Finally Friday: NYCC

I'm going to NYCC this weekend!  I'll hopefully meet some of my hero authors and have an awesome time.

Career news:  If all goes well, Salvation Station should be getting release through Tease Publishing tomorrow.  Finished Engineers of the Hear this past weekend and sent that on to my agent.  I believe it will be going to Ravenous Romance.  Also, Scar-Crossed is still on submission in New York.

Thoughtful Thursday: Meeting Your Literary Hero

Seeing as how I am attending New York Comic Con this weekend and I've just taken a look through the guest list, I thought it prudent to address author-meeting-literary-hero etiquette.

If some of you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I have a deep seated love for a certain number of authors.

A. I love their work.

B.  I also want to be them when I grow up.

Most people only deal with issue A.  However, authors have a strange bipolar arrangement where they are both fan and followers.  I'd say worshiper, but that just sounds creepy, and really, I don't want to worship I want to befriend them.  Does it sound odd that I have "friend" goals?  It shouldn't, we all secretly want to get to know and quite possibly be best friends with someone.

So, that leaves me and every other wannabe Bestseller at a strange crossroads.

How do I conduct myself when I meet these people who both awe and inspire me?

I've seen many, many authors do the fan-girl thing.  You haul 15 books around a Con, hunting for the illusive authors, squeeing at the briefest sighting, cornering unfortunate author in an elevator and then holding them hostage with your life story and how you're an author too!  *face-palm*  This is not how you make friends...or get guidance.  This is how, in said author's next novel, the villain's obnoxious sidekick looks suspiciously like a combination of you and your creepy fandom cronies.

Here's some advice.

1.  Be cool and collected.  Nobody likes a hyperventilating maniac on the verge of verbal asphyxiation.

2.  If you must bring a book for the author to sign, that's fine, but don't bring everyone's book.  Choose your absolute favorite author and only bring their book.  They won't believe that they are your hero when you're going and getting all your other "hero's" autographs as well. 

3.  Fans get first dibs.  Let the fans talk to the author first.  The author is there primarily for them, let your hero bask in the glory of literary Godhood.  They have earned it.

Holy craps, this is it!  It's your literary hero!

4.  Make a good, professional impression.  Being an author is all about selling YOU.  If you come off as overpowering or demanding, your hero will remember it.  Try to think of a couple of good lines and memorize them.  Something like "I'm so and so, I'm an aspiring author (If you have some kind of clout, like an agent or book on submission insert it here).  I just wanted to let you know that you're one of my biggest inspirations and XYZ."  It's okay to flatter them (everybody loves a little flattery), just don't do it in a way that makes you seem like a desperate author-napping weirdo and don't tell them your whole life story.

5.  Make sure the author has time for you.  A simple "Do you have a few minutes?" is fine.  If they are in a rush, tell them what you're after, and ask if you can contact them via email, Facebook, or Twitter.  Make sure you remind them who you are and where you met them when you do contact them. 

6.  If they do have time for you, make sure that you're not holding up the line.  If there's another panel waiting outside the room, make it obvious that you're willing to speak on the move or outside the room.  Sometimes authors get this whole deer stuck in a corner thing when people are talking to them and you have to herd them out.  Just say something like, "Let's get out of the way" or "Do you need help carrying that out" (Inevitably they'll have promo or books with them) will work.  Sometimes suggesting lunch or a drink works too...

7.  Know why you want to have a relationship with this person.  And YES, you DO want a relationship with this person.  If you are meeting your favorite author, if at all possible, make friends with them!  Why?  Hello!  If you love their writing that means they are doing something right.  And you want to know what it is that they do.  Study their craft, find things that amaze you about what they do, and ask them about it.  I don't know a single author who doesn't love to talk about their writing or themselves.  :)  This goes along with the whole 'I want to be like you' thing.  Basically, you're Robin being like, "Holy Bananas, Batman!  That weird kick thing you did to the Joker was bangin'!  How'd you do it, Bro?"

...Cause we all know Robin is from the Hood...

Seriously though, if you want to be a successful writer then the best thing you can do is get a successful writer to tutor you.  Tutoring doesn't mean asking them to read and critique your MS.  (If ever Neil Gaiman or Brandon Sanderson did that, they'd never be able to put out their own awesome work.)  If you're a serious writer you should know what your strengths and weaknesses are, you should know what you want to instill in your readers, and you should always be trying to improve.

If you know someone that makes you feel like you want your readers to feel find them and find out how they do it.

8.  DO NOT start: pitching your book, asking them to introduce you to their agent/editor, asking them to write you a blurb, or ask them to read your MS.  This comes after the honeymoon.

 9.  Keep in mind that authors are people too.  if you're really serious about building a friendship with people, then make sure to engage them on things about THEM, not just about you and what you want.

I hope that helps some of you have a successful first encounter with your literary hero!  Good luck!

Write Well Wednesday: ARCH

Today's word is ARCH.

Toolbox Tuesday: Patience

What writer doesn't need a little PATIENCE?

Honestly, it's one of the fundamental instruments in the writer's toolbox.

Let me put it into perspective.  I wrote my first book in 2008.  I spent six months waiting for my beta readers to finish reading it.  I spent another year submitting it to agents.  It took me a year because some of them took so long just to reject me and others took even longer to read the partial or full manuscript requests they asked for.  By then, I gave up on that work and started another one.  I finished Scar-Crossed at the end of December in 2009.  My betas didn't finish reading it until May of 2010.  I started submitting to agents and didn't sign with one until October 2010.  I spent nearly nine more months editing Scar-Crossed with my agent.  I went on submission in New York in mid August and I'm still there.  I could be there for another year.  When I do get signed by a New York publishing house it will take 1-2 YEARS for my book to be published.  Every single day SOMEONE asks me, "Are you published yet?!"

All I can do is restrain myself from beating them over the head.

So yeah, be patient.  Sometimes it takes a really long time to hear back from agents.  It usually takes longer to hear back from editors.

Monday Muse: THE XX - CRYSTALISED cartoon animation

Change of Pace

In an effort to be better at posting on my blog, I'm going to start scheduled postings.  Everyday, Monday-Friday, I'm going to -attempt- to post a little something for all of you.  The schedule is as follows:

Monday Muse:  These will be little posts, mostly links to things that I love in general.  This will be music, pictures, comics, etc.

Toolbox Tuesday:  These will be posts about what belongs in a writer's "toolbox."  Those interested in craft will want to read these.

Write Well Wednesday:  This is basically "word of the day" mixed with the rare guest author blogger and interview.

Thoughtful Thursday: These will be like my regular posts -- me talking about the industry or something wonderful I've read.  Those interested in craft will want to read these.

Finally Friday:  These will be updates about my writing and my pieces.  These days might get skipped on weeks where I am attending workshops or conventions.

This will begin next Monday October 10, 2011.

Betas in the Bowl

Some authors don't realize how important it is to have other people review and critique their work before they submit it to agents or editors.  It's crucial to have a fresh pair of eyes to find your plot holes, embarrassing grammatical errors, and to just give you an overall review of the work in question.  Some readers use critique groups.  While critique groups can be awesome for some, they don't work for everyone.  I personally have never been part of a critique group.  Instead, I use a group of people called Beta Readers.  These are random family, friends, acquaintances, or fellow authors who are willing to read and review your book for you.  Their input can be a critical step in the creative process.   However, not all betas are created equal.

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.  That being said, each beta who reads your work will offer you varying levels of feedback.  It's your job as the author to maximize on that variety.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when you use beta readers to review/critique your work.

1.  Keep a variety of betas in the bowl.  I have people who are excellent at catching grammar problems.  I have others that really see the plot holes and know how to question my motives as a writer.  I have others that are simply litmus readers who can tell me if people in the genre will like the work.  I have others that will sit down and line-edit the entire manuscript.  I try to find others who don't read the genre at all and can give me an idea of whether or not a book can appeal to readers across genre lines.  I also have a wide range of "educated" readers and some people who usually don't read at all.  Having people with strengths and weaknesses in certain areas is a good thing.  Get to know how your betas read and critique, then make up a schedule of who should read first, second, third, etc.  As a rule, I suggest grammar and line editors go last.

2.  Some betas have a tendency to linger while others are nothing but a fleeting thought.  Leave a lot of time for betas to get back to you.  Over the course of my beta-usage career, I've had readers who finish a novel in a day and others who take a year.  You want to be flexible with your time frame.  After you figure out who has a good track record for fast turn around, you may want to change your schedule.  Also, don't me afraid to change it up.  I have about four people that I know I can rely on to read anything I send them and give awesome feedback.  Despite that, I try to find some new readers for every new piece I write.  I think it's good to have fresh takes on my writing.

3.  There will be betas who go belly up.  More often than I thought possible, I had people who promised to do something and never got it done.  I've lost count of the number of people who I've given my MS to and never hear from them again.  Others will read and never give you any feedback.  Some develop ADD while reading and never finish.  At first, I hen pecked these people.  Then I realized that some people have good intentions but are just lazy or too busy.  You need to roll with the punches and don't take it personally.  Just remember who the unreliable people are, it will save you time and energy in the future.

4.  Betas are a writers best friend.  You want to make sure that you have people who are going to be honest with you while still being your friend.  You also want people who you are brave enough to trust with your work.  It's very difficult for some authors to ask people to read something that is so near and dear to them.  Find betas who are there to help you develop into the best author you can be, not hurt you with discouragement.  You want cheerleaders not the opposing team.

5.  Betas need to give feedback.  People who simply say, "It sucked!" or "It was great!" are not good betas.  You want people who give you the who, what, where, when, and why.  Sometimes you have to prompt it out of people.  People do know how to analyze a piece of literature, they spent how many years of school doing it?  You just need to help them remember how to think like a student playing teacher.  I've done everything from designing questionnaires to having a beta get-together where my betas had a book-group discussion while I moderated.  I need to know WHAT they didn't like about that character so that I can fix it or WHY they liked this particular scene so that I can do it again.  Again, not every one of your betas will be good for this, but you should have a least a couple.

6.  Too many fish in one bowl clouds the water too quickly.  Try to space out your betas.  If you have everyone read all at once, then who are you going to get to read the newly edited document?    It's a true and fast friend who will continue to re-read the same book every few weeks.  You'd better buy that one a soda or something.  Most people will read it once and do a good job, but after that they start to get bored and miss things.  Also, if you have twenty people all giving you feedback, you might just blow a gasket.  Save yourself by spreading it out.

7.  Not everyone can be a beta.  When I tell people what I'm working on, a lot of them ask to read it.  At first I'd give my WIPs to everyone and call them another beta reader.  It doesn't work like that.  These days I have to explain to them that this is my job and I can't just give everyone my work.  If they REALLY want to read it or support you, they'll buy it when it comes out and help spread the word.

8.  Shop for the best breed of beta.  Above all, you want reliable, trustworthy, and honest betas. Any variety beyond that is acceptable :)

I hope that helps you in your beta populating process!  Good luck!

The Alchemist's Perfect Instrument

My very first publication just came out today!  It is called The Alchemist's Perfect Instrument and it is going to be part of a collection of short stories called City Steam: Tales From the Heart of Dormorn.  This is a short tale about an Alchemist searching for the next victim for his "Perfect Instrument."  It's meant to be a weird Steampunk tale that borders on the verge of horror.  It makes the reader a little uncomfortable, but ultimately (and hopefully) self reflective.

I'm admittedly a little worried about the reception of this short because it's both an uncomfortable story and pushes the bounds of what the general population is coming to accept as the Steampunk genre.  I might as well say right now that my work is a revisionist piece that takes place in another world.  In other words, I take liberties and I like it!  You might too!

It is now available through OmniLit/AllRomance/AReCafe.  I hope you'll all take a look at it and let me know what you think!

Time Share

Quick apologies for being out of the blogosphere for a few days.  I'm working on a ton of things right now!

What to look forward to:

The Alchemist's Perfect Instrument (a weird Steampunk short) is coming out next Thursday with Tease.

Salvation Station (a weird Urban Fantasy/Paranormal short) is going to be part of a spooky Halloween anthology coming out in October with Tease.

I've just completed two borderline erotic Steampunk shorts.  One, with luck, will be part of an anthology with Ravenous Romance and the other one will hopefully go to a larger e-pub house.

As some of you know my YA Paranormal Romance, Scar-Crossed, is out on submission in NY right now.  I haven't heard anything back yet, but hopefully something wonderful will happen soon.

My agent is looking at The Will of the Fallen (adult Urban Fantasy with angels, demons, and a new type of vampire -yes, they do exist!-)  Maybe she'll like it and take it on :)

I'm working on two YA projects.  One's a cyberpunk and the other is a...I don't really know what to call it yet.  Some kind of pre-apocalypse, post Zombie-like religious enthusiast take over novel...

Finally, I'm reading my friend Lia Habel's novel Dearly, Departed so that I'm prepared to write a review and have her as a guest blogger next month. :)

Apologies for the delays on regular posts.  Another lit-oriented post will be up shortly.

Panel Etiquette

                                      This picture was yanked from my buddy P.J. Schnyder.



“Panels?”

“Yes, panels.” 

“What are those?” 

“Things you should be doing.” 

“Why?”

“Because you are an author.”

It’s the truth.  So many authors think, “Okay, I wrote the book, I got it published, now I just need to sit back and collect royalties.”  Wrong.  Getting published is a very small step in a long list of things you need to do if you want to have a successful career as an author.  What do you need to do after you get published?  Sell yourself.  That’s right.  With the advent of e-publishing, self-publishing, and the YA boom, there are so many people who are published these days that promoting yourself is the only thing that will get you noticed.  What’s one of the ways to do that?

Be on a panel.

That means going to a convention and volunteering to be put up in front of a room full of people to talk about you, your writing, and everything that is related to your writing.  Usually you have other people up there with you.  Usually the people running the convention have designated someone to be the "moderator."  There might be a clock, there might be water, you may have to make your own fire and trap your own lizards.

Once you are put on a panel here are some things to think about.

1.  Make sure you show up.  Don't volunteer to do something and then cop out on it. ESPECIALLY if you are the moderator.  People are coming to see and hear YOU.  The other panelists might sit there waiting for YOU.  And if you show up, people are less likely to like YOU.

2.  Be on time.  Be there when the panel starts.  This might mean investigating where the room you are doing your panel in is BEFORE the panel starts.  Make sure the panel ends on time.  Panels that run over their designated time just make life harder for the next set of panelists.  Bring a watch with you to every convention!

3.  Take care of business before going in.  There is nothing worse for someone trying to concentrate on the panel than someone who is everywhere but.  Arrange your stuff ahead of time, bring a drink, go to the bathroom before coming in, turn off your phone.

4.  Go in with some idea of what the panel is about and how you feel about the topic.  If you are the moderator, make sure you have a clear idea of how you want to run the show.  Make a list of questions or comments that you could make to jump-start a stale conversation.  Often, I've seen moderators set up ground rules at the beginning of the panel.  This may sound childish, but people tend to let down there hair at cons and sometimes that lets their snakes lose too!

5.  Be polite and courteous to your fellow panelists and the people watching the panel.  Wait your turn to speak.  Don't get so passionate about how much you hate sparkly vampires that people make a point to avoid you in the future.

6.  Be professional.  Have your brand face and clothes on.  Treat people the way 'John Doe' the author would talk to people.

7.  Bring your outdoor voice.  I can't tell you how many time I've gone to watch a panel and can't hear the panelist over the heavy breathing of the guy sitting in front of me.

8.  Bring promotional material.  This could be a couple of copies of books, covers, bookmarks, business cards.  Anything people can pick up and take home is good -- preferably it has some way for them to connect to your social networking sites.

9.  Plug yourself.  This is not just fun times talking about your favorite horror scenes.  This is a chance for you to make an impact in the buying habits of those 10-50 people watching you.  Have some kind of mini-pitch lined up.  Usually a moderator will ask panelist to introduce themselves, make sure you introduce your work along with yourself.  Also, try your best to plug your work as you are speaking about the topic.  Don't go overboard by continually picking up your book and saying "buy this."  You want to say things like, "The horror scene in movie X was great because ABC, I wanted to capture that in this particular scene in this particular book.  These are the issues I had."  This type of dialogue is much more interesting and far more likely to get someone curious about your work because it shows you CARE about the work itself, not just selling it.

10.  No matter how much 'that guy' bothers you, don't make it obvious to the onlookers.  There's always that one person who either goes on forever or can't seem to make a point or just argues for the sake of it.  Often you and everyone else in the room want to clobber him, but try to look cool and patient.

11.  On the flip side, don't BE that guy.  Try to give everyone a chance to speak and don't speak until you know what you're trying to say.

12.  Handle jerks in the most diplomatic way possible.  Sometimes people butt heads, it's inevitable.  How you handle yourself in one of these tough situations will be how people remember you in the future.

13.  Give the audience some love.  The people are coming because they are interested in the topic.  Don't forget to let them ask questions or add valuable commentary.  Just because someone gave you a seat at the front doesn't mean you're King of the Panel.

14.  With #14 in mind, stay on topic.  You're all in the same room for a reason.  It's to talk about the panel topic.  Keeping on topic is the moderator's job, BUT if you find the discussion getting off topic and no one is doing anything about it, try to gently steer it back in the right direction.