The Mandarin Segment...

Something completely different?

OK, so, out of all the elements that make up a good story – which would I tell a novice they should take the time to study up on? You’re asking me? Really?

English usage? Strike one – C.J. gone done that one – fair‘n’square…

Plausibility, or, if your name is Greg: Keeping it real… damn it, Greg! Strike two!

No, please… Sharon, must you? Strike three… Out? Failed on account of characters?

But, in (my) reality all of the above and more ARE required. Now that really IS a problem for the novice writer.  So let me cast my mind back to when I had a story idea for a novel. What pragmatic advice would have helped me with the daunting task ahead of me? In fact, what was the first thing I wanted to find out about that ACTUALLY got me through the process of getting the idea down on paper?

Well, if you will bear with me – perhaps even read a little “flash” of inspiration… then maybe, just maybe, I’ll tell you…

The Mandarin Segment...

“Bye, honey,” she said “...don’t forget to eat something. It’s breakfast time! There’s a bowl of fruit on the table.”

With that his wife disappeared from view, on her way to the beach – his young son skipping gaily in-hand.

The writer sat at the small desk of the hotel they had checked into early that morning. It was the start of his holiday, but he had made a commitment. This last project, then he would relax. He had promised. He’d promised himself, promised his wife and child. He was an honourable man; promises were that: responsibilities to be met.

Sweat poured from his brow as the heat of the rising tropic sun screamed in through the open window. The gentle sea-breeze offered no respite. The effects of a sleepless early morning flight crowded his thoughts. Inspiration, that ghost of fancy, slipped from his grasp – that drowning muse parted his metaphoric grip as he, the sole survivor in his boat of life, looked helplessly, listlessly on.

Where to start?  It was his first novel... the commitment made to himself...  an outline of the story! A plan! Yes, damn it, he’d already qualified himself as a writer – but this was different... a novel? Eighty thousand words, he told himself... over three hundred pages. The thought scared him. Where to start?

He stood; he sat; he fidgeted.

The mid-day sun rose to its zenith... then fell.

Hunger avoided him as a plague.

The disappearance of his muse had long ceased to be that faded ripple on the outgoing tide of his consciousness. Oh yes! ...he still had the idea ...that glimmer of story hope that teased him into continuing his purgatory existence. But ...eighty thousand words?

The deadline, the end of this day, loomed ominously. Soon, they would return: promises to fulfil.

He paced the room. Desperation rose as a geyser from the bottom of his soul. Bile kissed the back of his throat. Panic began to consume him.

His eyes, heavy in desperation, rolled downward. His glance set upon the bowl of fruit. Atop the bananas, apples and grapes stood a single mandarin. The small orange fruit melded with the colour of the now setting sun. The mandarin became one with nature, growing in stature as his vision occluded all else before him.

He stood, mesmerised by the immense vision of the mandarin that became the world before him.

He stooped forward. Reaching down with his left hand he picked the fruit from the bowl, surprised at its lightness, given the sense that it seemed, at that moment, to hold the source of all energy. The fruit became all.

Involuntarily, his right hand met his left, trapping the soft fruit between them. It radiated inspiration. It controlled his movements. He knew not why his thumb pierced the orange skin at that precise time. He knew not why the skin fell cleanly away as, caressed by his touch, the fruit rotated against the sharpness of his nail. He knew none of these things. He knew only that he now held the mandarin, its fleshy nakedness exposed. Its pithy segmentation beckoned him.

The fruit was whole, it invited him to enter... to consume, not be consumed, but where? Where to begin?

And then he knew. ...A plan!

He smiled. He would break his story into segments. Each segment would begin as almost uniform, manageable scenes. Pithy links would bring the segments together, to realise the whole – an arc of enlightenment; from beginning to end.

He slid his finger into the mandarin... and breathed life, wishing he’d been hungrier, earlier.

****

And my point?

Pace.

The challenge, should you accept it, is to pace the story idea across something like 300 pages without letting the reader down. The writer must carry the reader on a journey through place, time and characterization, using effective language, well written and grounded in a reality that allows the reader to relax when the going gets tough. To my mind this takes a plan. It is a big challenge and, for the novice, breaking the story into manageable scenes is a great place to start.

Happy writing, mon braves! (...with no apologies to Richard Condon) :)

Keeping It Real

I was actually going to talk about the basics of writing, but C.J. beat me to it. So, I must tackle a subject I feel is just as important. And, once again, I received my inspiration from the crappy “original” movies on SyFy.

What I’m going to talk about is something that doesn’t exist on that channel – believability.

Even though science fiction requires readers to suspend belief, we writers  must still have credibility so people will accept them as truth or explain them sufficiently to make the accept what they read or see like the world of the  Martin Caidin’s Cyborg or just about anything by Michael Crichton.

That said, let’s look at believable characters.

Sounds simple enough, except when life imitates art. Let’s face it. A lot of us are inspired to write books not from other books, but because of movies. Movie characters, as a whole, are either larger than life or amalgams (combinations of people). This is often done for time or to allow movie-goers to only have to follow a few characters.

You should not try this formula to make book characters.

Case in point: Quicksilver (2000) by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens. This wife and husband are best known for the Star Trek collaborations, mostly with William Shatner (which should set off alarms bells instantly). But,     they also jumped into the techno thriller genre dominated by Tom Clancy, Dale Brown and Stephen Coonts. Unfortunately, reality didn’t jump in with their lead characters.

Amy Bethune is a second-year midshipman who, via a couple of hand-to-hand combat classes, becomes a female Rambo, dispatching terrorists like Steven Seagal. Major Sinclair is an ex-Delta Force commando (sorry, but females aren’t allowed in Delta Force) with enough skill to persuade the President to allow her to go in alone to save the Pentagon.

Or, to balance the gender scale, clink on the link to Wikipedia to see how impossibly manly Henry Ralston’s Doc Savage was made to be.

Compare all of them to Tom Clancy’s hero, Jack Ryan, who doesn’t shoot a single bad guy while trying to escape that deadly ambush in Bogota in Clear and Present Danger. Why? Because he’s not a trained agent nor does he carry a gun. Still, no one would say that Ryan isn’t heroic.

But, let’s say you want to keep the two-dimensional beefcake hero and the “beautiful scientist.” If you can’t make the characters halfway believable, then you need to really emphasize the next point -- believable plot.

This includes settings like time and place, like Harry Turtledove’s alternate history science fiction novels. Sure, time may pass your technology by, like it did with Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001, but if you base it on real-time, fans will forgive you if NASA goes astray with its exploration timeline like it did in 1974.

By definition, a “plot” is the main story or plan of a novel or book or story.

“Sub-plots” are stories within the story. They are often essential to explain characters’ backgrounds or back stories for the main plot. In the story line for Godzilla (1954), the main plot was a prehistoric monster attacking Tokyo and man’s effort to stop it. The subplot involved Emiko Yemane’s love affair with Ogata while being engaged to Dr. Serizawa, accidental creator of the Oxygen Destroyer. As Raymond Burr intoned, it was “the usual triangle but one that would play a part in the lives of millions.”

Compare that to the far-fatched back story of Joanna Dark in Perfect Dark: Initial Vector. that sounded as far-fetched as the X-Box 360 video game it was based on. Or compare it to just about romantic sub-plot in an action/adventure, horror or science fiction novel. They always seem forced (except for Vampire Vacation).

Also, make sure your plot fits the story. Don’t make the story fit the plot. For example, think of any slasher flick where horny teens accidentally or purposely find themselves at abandoned, creepy places, like a house of wax, a summer camp where teens have been slaughtered for years, abandoned factories, abandoned secret underground government labs.

In real life, we’d have a hard time believing people would go there. We would question people who enter dark rooms without turning on the lights. We would wonder how an entire town could be wiped out and the government could keep it quiet in the age of the Internet and cell phones. We’d roll our eyes if seed pods took over the entire city overnight instead of gradually and stealthily (pardon my adverbs, please).

Keep it real or real enough to fool the reader.

We need the firm ground of reality for our feet to rest on. We can’t change things to the absurd so that they fit what we had in mind. If you want a bunch of people to be locked together in an isolated place facing an unseen horror, then make it plausible. Like the scientists in the Arctic who find a UFO in the middle of a normal blizzard in John W. Campbell’s classic Who Goes There?


And please don’t introduce stock characters just so you have someone to kill off or some way to add sex to the story. I tried it. It doesn't work.

How do you know when you’ve achieved this believability?

When you reread the story to yourself after putting it away for a while and it doesn’t sound cheesy. If it does, rewrite it.

Trust me. I’ve been writing for 30 years and I can honestly say that I’ve cut a lot of cheese.

Believe me.

Let the Story Speak

What advice would I give a newbie writer? What elements would I tell them to focus on to deliver a good story? Me giving writing advice is kind of a joke. I can tell you how to sell, I can give marketing tips, I can tell you how to keep your "voice" online true to your real voice in person -- but what I can share with a new writer about character development, getting "deep" into your POV, or layering plot lines would fit into a few short paragraphs.

I make this stuff up as I go. I stand by something I read from another writer-- "anyone can write". But what elements will truly make your work stand out and get noticed? I think every writer - or everyone who dreams of writing and has attempted it -- will tell you what their weak points are when asked to give advice. Wouldn't our advice for improvement be to focus on what we struggle with the most?

If you want anyone to read your work - whether it's a friend, family member, a reader, potential agent or an editor, you need to remember one thing: Make it shine. If you choose weak verbs, use lots of passives, tell your story rather than show as much as you can, or repeat phrases and words throughout the piece it will ultimately be a work someone walks away from. But before you get to even judging those things you need to have a firm grasp on format, grammar and punctuation.

Those were my weakest points and have been were I have made the most improvement over the past year. I still don't understand all the nuances of comma usage and when it's okay to "break the rules", so I wing most of it and hope my crit partners catch the worst.

I've had a lot of people ask me to read their work - and I don't mean writers. I mean people who dream of writing and who have a story to tell. Readers who have been inspired by my story and decide to follow their dream to write as well. The hardest part for me has been to get past the poor formating and polish-- lack of paragraph breaks, incorrect formatting with dialogue, no dialogue attribution, run on sentences, inner thoughts expressed as dialogue, confusing fragments, typos, incorrect word usage (your, you're, their, there and they're), and their ability to pick a tense and sticking with it.

These mistakes are not limited to the aspiring writers who send me their work. I've judged contest entries that made a lot of these same errors as well. It pulls the reader out of the story and makes them look at the writing itself. The writing should fade into the background and the story should leap to the forefront. Perfection (or as close as you can) in the basic grasp of format, punctuation and grammar will be key in getting your story to speak for itself.

It will also be what makes your work stand out to an editor. They can help with parts of your story that are inconsistent (like timeline or conflicting facts in your world), a weakness in a character, or a plot with holes in it, but they will never take on your story if they see errors strewn across the first chapter. It's a red flag showing your writing will require more work on their part. It's a cold hard fact that they have a writer who doesn't seem to have a grasp on the craft of writing. They'll pass on your manuscript before they even find out if your story was worth reading in the first place.

It's also what will make a pro pass on your query or your synopsis as well. Learn to perfect the basics as best as you can to in order to become a true storyteller. The story will be prominent and the words will fade into the background. Allow the images you paint to color the imagination of your reader and transport them to the world in your mind.

In all good writing, isn't it the story that speaks to you? Not the writer's poor crafting?

[caption id="attachment_3135" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Stole this from Ana's site because I have no pictures on my computer!"][/caption]

And to show that I can and do learn from my own mistakes, I'm hosting a contest today where I will giveaway a printed bound copy of my first manuscript, Vampire Vacation. As a bonus, it will be signed and numbered. These are copies I was originally going to send to book reviewers, but I found so many typos and areas that needed tightening I couldn't bring myself to do it. It is currently going through its fourth edit since it was printed back in late December, but I sincerely hope you can enjoy the story despite the many flaws.

An entry consists of subscribing to our blog (RSS link over on the right hand side bar) AND commenting on this post. Winner announced in two weeks. Sorry, no international entries at this time.

The Future of Books and a Contest

When I realized that our subject this week was the future of books and e-books in the next five years, it gave me pause. It wasn't as if I was completely clueless with regard to the task at hand; I have had the good fortune of having my debut novel published as an e-book. The issue for me was not the meat and potatoes of the dish, but rather the art of preparing the meal. I wrote the novel, but my wonderful publisher Gaynor was the one who handled all of the details.

The e-book: By this time, most people are aware of just exactly what this is. "What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet" (My thanks to Mr. Shakespeare). It's just a book. It won't bite you! Although, a good one will leave a mark. One can download an e-book to their computer, iPhone, e-reader, etc. Most of us not only have personal computers, Laptops and gadgets galore, but have multiples of each! 

The e-future: Imagine if you will that you have just finished reading a very good book. Are you ready to put it down? What if there was more content? Books often carry advertisements for past works by the author or for a forthcoming title, other times the book might include a sample of what's coming. What if the e-book was something called an enhanced e-book? Not only could it carry the usual, but so much more. Picture if you will the ordinary Facebook wall. Most of us have a Facebook account or at least have seen one. Can you see the video links and photos there? Instead of snippets of what the individual has been up to or what their friends have posted on their wall, I want you to envision the pages of a book. Are you reading The Lord of the Rings? Off to the right there is a series of photos. Are you reading Stephen King? Between paragraph one and two is a photo of Bangor, Maine. Better yet, how about a short video walk-thru of the town. Pat Conroy? Now you do not have to imagine what his south looks like, you could simply click the link. 

I know what you are going to say. It's the same argument against music video. Now that I have seen the stupid video, it has robbed my imaginative mind of being able to simply take the lyrics and create my own visual in my head. Okay, forget the photos and links. What if the start of the enhanced e-book contained a brief author's note, where a film began upon your choosing and the author herself thanked you, her faithful reader, for purchasing her work and gave the simplest of introductions. What if the end of the e-book contained an interview session where the author explained the muse for his story or offered other tidbits. Wouldn't that be something? Who knows exactly what the future might bring, but folks, it is coming. 

The Real topic: That was what I was hoping to write about this week. Unfortunately, thanks to all of the comments that I have seen recently from readers claiming that you can take their books from them when you pry them from their cold, dead fingers - we have to talk about something else. Has everybody seen Moonstruck? I hadn't until recently. I love romantic comedies, but must have had some sort of bias against this one for some crazy reason. In any event, I finally saw it, and liked it. So, with regard to the bias that many continue to cling to in terms of being unwilling to embrace e-books: I say, (borrowing Cher's famous line) "Snap out of it!" 

[caption id="attachment_3123" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="Cher and Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck"][/caption]

Forgive me, I'm not writing of those who have said that they cannot yet afford a Kindle or one of the other e-readers out there. It was easy for me. My wife has money! Just kidding. I'm speaking to those who get all nostalgic for paper, curling up in bed with their favorite book or simply their love of  bookstores. This is not the first time that this kind of thing has happened. We have gone through this before.  

This past spring the Blockbuster in my small town of 12,000 or so souls closed. It's a Real Estate now. When I was a teenager we went through periods where we had between two and five video rental stores. Then everyone decided that they should abandon the mom and pop places for the big sexy chain, thus forcing the mom and pops out of business. Now that we can order movies through cable, our computers, our Wii's, etc., we don't necessarily need Blockbuster anymore. And so it goes...  

Quick, somebody hand me a cassette. A what? Yeah, that's what I thought. I might still have a few cassettes lying around the house, probably stored in the garage. If so, they won't work now. Not that I have anything to play them on anymore! Not only that, I've long-since replaced those with CD. While we're on the subject, all of those CD's have been digitally transferred to my pc. They are available for me to listen to when I'm on my pc (like now - I'm listening to Asia), or my iPod (I'm pushing 7000 songs there) or my iPhone. My dad still has an old reel to reel. I haven't seen it in a while, but I'm certain that it is there since my parents don't believe in tossing anything out! Soon, we might not even need to store music. Our devices will simply access "the cloud" where our account is recognized and our purchased/stored music content simply streamed to our device. I don't know a lot about it just yet, but guess what: it's coming, too!  

Back to my wife. When the Kindle showed up magically at our doorstep a few months ago, she gave me that frown. "What did you do?" the frown asked. Yet, guess who uses it more than I do? And so will you. Trust me.  

The Contest: If you are still speaking to me after all of that, we have a contest for you. Wicked Writers is giving away a copy of my e-book, Dance on Fire. Ha! What else could it have been? The contest will run for two weeks. To be eligible, please leave a comment, along with your e-mail address in case you are declared the winner. We also would love it if you signed up for the e-mail delivery option, but will not make it mandatory. I would like to leave you with a note about my book. It is a horror/Christian crossover about vampires. It is a PG-13 story, so don't let the horror label scare you away. It is Christian, but contains some blood and guts and does not get too preachy. There's a bit of romance, too! See, it has everything. How could one possibly lose? Okay, don't answer that.

Ebooks..., The Musical

E-books…, The Musical.

(with apologies to Gene Roddenberry, Don McLean, David Lee Roth, The Beatles, R.E.M., and Elvis Costello)

“…E-books. The final publishing frontier. These are my thoughts of the dying throws of print books. In five years, the E-book’s mission will be closer to completion. To save trees and land refuge from toxic inks and chemicals. To encourage local print book recycling. To boldly go forth, replacing as many paperbacks and hard covers in family homes across this world as possible…”

Yes. It’s kinda melodramatic for a beginning. But it hooked your attention, didn’t it?

Seriously though, there should be no doubt in your mind. I freakin’ love and embrace the whole wondrous world of e-books, e-publishers, e-readers and e-prices.

Maybe it’s the Star Trek geek in me. After all, anyone who grew up idolizing the crew of the Starship Enterprise knew without a doubt print books would be replaced by a computer-like hand held device. Look at the stats today – since the late 60’s television show, many of today’s computerized medical gadgets and other devices give their homage to the great vision Star Trek created within a generation of self-proclaimed geeks.

But, I digress. And I know you are all aquiver with anticipation over the E-book musical.

Yet, before I break into song, I need to say: E-books are a reality. They are here to stay. They are so convenient – I have over 3,000 e-books in my library right now, and can store 350 on my e-reader device. And who says you can’t cuddle with them? I do, in a fuzzy blanket with hot cocoa next to me. I even take them in the bath tub, to the beach, standing in line in the grocery story, sitting on the toilet – you name it, my e-reader has been there, and cuddled with.

As for smelling? Ummm, some of us are allergic to the dust and musty smell that comes from older tomes. If I really want my e-readers to smell, I won’t wash my hands after handling garlic. Oh, joy!

In five years, where do I see e-books? Growing stronger, increasing in numbers and on the virtual horizon, in an amazing explosion of unique, spirited reads, bringing back the joy of the reading experience and breathing a fresh breath of life into the bland, cookie cutter voice of the current New York old school published books.

This generation will never give up their paper books entirely. But, a future generation probably won't care.

And now, my musical tribute to e-books and the bright future they bring:

(To the tune of American Pie by Don McLean)

…So goodbye to paper and hard cover prints,
E-books have arrived, they’re alive, time to split.
Them old pub houses are crying in their fancy beers,
Sayin’ “The coming of the future is here; book publishing is changing, we fear…”

(To the tune of California Girls by David Lee Roth)

“…Well, the mystery books are cool – I’m into the crimes they solve.
And historical tales with their ‘action’ facts – make me feel like I’m involved.
The urban fantasy novel – with that ‘paranormal’ bite.
And the romance story with such sensual scenes – keeps me cozy and warm at night.
(I dig them reads!)
I wish they all could be awesome E-books for me! I wish they all could be uber E-books for me….”

(To the tune of Paperback Writer by the Beatles)

“…Dear E-pub owner will you read my work?
It took me months to type will you take a look?
It’s based on my life of fantasy and need,
I’m wild and free cuz’ I was born to be
An E-book author…, E-book author!”

(To the tune of ‘It’s The End of the World As We Know It” by R.E.M)

“…It’s the end of the pub world as we know it, and I feel fine….”

(To the tune of “Give Peace a Chance” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono)

“…all I am saying, give E-books a chance…”

So, do you have a song you would like to tribute to “E-book – the Musical?” I tell ya, if I can’t take the writing world by storm, I’m heading to Broadway for a musical. Either way, New York City will never be the same again!

Books, Books, Everywhere!

The topic this week is about books and ebooks in the next five years. Now, I don't own a Kindle or any similar device. I spend so much time on the computer as it is, I'd hate to have to sit at one (or something similar) to read a book. I love the smell of a real book! The paper, the ink, all have a distinct smell that no computer could ever capture.

However, ebooks are becoming more and more the norm. Yes, it does have its advantages. Less paper is used, so less trees are cut down. Less paper waste, etc. Also, having a Kindle or such thing can be great! Hundred of books at my fingertips where ever I am? Glorious!

With that in mind, I do think that the future holds a continuous rise in the popularity of ebooks and epublishing. I agree with Jenn though. I don't think regular books will ever be fully out of style, but more of a partner with ebooks.

Many companies nowadays offer both styles, usually with the ebook coming out first and the print copy out a few months later. This is great for authors as I noticed the turn around time from acceptance to release date is much faster. It's easier to format an ebook for download than to print a few hundred paper copies of a book. So, while the ebook is out there gathering fans, the publishers are working on the paper copies. I think it's a great system that works well for all involved - authors, publishers, and readers.

Now, the down side right now for ebooks, are those "fake" epublishers. You know, the ones that say you're published, but you're really not. These companies give epublishing a bad name! They have no standards of publication (as in no requirements or real query process) nor do they offer any sound royalty returns or official contract. Others are more difficult to spot as they have all the pieces in place but when the author doesn't get their royalty check, they realize it's too late. Now, this could apply to some print publishing companies also, but I don't hear of it too often.

I suppose that there is to be corruption anywhere, as that is the way of the world. So, for the ending part of my post here, I want to warn all authors to make sure you do your research into a publishing company and agents. There are a lot of scammers out there so gather all the information you can BEFORE submitting your work. Read over any contracts - with a lawyer - before signing (with ANY company). In this great world of technology, it's even more important to make sure you keep yourself - and your work - safe.

There is a great site out there - Preditors and Editors. They have a great list of agents and publishers, along with reviews and notices about which ones to avoid. Every writer of any type, should check this list often.

Ebooks and print books are around to stay for years to come, I'm sure. While I prefer print books, I can definitely see the good points to ebooks. They are sure to flourish and become more popular as time goes along. And who knows - maybe in a year or two, I'll own a Kindle too!

Ebooks? How About Epublishers?

Good day, everyone.

I’m new to Wicked Writers. I apologize for this post being late, I didn’t realize I was scheduled for the first day of the month. C.J. and I are working on setting up my bio and everything, but for now I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself.

My name is Jenn, but everything writing related goes under my pen name, J.D. Brown. I’m 25 years old and I live smack dab in the middle of Wisconsin and Illinois. I grew up near the ‘urbs of Chicago and will always be a city girl at heart, but I enjoy the quiet Wisconsin country side too. I write … you guessed it … urban fantasy! More about that when my bio is complete. This is, obviously, my first post for Wicked Writers. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you didn’t like it, or if it wasn’t to your standards … or if you love it, I’d like to know that too! Okay, on to today’s post.



This week’s topic is: Where do you think the future of books / ebooks will be in five years?

That’s such vital question since it affects every aspect of the writing industry, and one I have pondered before myself. Ebooks are quickly gaining popularity. What does this mean for hard cover and paperback sales? What does this mean for the author trying to sell their book?

Since ebooks is a rising trend, I’m positive they’re not going away any time soon. Simply put, the word has gone digital. The writing industry is not the first to make the adjustment from paper to electronic, and it certainly won’t be the last. However, I doubt books will become obsolete within the next five years.  We’re not talking about Blue-ray vs. VHS here. Yes, ebooks are more convenient in many ways, but there is still something special about being able to hold the actual book copy in your hands. Feeling the cover, turning the pages, the image in your head when you hear the phrase “curl up with a book”. No, ebooks can’t replace that.

However, as a writer trying to break into the biz – or even as a published author! – one must always look ahead and be wary of the trends. When you finaly get that contract in your hands, make sure it includes ebook rights before you sign it! (*Ahem* I have no idea how publishing contracts work! All I know is you’re selling yourself short and missing out on great sales opportunities if your publisher doesn’t do ebooks!)

Let’s talk about something related to ebooks – epublishers! When I think about ebooks, I think about “jumping on the bandwagon” and riding into Publication Town. Epublishing houses are easier to be accepted into than the big NY houses. Basically, epublishers are at about the same level as small-press. You don’t need an agent and you have a better chance of getting your foot in the door.

Now personally, I want nothing more than to see a hard-cover copy of my book on a display shelf in a Barnes & Nobel. But as a first-time writer, when the cursor on my Word Document gets to the portion of the query letter that is supposed to include my credentials, I sit there and stare with dread. The thought that runs through my mind during times like that is what if I wrote a novel or two for an epublisher so I can use those titles as credentials later?

Temping idea, isn’t it? Of course there is a down-side. There is no guarantee I’ll get a deal with an epublisher. Also, many epublishers have very specific details for the content of their books. They have a reputation to uphold and they are still growing in the industry as well. In fact, one epublishing house I was interested in had exact instructions for the main hero and heroine!

It all comes down to how badly you want to be a published author and what your personal career goals are. I know quite a few authors who make a cushy living by writing strictly for their epublishing house, and that’s awesome! Personally, I’m still undecided if I want to go that route. Of course, I could do both. But for now I’d like to see how my manuscript does with the bigger fish.

What do you think? Are you epublished and/or prefer ebooks?