Promoting Positive

Several months ago I made an impromptu stop while running errands and ended up meeting someone that would become a huge help to me in my writing career as well as a wonderful friend Ashley Ciliberti. She is not only a great friend and supporter, she is a devoted mother and one of the most positive people I know.

When I met her I had just finished the book launch for Survivor held at The Venetian Las Vegas. I had worked hard on that event for months and all of the things that had been pushed to the back burner in my head all came flooding forward at one time. I was driving with my mom to take care of a few things before the Vegas Valley Book Festival being held the next day. While driving I completely spaced as to where I was going and ended up clear on the other side of town.

I decided that since I was in the area I was going to stop and get a cupcake at one of my favorite bakeries. It was an impulse stop in every sense but I didn't care, I earned the treat and was craving the sugar. When I went inside there was a woman at the counter and another girl waiting. I took my place in line trying to pick out which delicious dessert I wanted. As usually happens I started talking with the other girl while we waited for the woman at the counter to finish her order.

She told me her boyfriend had called in an order for her to go pick up because she had been working so hard on a website she was going to be launching. I told her I was treating myself after the book launch event I had planned and completed. We got into detail and when she learned that I had written about being a domestic abuse survivor and her website was dedicated to helping people going through issues such as bullying, depression and domestic violence she handed me her card. We began emailing back and forth and I became a contributor for her site.

She launched just over a month ago and while I am probably biased being a contributor, I am beyond proud to call her my friend. Right now the website is limited but its growth and reach capabilities are uncharted. We met today to discuss an upcoming campaign her the site and while talking about finding sponsors she said something that stuck with me, anyone can advertise by promoting a dry cleaners at a Jimmy Johns but to sponsor an event for a site like hers is to be helping to promote something positive. Coming from my marketing background I saw immediately what she meant, it is corporate goodwill in the purest sense.

I will be helping to grow the site and its reach as well as her message because I believe that finding the good in a situation and helping to foster a society of kindness is a fair superior way to handle things then to simply punish those we feel are being antagonistic. Instead of bullying the bullies and banishing the labeled problem children of our culture we should instead do our best to understand the core causes of the negativity and turn it around to promote the positive.

Marketing Tips - Book In Progress

One fun way to create demand and help people get into what you are working on is to have them feel like they are a part of the process. Of course people can always leave reviews which is one way to feel like they are participating but another way is to add a book in progress section either on social media or your personal website.

If on a website you can have an actual link or tab that would take your readers and fans to a section that you can update every day or week showing how you are doing on whatever our current project or projects are. Whether you choose to do a graph to show how close you are getting to completion or update your word count, think Nanowrimo, there are a number of ways you can show how your progress is going.

Social media may be slightly more difficult because there is no current app to add that I have found for Facebook or anywhere else that can show progress of this type. For social media having a set day of the week or time of day to update your followers would be the easiest way to keep everyone up to date. I am working on implementing the social media side of this since I do not currently have a website though I am hoping by the end of the year to have that part as well.

It is possible of course to use this idea to update on multiple projects and even after the writing process if you are submitting or self publishing you can continue to post updates. Adding excerpts from the stories at different milestones can also help to keep the readers engaged and then give you a chance to interact with your readers by getting feedback or taking questions and having the chance to talk with them about what you are working on.

Male vs Female Writing

I read an article earlier today that discussed the difference in writing styles between men and women especially when it comes to love and marriage. The article talked about how characters from authors and playwrights such as Shakespearean characters were very set and whether they loved or hated one another they remained true to the set traits they began with. However characters from authors like Bronte and Austen were adaptable, changing with the tides as things were learned.

There was also notes on the way male authors will describe a female character through physical traits such as a slender figure or bright blue eyes yet a women is more likely to focus on a man standing with purpose or his intelligent speech patterns. Men prefer to paint pictures of physique while women more often will discuss intangible traits.

It has been joked among my friends that while I am female by biology I have a strong tomboy side that makes me more one of the boys. I tend to enjoy sports to a level only my male counterparts around me can appreciate. I am not one for stereotypical female activities like shopping for new shoes or watching romantic comedies, though on the movie side I do enjoy almost all genres. But after reading this article I realized I have a more masculine tendency there as well.

Most of my characters are set and stay the same from beginning to end. Conversations are not usually about moving the story along so much as demonstrating interaction and I use internal dialogue to give the reader a sense of what a character is like instead of showing it through actions and verbiage. I am intrigued by idea of showing more this way but it will definitely take some work to overcome my personal style.

As I prepare to finish drafting Sharing Strength and then get into editing four full books I am sure that this information will be weighing on my mind. I would love to be able to blend both styles and as I work hard to complete my current projects and it is a perspective I will have standing by as I work on my future books as well.

Excerpt From Breathe

His snap movements were making her very uncomfortable and she excused herself to make copies of his ID and the check while he filled out the forms. She wished she needed more copies of something from anywhere else in the bank just to give her more time before going back to this odd young man but alas not the case. She cautiously came back to find he was standing back behind the chair engaged in something on his phone.

“Is everything ok?” She stayed standing as long as he did making sure not to put herself at any disadvantage. When he didn’t respond she repeated, “I said is everything alright?”

“Yeah yeah, it’s all good,” he exclaimed. “I filled it all out, just telling my friend I am almost done here. We are almost done right?”

“You filled all of it out already?” She wasn’t gone that long and while it was only a couple forms it was still awfully quick to have gotten it all done.

“Uh huh,” he mumbled. “You need the cash now?” He looked up again.

“Let me take a look and get it all in the computer for you and then we can do the deposit.” She grabbed the papers and practically ran for the manager’s office. There was a computer at the front desk  and bank policy was to have the customer there when everything was input but she decided today was a good day for an override on that policy. This was not the way she had planned to get through the day.

She dropped into the large leather chair and entered the guy’s information as fast as her fingers would allow. She looked back out at the lobby floor and noticed he had moved over and seemed to be flirting with Naomi. She was smiling weakly but had scooted back from her counter. Clearly she had the same feeling about the unusual young man.

Book Profile - Catacomb

The third and final installment of the Asylum series by Madeleine Roux. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. In fact I was given the first two as Christmas gifts but within a week of the new year I was already hunting through the closest Barnes & Nobel to find this third book. Finishing Catacomb I was able to check off the trilogy for my reading challenge but also solidify that Madeleine Roux is one of my new favorite authors.

This last book finds the three friends Dan, Abby and Jordan on a road trip the last summer before college. They are helping Jordan move down to live with his uncle in New Orleans. Even before they arrive however they find that they are being followed, or at least are quite sure about it. They begin to experience strange occurrences including Dan having visions once more. He is even convinced that he has seen his father.

Once they reach the city things only get more intense. They meet a man that runs an antique store with his girlfriend and knew a friend they had made at New Hampshire College, Micah. Believing they have found an ally Dan begins a dangerous new adventure even over the protests of Abby and Jordan. It doesn't take long for him to discover that the past refuses to stay dead sometimes and he has more links to a town he has never been to than he could have ever imagined.

From Amazon  -The heart-stopping third book in the New York Times bestselling Asylum series follows three teens as they take a senior year road trip to one of America's most haunted cities, uncovering dangerous secrets from their past along the way. With all the thrills, chills, and eerie found photographs that led Publishers Weekly to call Asylum "a strong YA debut," Catacomb is perfect for fans for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Sometimes the past is better off buried.

Senior year is finally over. After all they've been through, Dan, Abby, and Jordan are excited to take one last road trip together, and they're just not going to think about what will happen when the summer ends. But on their way to visit Jordan's uncle in New Orleans, the three friends notice that they're being followed . . . and photographed. Then Dan starts receiving messages from someone he didn't expect to hear from again—someone who died last Halloween.

When the trio arrives in New Orleans and the strange occurrences only escalate, Dan is forced to accept that everything that has happened to him in the past year may not be a coincidence, but fate—a fate that ties Dan to a group called the Bone Artists, who have a sinister fascination with notorious killers of the past.

Now Dan's only hope is that he will make it out of his senior trip alive.

Submission Tips - The Wednesday Post

It is very rare to find anywhere that you can submit your work unsolicited. As I have touched on numerous times the best and most consistent way to find an agent or get a contract from a publisher starts with a query letter. After that if they like what you sent them they will request more and ultimately may offer to represent or publish you.

There is an exception to this rule from time to time however and the current one I have found is from publisher HarperCollins, it is called the Wednesday Post. Here you have the ability to submit unsolicited work in hopes of gaining interest and a publishing contract. The submission still has guidelines of course and must be followed in order to move forward in the process but all entries meeting these requirements will be considered.

The guidelines state that an author must submit the first fifty pages or three chapters of their manuscript through the website. They do not want anything mailed or emailed to them. Along with the fifty pages they want a short synopsis and brief author biography. It is similar to the query in that regard but you can submit knowing that it will receive attention and if they are interested they will respond within four weeks.

Submitting can be terrifying and it is vital to make sure that your work is up to par when you prepare to do this. Just because they are accepting unsolicited work does not mean they want anything sloppy or unprofessional. There is a list of the genres they are currently looking for on the website as well as what they do not want. Make sure to read over the list before sending your work off to be considered. It is one more avenue open to lesser known authors to get our names out to a larger audience.

Excerpt from Sharing Strength

She looked past them making direct eye contact. There were no words spoken aloud but the communication was clear. He was her hero. She knew how he felt and she returned his affection. They would deal with the verbal part later. He smiled weakly at her. He needed to give her time with her family though the feeling passing between them made it impossible for him to move. “I am so sorry it took us so long to get here sweetheart.”

Georgia leaned down to kiss Jasmine’s forehead in the same spot he had done hours ago. Hours. He had been there longer than he had intended. To emphasize the point a nurse brushed in past him to give Jasmine some medication through her IV and quietly told her parents that visiting hours were over but they could have a few minutes with her and could come back in the morning. Kyle looked at his phone for the time. It was after eleven and he noticed he had a few missed text messages from Brian. He wondered where Kyle was and was being passive aggressive in his messages. Kyle wondered why he hadn’t noticed his phone vibrating but assumed it because he had been caught up with the current situation.

He cleared his throat finding his voice again. “I should get going. Brian has been waiting for awhile and I am sure I will get my head chewed off for not coming over earlier to help him with his car.”

“Thank you for helping me and don’t worry I will be ok. I appreciate you waiting with me. Brian will be ok I promise.” Jasmine did her best to smile reassuringly. It was a difficult task between the tubes and monitors hooked up to her body and the sedation drugs running through her system but he knew she was doing her best. His stomach rumbled reminding him to grab some food on the way to Brian’s. He looked back over his shoulder once more at Jasmine. She was fading fast but for the first time she looked content. Nothing could be more important than being there to see that. He felt his own body lighten from worry as he headed out the door and toward Brian’s house ready to deal with whatever he had in store for him.