Latest News: Rhiannon and non-Rhiannon related

A lot of things that had taken root finally came to fruition this past week. It’s like spring at my house—metaphorically, of course—and despite the brrrr cold temperatures outside, things are bloomin’ in the book department.

Book Covers

My publishers finalized the covers for Bonded In Brazil and Dark Wolf Protector. This is an awesome feeling; covers add tangibility to this whole process. I don’t just have words on pages—I have real, solid books I can put a “face” to. And those faces are mighty pretty, if I say so myself.

Credit’s due to cover designers Sabrina Sun and Sable Grey.

Agent Contract

I sent my latest novel to Agent Lady recently, and she really liked it. I got a contract from her offering representation for this romance novel that will pick up where Bonded In Brazil left off--with two of the minor characters. We’ll clean it up with some editing and work on getting this one published.

Website

Once I had covers, I was able to finalize my website. I’ve spent several weeks on it, adding and tweaking, deleting and rearranging. Now my website is something I’m really proud of. It still has some space that needs filling up, but the place is guest ready.

Note: Along with the book covers, I was also able to add excerpts for Dark Wolf Protector and

Bonded In Brazil to my website.

Pre-order

Woot! Bonded In Brazil is now available on Amazon.com for pre-order. I also have it under good authority that at least one copy has been bought (thank you, my friend—you know who you are).

Pre-order is a cool option Amazon offers that allows readers to order a book prior to its release and receive the lowest price between now and the time it’s shipped. Bonded is listed at $15.95, but if that cost drops between now and March 25th, the buyer will pay the lower price.

In (mostly) non-Rhiannon related news…

The beautiful, enthusiastic, and talented Julie A. Lindsey announced the signing of her first publishing contract. Couldn’t have happened for a sweeter, more hard-working person.

Fabulous blog, Ramblings From A Chaotic Mind, hosted a giveaway last week…and I won a signed print copy of Wild Desire AND two e-books also written by Lori Brighton!

Kerry Carmichael (you don’t know him…yet) finished his 2-year-long journey of penning a most fabulous commercial science fiction novel. I know this book, folks. Think Matrix only more-likely-to-happen and with a stronger love story.

And, in future news, Dutch Henry’s novel, We’ll Have the Summer, releases this Friday.

Writing is a Team Sport

If you've just sat down and started writing, you probably balked at this blog post's title. A team sport? Are you kidding me? Writing is a dark pit of solitude, requiring long, silent introspective hours in which the only parts of my body that aren't 100% sedentary are my fingers. Team, no. Sport, no.

I felt the same way when I started writing my first novel. In fact, I thought the lonely path was the only one.

So wrong.

One of the very best things about being an author is the support and camaraderie within the industry. It's amazing, and I feel compelled to give a shout-out to those who keep us writer folks company throughout our tiresome (yet exciting) journey.

• Random Supporters-- They come in all forms and from even the most unlikely venues. These are the people who leave a Facebook comment to congratulate you on an accomplishment. They're folks prowling writers forums just to find the successful few and offer them a thumbs up. They retweet your tweets just to help drive traffic to your blog. They share your links and show genuine happiness for you even though you barely (or don't) know each other--because when a writer meets another writer, a special kinship is immediately formed.

• Betas-- Gracious Beta, how I love thee! They sacrifice their precious time to help writers polish their manuscripts. Sometimes they are a friend or acquaintance, sometimes they are a stranger. Either way, they're givers, improvers and trusted advisors to which writers are eternally grateful.

• Agents-- They are the gatekeepers. But they're much more than that. For a lot of writers, an agent gives the first form of professional validation, and it doesn't get much better than that. They're investors, believers, workers and dream builders.

• Editors-- They are angels of greatness because that's what they do. No matter the writers skill level, no matter how solid the manuscript already is when it hits the editors desk, they can, and do, make it better.

• Publishers-- They're door openers. They make it all happen by investing, marketing and selling your dream. They're also the ones who spend the most money on your dream, which lends their belief in your work that much more credibility.

• Book Bloggers and Reviewers-- The key holders to word-of-mouth marketing, which is still the very best promotional tool at our disposal. They are the givers of visibility.

• Readers-- They fulfill our book's purposes--to be bought, read, enjoyed and talked about. Without readers, there would be no books, writers, supporters, betas, agents, editors, publishers or book bloggers/reviewers.

Did I miss anyone?

WHY DOES IT TAKE SO FREAKIN' LONG?

Writing is a long, often lonely, process. Many laymen, including myself at one time, think the road to publication is a short one, one that consists of three basic steps.

1. Write/finish a book.
2. Send book to publisher.
3. Get a publishing contract/rejection.

*Sigh*

As if!

The path to getting a book on the shelf is a winding one, complete with detours, dead ends, bridgeless waters, and evil fire-breathing dragons ready to burn your ass to a crisp the second you become complacent.

To most, the biggest hurdle a writer will face is the actual writing of a book. Hence comments like:

Wow! You wrote an entire book? You must be good!

Fortunately, writing--building a world, bringing life to characters, the formation of a story-- is the easy part. I say fortunately, by the way, because if writing were more difficult than what comes after, nothing would ever get written.

So what comes after?

Well, once a writer "finishes" his/her book, the real work begins. Writing's evil twin--Editing! Some love it, others hate it. Whatever one's feeling, it is a necessary element that simply cannot be skipped. Truth be told, there are some writers--including myself--who spend more time editing than they do writing.

Okay, so once the editing's done, it's time for the publisher, right?

Not even close, sweetcheeks. The next step is my least favorite thus far. The fashioning of a query letter. This is key and, frankly, I suck at it. A query letter has several elements:

Greeting. Dear such-n-such,

Brief BS intro. I read an article in Writer's Delight where you said you were interested in MY
GENRE. I am enclosing, for your consideration, my manuscript titled THE JIBBER JABBER OF A RAMBLER, complete at 75,000 words.

Back of the book description, (keep it brief). When lonely bachelor FRED SMITH wakes up on Saturday morning, he realizes he can't stop talking. Whatever comes to mind flies out of his mouth without warning, and without censorship. After a week of spouting off at all the wrong people, Fred decides to lock himself inside his Kentucky home and become a recluse for his own safety. But when a ghostly figure appears and tells him this new condition is all part of a mysterious, spiritual journey that will, in the end, change his life for the better, Fred gathers his courage along with his wagging tongue and sets off to seek his destiny.

Lame-o summary here. THE JIBBER JABBER OF A RAMBLER is a story about the power of honesty and the painful lengths one man will go to find true happiness.

Credentials, or the lack thereof. Although I am a debut writer, what I lack in experience I hope to make up for in my writing.

Short, generic closing. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Signature and contact info.

Sadly, a query is never complete until it's been rewritten about fifteen flippin' times--until the end result makes you feel less like puking than the last several drafts.

And you send this to the publisher, right?

*Evil laugh* You wish! This goes to...get ready for it...an AGENT--lots of them, most likely. In return, a writer can begin, and often complete, a dandy collection of form rejection letters/emails. It's a whirlwind of fun. Really. Try it sometime.

*open email*

Dear Author... WTH? This is a form letter! You bastards didn't even read my fancy query, did you? Dear Author my eye. I'm writing them back.

Dear Agent,

You suck.

How'd ya like that, you impersonal New York pieces of--oh! I've got mail!

*click, click*

Dear Author...SHIT!!!

This can happen dozens of times, until...

*click, click*

Dear Rhiannon, (awww, that sounds sweet)

I read and enjoyed your story. (But...I know there's a but)

I'd like to represent you. (Holy #$%$!!!!)

And all the form letters and rejections that came before are forgotten. You scream and clap and dance, call everyone you know--very calmly--and share the news in the most nonchalant manner you can muster. Because you are just too. Cool. For. School! Mmm hmm.

Now. Now is when it gets sent to the publisher. Gotta be! Right?

Pshhh. Have you learned nothing? Of course not. Duh. It's time for, drum roll please...

Editing!

Again?

Yes, again! Get used to it, baby, because once your manuscript gets picked up by a publisher, it will be edited some more. You're going to edit so much that you will begin to speak your punctuation (period) Does it sound daunting (question mark) Good (exclamation point) Because it is.

Period.

Then, once you and your agent have finished the editing, he/she will begin the same process you used to query agents to shop your book to the publishing houses.

For this, your agent gets 15% of your earnings--well worth it, in my opinion, because it is a long, tiresome process. A delightful challenge, though, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Well, not yet, anyway ;)