Hail to the Heros

Marketing Tip of the Day: Book Reviews (Free except for buying the book)
Review a book on your blog (focus in the same genre if you want). Send the author a note with a link to the review. I know authors that only do reviews for books they like. This review gives the author a boost and creates a connection not only to your blog, but maybe a contact for you when your book comes out.

Hail to the Heros
I watched CNNs Heros show last night and wept the whole time. These people have given their time and hearts to others freely expecting nothing in return. They make us realize that when you give in small ways it makes a huge impact. They all started by helping one person at a time. It reinforces the idea that it's better to give a little than to not give at all. Made me think about the main reason I want to be published. To give back. I feel like writing books is somehow connected to my purpose - I don't know why or how.

During this Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to send a special shout-out to these 10 incredible people:

1) Liz McCartney - helping Katrina victims by rebuilding homes for more than 120 families.
2) Tad Agoglia - started a response team for disaster victims and have aided 15 sites for free
3) Maria Da Silva - LA nanny who funds a school in Malawi where kids are victims of Aids.
4) Yohannes Gebregeorgis - Ethiopia Reads that provides free libraries and books to children
5) Carolyn Lecroy - Message Project that connects incarcerated parents with their children through video messages
6) Anne Mahlum - Back on my feet program that supplies running groups, shoes and running gear to homeless people
7) Phymean Noun - offers children who work in Phen's trash dumbs free schooling and job training
8) David Puckett - brings prosthetic care to those in Mexico without limbs
9) Marie Ruiz - Takes food, clothing, and toys to impoverished children/families in Mexico
10)Viola Vaughn -10,000 Girls Program helps girls in Senegal succeed in school and business

A personal shout-out to Captain Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd crew (Whale Wars) who all work for free and put their lives at danger every day to stop illegal whale killing from happening. Trueless selfless.

We all can make a difference.

Today, do one small thing for someone!

Shel's POV

Point of View by Shel Silverstein

Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless

Christmas dinner's dark and blue

when you stop and try to see it

from the turkey's point of view.

Sunday dinner isn't sunny

Easter feasts are just bad luck

when you see it from the viewpoint

of a chicken or a duck.

oh how i once loved tuna salad

pork, lobsters, and lamb chops too.

til I stopped and looked at dinner

from the dinner's point of view

A Day of 29 Thanks!

(Don't ask me why it's 29! )

Marketing Tip for the Day: Affiliate Marketing
I thought Affiliate Marketing was a great technique to talk about this holiday. Affiliate marketing—using one website to drive traffic to another—is a form of online mrkt. Amazon has a great affiliate program - if people buy books through your link, you can get discounts or earn 15%.

You can do this as a published or unpublished author!

Here are 29 things I am thankful for:

1. my family - for undying, yet dysfunctional support


2. my friends - b/c they tell me the real truth


3. my hubby - for loving me no matter what - (no really he does!)- and for giving me time to write)


4. my kids - for making me laugh and taking life less seriously


5. my critique group (Sheri, Kelly, Betsy and Jessica) - for supporting me with constructive criticism and honesty)


6. my WFFs (Katie, Sarah, Irene, Lindsey) - for relating to the highs and lows of the writing world


7. my new BBLs - for coming back to hear my rants and raves


8. my pointer fingers - for doing all the typing - I mean pecking


9. my body - for letting me live an active healthy life - keep up the good work:)


10. my feet - for only growing 1/2 of a size through 2 pregnancies


11. SCBWI - for teaching me how to be a writer


12. my computer - for not crashing yet (I better back up today!)


13. James Patterson, Sue Grafton, Barry Eisner, and other thriller writers- for the great stories and teaching me how to write a page-turner


14. my imagination - for not being afraid to travel deeper into the unknown


15. my nerves - for staying somewhat stable during this crazy process called publishing


16. my agent-to-be - for believing in me, my character, my story and for giving me a chance. I won't let you down.


17. my yoga teacher - for keeping me centered


18. flavored creamer - for making my coffee extra sweet


19. libraries, bookstores, and publishers - for making and supplying great books


20. Dirty vodka martinis - for a nice night out


21. La Paz cheese dip - for always making me happy and full


22. Wipeout - for all the laughs you've given me


23. MMs with peanuts - for staying up with me at night when I write


24. my dog, Bud - for always listening and keeping me company late at night


25. itunes- for great music I can write to


26. all agents - for reading through 1000s of queries and still finding time to respond


27. America - for putting Obama in office


28. Obama - for giving me hope


29. the universe - for all the signs telling me I am on the right track
    

Have a happy holiday!

Nuggets of Knowledge (Part 2)

From now on - since this is supposed to be more of a marketing blog (sprinkled with a few rants and raves), I will always include a marketing tip for published and pre-published authors no matter the topic of the post. I will also rank the cost: Free, Low, Medium, High.

Today's tip: Fancy up your cards
Always use both sides of our business cards and always do them in some kind of color. (Low-medium cost depending on design)

• Published - Use both sides of your business card - use the front for your information, and use the back to list your book title(s), blurbs, how to buy book, etc
• Pre-published - You can do the same. Use the front for your information and the back for the book you are trying to sell along with your 2-3 sentence elevator speech. It may catch an editor or agents eye.

Now for Self-Editing for Fiction Writers continued:

7) See How it Sounds -

• Dialogue must be compressed and more focused than real dialogue.
• use more contractions.
• two sentences can be strung together with a comma instead of period. Most real people do not pause between sentences. (do not overuse).
• dialogue is excellent to get facts across.
• weed out fancy words - instead of "have you considered the consequences?", how about "have you thought about what might happen?"
• have characters answer unspoken questions, talk at cross purposes, have them hedge or disagree.
• good dialogue must mimic real speech so it sounds real.
• read your dialogue out loud with someone - be alert for anything you naturally change or say that is not written. Even non verbals.
• Don't not use trick spellings or lexical gimmicks. Occasional different spelling is OK but don't use it too often.
• best way to show dialect or speech is through word choice, cadence and grammar.

8) Interior Monologue -

• don't use too much - it can interrupt the scene. Focus on beats.
• be sure you do not reiterate what is already in scene.
• make sure it is not explaining dialogue.
• show what you can't show in dialogue.
• ask yourself - how important are these feelings to the story?
• never use quotes and you don't need italics.
• rarely a good idea to mumble or speak under breath unless it is specific to your character.
• if monologue is long, set off in a separate paragraph.

9) Easy beats

• internal monologue is considered a beat.
• physical actions can be beats.
• allows you to vary pace of dialogue
• don't describe actions in too much detail unless it is critical to story. Assume your readers can fill in the steps you skip.
• # of beats depends on rhythm of dialogue.
• only describe things that really matter.
• higher tension - fewer beats; lower tension/breaks - more beats.
• beats show change in emotion - when character has a change of feeling or realization
• read aloud for natural flow. Listen for the natural pauses - that is where you can add a beat.
• write fresh beats to cliches. Change up cliches.
• Watch your friends as they are talking for non verbals

10) Breaking it up

• watch lengths of paragraphs. never longer than 1/2 of a page.
• You want some white space
• longer paragraphs - create a slower pace; shorter paragraphs create more tension.
• All chapters do not have to be the same length.
• brief scenes or chapters create tension.
• IN real life - few of us get a string of sentences off without any interruption. Look for long paragraphs of dialogue and break it up.

11) Once is enough!

• be sure you are not repealing feelings or actions too often.
• watch for echos - words repeated in a paragraph should be altered for variety. repeated phrases in a chapter should be altered.
• don't use brand names often - mention once and then use generic.
• be on lookout for repetition on a larger scale as well. -
• Writing 2 or more chapters that offer the same thing - consider combining them or distinguishing them.
• When you have characters that accomplish the same thing - consider combining them or distinguishing them.
• Watch repetitive effects (throwing up, rolling eyes etc)
• Do not crate stereotypical characters- find a way to change them.
• watch repetition from book to book. Be sure the plot shifts and different characters are not really just the same one repeated with a different name.

12) Sophistication

• Watch "stylistic constructions" beginning with as or ing word. Pulling off her gloves, she turned to face him. OR As she pulled off her gloves, she turned to face him.
• Only use these if you need the actions to happen at the same time and if they physically happen at the same time.
• Look for cliches - life in the fast lane - change them up or replace them with something different.
• Watch for characterization cliches - nerd with pocket pen etc
• Look for ly adverbs.
• You can depart from conventional comma usage in dialogue. It may convey how the speech really sounds.
• do not need emphasis quotes
• use exclamation points when someone is yelling.
• Do not use italics for emphasis - show emphasis in dialogue and rhythm.
• Watch out for flowery or poetic speech unless it is part of your character trait.Be sure character speaks as they really would.
• Subtle approaches invokes reader imagination. Leave some physical details to the reader.

13) Voice

• Literary style is different from voice - they are not interchangeable. You can have one and not the other.
• Watch out for too many sentences in a row with same structure. Diminishes voice - no one talks that way.
• If you capture a state of mind poetically - be sure it captures a turning point or key state of mind in character development
• Most characters do not have a "descriptive" speech naturally
• Watch for vagueness (generic) descriptions - man ordered drink vs dwarf ordered a vodka
• If a passage seems obvious - check for explanation (narration or dialogue) or rewrite
• If passage seems strained - read it aloud for any minor changes you can make.

That's it - I learned a ton. You may find some things are not as problematic to you as others.

Go through your book and highlight each one in a different color. Sweep through for each problem to see if it needs to be addressed.

Happy writing!