, not her fault they picked up her books.) I’ve also heard people who hate paranormal books complain about paranormal books they’ve read. Again, you can’t help that they picked up a book they normally don’t like, but you need to market yourself to try to reach the readers you want to reach.

15) Don’t be a one-trick pony.

Write in different genres, even if it means you think you need multiple pen names to do it. This will help you maximize your earning potential. Someone who hates cowboy stories won’t read them. And if all you write is cowboy stories, you won’t make that sale. But if they love paranormal and you write paranormal, you might pick them up as a reader and they might decide to take a chance on your cowboy stories.

16) Don’t keep sticking a pen in your eye and saying ow and doing it again.

Learn from your mistakes. If you find a publisher isn’t a good fit for you, make a business decision and move on. I’m blessed to have great publishers, and remember, not every publisher is a fit for every story. You don’t take your Ford in to a Chevy dealership for repairs, and you wouldn’t try to sell a BDSM erotica story at a Christian inspirational romance publisher. Seriously. If you write steampunk, find a publisher that will be a good fit. If you write paranormal erotica, find a publisher than handles a lot of it. Check Amazon.com Kindle rankings for authors and stories and publishers.

17) Once you’re published, obsessively check your rankings.

Seriously. At one publisher, I can check my real-time sales data through their site (not the third-party sales though). But at all my publishers, I can check myself on their bestseller lists. I can cruise my Amazon.com rankings. I can check Fictionwise and Mobi and others for the most part, or at least make an educated guess as to where I am. I check my web stats, I look at referral and search landing data. Use the data you get to make business decisions about how to market and seeing what works and what doesn’t. There is no magic bullet.

18) Have fun.

Yes, treat it like a business, but have fun doing it.

19) Indie/e-publishing is REAL publishing.

It puts out REAL books that can be read by REAL readers and earn you REAL money you can buy REAL things and pay REAL bills with. ‘Kay? ‘Nuff said.

***

Most writers won’t make enough to make a full-time EDJ living writing, or they will give up before they even have a chance to start because of whatever reason. But I’m not a special snowflake—ANYONE can do what I’ve done. Others have done it.

I didn’t write this to discourage you. I didn’t write this to piss you off or start a flame war. I didn’t write this to try to keep you from being successful.

See, here’s the thing, being a “successful writer” isn’t this one-up, top of the heap position you have to heavily defend. There is PLENTY of room at the top for anyone who wants to work their ass off to get there. And believe it or not, there aren’t people standing up there kicking at you if you get too close. They know there’s plenty of room up there and generally, they’re too busy trying to keep themselves up there to worry about whether you make it up there with them or not. Seriously. I know there’s this myth that writers will backbite each other, well, maybe some do. Fortunately for me, I haven’t seen that happen although I’ve heard urban myths about it.

I want you to succeed. Why?

Because I’m sick of the stupid asshats claiming that you can’t make a living writing in indie publishing, and I’m sick of the asshats who keep putting down romance and erotica, and I’m REALLY sick of the artsy-fartsy people who claim you can only be a “serious writer” if you write artsy-fartsy writing published by a “real” publishing house. I want to blow the fallacies—good and bad—out of the water so you can wade through the crapload of misinformation and get the information you need to make a successful living doing this.

Let’s prove these jokers wrong. I’m storming the hill, want to join me? Don’t worry, there are no bullets coming at us, just morons lobbing laughable grenades full of skewed, old-fashioned babble. The only thing standing in our way is ourselves. You with me?

Let’s go.

(Update: You can find the follow-up post here.)

A little insurance.

I'm an obsessive backer-upper when it comes to my files. Not every day, which is bad on my part, but redundantly. Two external drives for large quantities of data, plus two thumb drives specifically for works in progress, which fit in holders that go on my keyring and leave the house when I do. I also have CD back-ups in our safety deposit box.

I have been looking into online storage options, and then yesterday on one of the professional lists I'm on, one of the members recommended a place they've been using for a couple of years now. No frills, and admittedly they need a proofreader on their website, but $15 a year. So I'm giving them a try and last night uploaded my writing folder to the server for off-site safekeeping. Since it's web-based, I can access it from anywhere.

I'm one of those paranoid people who thinks if I get the insurance (back-ups), I probably won't need it. *LOL* And it's only $15 a year. If you're interested, the place is: http://www.onlinestoragesolution.com/

Now, here's the catch. If you're not computer savy and need someone to hold your hand, you might get frustrated. When you log into your account (I paid with PayPal and after completion was taken to the set-up page) there are files there that are movies and .pdfs so you can find out how to set up your account. You can access via browser, ftp like Filezilla, or something like NetDrive (which is what I'm using) so it's like a connected external drive.

If I find any issues with it, I'll pass them along, but so far, I'm liking it.

(FTC asshat blog disclaimer, I paid for my own service and am not being reimbursed for this review.)

Writing How-To: Promotions

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
I responded to a promo question from newbie author who is a fellow writer at one of my publishers. I thought it might not be a bad idea to share my answers with y'all. Feel free to contribute your own ideas for what's worked for you in the comments.

Her e-book won't be out for a couple of months yet, but she was asking what she could do to promote it. Here is what I told her:

1) Website. If you don't have one that's up to date and relatively typo-free, you need one, asap. Which brings me to point...

2) Blog. You can point a domain name at a free blog if you don't have a website, like Blogger. Blog on a regular basis, and not just about your stuff, but value-added content like goings on in the e-book industry, writing how-to things, humor, free stories, etc.

3) Social Networking. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Ning, etc. At the VERY least you need Facebook and Twitter. It used to be MySpace was a must, but Facebook and Twitter are really taking over.

4) Email List. Promo on the Yahoogroups, make SURE to follow all list guidelines for posting excerpts.

5) Guest Blog. Many of the review sites have guest blog opps. Follow up on them and use them.

6) Answer Emails. This might seem like a no-brainer, but whenever a fan emails you, write them back. One of the main things I constantly hear from fans is they're amazed I answer my email, because apparently a lot of writers don't.

7) Caffeine. Lots of it. Lots and LOTS of it.

---

So what else has worked for you?

Shhh...

Sunday, January 17, 2010
This is how I feel right now for the next couple of minutes. I just turned in a manuscript to one of my publishers that I've been fighting to get done for a couple of weeks, and now, it's done. So...

iz basking

And now, for the next project.
cute pictures of puppies with captions
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What can you say?

Saturday, January 16, 2010
I've wanted to write a post about the Haitian earthquake catastrophe, but really, what can you say?

There are a lot of things I want to say, most of them involving epithets that would get this blog kicked over to the Blogger adult rating, about some of the asshats (I can say that, right?) who are claiming bullpucky from "God struck them down" to "why didn't the US government react this strongly to the Christmas Day bombing attempt."

I'd also want to curse out the filthy buggers who use disasters like this to try to scam well-meaning people out of money and goods meant for those in the disaster area.

Haiti has a long history of civil strife and crappy governments that make some of George W.'s antics look almost brilliant by comparison (tough work, that). But the bottom line is, they are people. Why do you think so many of them risk their lives trying to make it here to our country? Illegally, yes, but still, if your chances were to risk dying over stupid things that are easily preventable and not an issue here in this country, or coming to a country where you had a chance to survive and make a living, wouldn't you?

The earthquake is not Katrina. Yes, there are similarities, but the two are not the same. The aftermaths are not the same.

People rip their hair out that aid isn't getting into Haiti fast enough. True. But the issue is, unlike Katrina where once aid did start flowing, it could get in there, we can't just go in and take over. There are international laws that must be followed. Haiti is, as much of a shithole as it was before the earthquake, an independent nation. The US can't just drop twenty thousand well-armed national guardsmen in there willy-nilly to take over and get things running again. Not unless we offered to annex it as the fifty-first state, which I seriously doubt anyone wants for a myriad of reasons. There are protocols that have to be followed. Not to mention getting anyone or anything into the country is problematic at this point. The airport is barely functioning and out of fuel, the major port was destroyed, and there is apparently one main road between the Dominican Republic and Haiti that can support a massive relief influx, and it's crowded with people trying to get out of Haiti.

On the other hand, I thought this and was relieved to also hear it reflected by others on news programs, looking ahead ten or fifteen years into the future, despite the horrors of the situation now, maybe this is one of the best things that could have happened to Haiti (when looking BACK in retrospect). This is NOT saying the massive human suffering is a good thing, because obviously, it's not. Duh. But looking ahead, past the grief and horror, there is hope to be seen.

After Hurricane Andrew, Homestead and other south Florida communities in that region that were little more than backwater migrant farm housing hovels before the storm have, in the wake of that disaster, rebuilt and flourished, better than they ever were before, better than they ever could have hoped to be.

After Hurricane Charley, Punta Gorda, Pt. Charlotte, and Arcadia and other regions devastated by the landfall of that monster (which hit literally miles from where I live) have also rebuilt, better than ever before.

The massive scope of Katrina means recovery is slower, but those communities are rebuilding, slowly but surely, and in a few more years no doubt they will be better than ever.

There is a potential here, if America and other countries don't drop the ball NOW, for Haiti to emerge on the other side of this hell as a far stronger country than it ever was before, open to outside assistance and willing to partner with others for the betterment of the Haitian people. There is a chance for the international community to help Haiti's government rebuild Haiti so that there is a reliable infrastructure, safer housing, better government services, than they ever could have had before this disaster. This is an opportunity not to assimilate Haiti into something we want it to be, but to help them achieve what they want to be and help them set up a flourishing, healthy country.

Generations of Haitians have grown up in poverty and with a less than effective (or worse, a downright corrupt and harmful) government. Many of them were too busy trying to survive even before this event to try to change things on a grander scale. Now the focus of the world is on Haiti. There is an international spotlight fixed on this problem that many were barely aware of before all this happened.

There are people who will say, "Hell, we can't take care of Americans, why should we get involved?"

That's true in some ways. But let's face it, part of our current financial state here in this country stems from several years of an inept administration who willingly turned a blind eye to financial problems here, leading to the mess we have now. But Haiti is an international effort. If we as a country turn our back on Haiti, what does that say about us as a nation?

We cannot afford to be isolationist when it comes to something like this. The stakes are too great. If we don't participate in the international effort to help rebuild Haiti, we will be forced to deal with them on a more close-up and personal level when the people start arriving here illegally, seeking to escape the horrors at home. And don't forget in the post 9/11 world we live in, there is another distinct possibility.

If we don't get in there now and help, we risk less desirable factions like Al Queda and other groups infiltrating their population, getting a foothold, and trying to capitalize on their suffering with promises of better things. Haiti is way too close to home to allow it to fall into chaos even worse than it was before. We don't need them becoming the next wide-open hunting ground for terrorist organizations with deep pockets looking for willing victims to recruit to their way of life right in our own backyard.

So whether you want to believe we should help Haiti because it's the right thing to do, or to save us more grief as a country later, regardless, there is no doubt we need to help. We can't sit by and not be involved in this effort.

The costs to us as a country in the future will be too great if we don't help.

If you want to help on a personal level, Google has set up an information page with links to reputable aid organizations and a people finder: http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/

What the...?

Monday, January 11, 2010
I've lived in Florida all my life. Only two other times I can remember it being this cold, but not for this long. The first was in 1976 or '77, when it "snowed" very light flurries in the Tampa area (where I grew up), and again in the winter of 1989.

This is ridiculous. They actually cancelled school here today in the county I live in, and we live south of Sarasota!

That's ICE on my car, even after the sun has been up for about an hour. It was 27 degrees here this morning.

BRR!

Cover: "Steam"

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year! This is the cover for my soon-to-be released dragon shifter story, "Steam," the sequel to "Boiling Point." (Siren-BookStrand, writing as Tymber Dalton.)

For those of you who enjoy my Triple Trouble shape-shifter series, you'll be happy to learn this is a prequel to "Trouble Comes in Threes" and features Brodey Lyall.